An Australian racing car called Ace inspires Thomas embark on a worldwide adventure. Thomas' journey spans five continents — Australia, North America, South America, Asia, and Africa — and several dangerous climates. Along the way, Thomas meets a Kenyan engine named Nia, who teaches him a valuable lesson on friendship. Meanwhile, the engines back on Sodor are worried about Thomas' disappearance, so Sir Topham Hatt attempts to chase after him.
Tropes:
- Adapted Out: Sir Topham Hatt's subplot where he chases Thomas around the world is strangely absent in the Golden Book adaptation.
- Animated Musical: Just like The Great Race and Journey Beyond Sodor.
- Answer Cut: Near the end when Thomas realizes Sir Topham Hatt is not on Sodor, he shockingly says, "Then where in the world is he?!" Cut to Sir Topham on a ship at sea, still searching for Thomas, until he sees Ace aboard.
- Award-Bait Song: "Sometimes You Make a Friend", a ballad involving Thomas' Jerkass Realization and wanting to apologize to Nia.
- Big Damn Heroes: Yong Bao gets his moment when he saves Thomas and Nia from an avalanche in the Himalayas.
- Bittersweet Ending: Thomas and Nia make it back to Sodor, and all of Thomas' friends throw them a big celebration. Unfortunately for them, Sir Topham Hatt is still travelling around the world, looking for Thomas.
- Broken Record: Dar es Salaam! Dar es Salaam! Dar es Salaam! (etc.)
- The Bus Came Back: Many characters return in this movie: Yong Bao, Carlos, Sam, Vinnie, Rajiv, and even Sailor John.
- Butt-Monkey: Sir Topham Hatt, due to him ending up in a lot of embarrassing situations just so he can find his number 1 tank engine.
- Continuity Cavalcade: In the first song in the movie, "Where in the World is Thomas?", the other engines ponder over where Thomas is, dropping a few events from previous episodes of the television series.Diesel: Or dropped down into a mine!
- Continuity Nod: This is not the first time there was a song about Thomas' disappearance.
- Didn't Think This Through: Thomas is inspired to become the first engine to travel the world, but he sets off without letting anyone know. This causes everyone to worry over his disappearance, and when Sir Topham Hatt finds out the truth, this kicks off his mad search.
- Dramatic Irony: The engines on Sodor are worried about Thomas’ disappearance, unaware of the fact he’s traveling the world with Ace.
- Friendship Song: "We're Friends", though it's played completely straight in the Triumphant Reprise.
- Here We Go Again!: Thomas comes home with Nia, only to realize Sir Topham isn’t here and is still searching the world for him.
- "I Am Great!" Song: Ace has “Free and Easy”, as he shows how much he enjoys being a race car.
- Jerkass Realization: When Nia disappears after the race that she and Thomas had in Utah, Thomas realizes he was being unkind to Nia.
- List Song: "Where in the World is Thomas?" has the engines list off several things they think Thomas had done.
- Lyrical Dissonance: "Where in the World is Thomas?". The melody of the song is rather upbeat, when the mood of it is quite anxious and worrying.
- Melancholy Musical Number: "Sometimes You Make a Friend" has Thomas singing about wanting to apologise to Nia after what he did to her.
- Missed Him by That Much: When Thomas reaches California, Sir Topham Hatt is in a cafe, lamenting over how lost Thomas is. He hears Thomas' whistle, but by this point, Thomas is already out of sight, being loaded on a ship bound for China.
- Music Soothes the Savage Beast: The trucks singing a lullaby in Swahili to get a vicious elephant to leave the tracks and fall asleep.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Thomas has a moment of this when he realizes that he's been a jerk to Nia.
- Nice Girl: Nia, an engine hailing from Africa tries to befriend Thomas throughout the special, offering to help him at times. It helps that she's nice inside and outside as well as in character.
- Overly Long Gag: Thomas repeatedly stopping to collect more trucks in Africa, along with the shunters yelling “Dar es Salaam!” for each pickup.
- Palette Swap: There are many recolors in this movie. For example there's a red Carly, a red Big Mickey, an orange Edward (albeit female), a grey Henry, a red Oliver, a blue Raul, a green Beresford (with Merrick's face), and Natalie, a diesel shunter who resembles a female pink and blue Dart.
- Patter Song: "Where in the World is Thomas?", as the engines learn of Thomas' disappearance and wonder where he went off to.
- Pep-Talk Song: "Wake Up", sung by Nia and the trucks as they try to convince a grumpy Thomas to cheer up and enjoy the scenery and the big world around him.
- Personal Raincloud: Thomas' smoke forms a raincloud over his head in the first verse of "Wake Up", to symbolize his grumpiness.
- Reckless Sidekick: Ace is this to Thomas, always wanting to do dangerous stunts.
- Something We Forgot: Thomas realizing Sir Topham Hatt is still searching the world for him just seconds after arriving back on Sodor with Nia.
- Take That!: "Where in the World is Thomas?" includes a jab at Misty Island Rescue.Sidney: That doesn't make any sense. How can there be an island around here that's unknown?
Paxton: What if it was always covered in mist? Hm?
Sidney: Ooh, that sounds very "mist"-erious!
(both chuckle) - Token Minority: Nia, who is from Kenya, Beau, who is from America, and Ace, who is from Australia. The returnees from The Great Race count as well.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Ace is one to Thomas. Ace's "free and easy" nature makes Thomas want to do everything by himself, resulting in him being a jerkass to Nia.
- Triumphant Reprise: "We're Friends" gets one at the end of the movie.
- Troll: Thomas in the beginning of the movie, when he attaches smelly fish trucks to Gordon's Express as payback for insulting him earlier about his desire to see the world.
- Truck Driver's Gear Change:
- The last verse of "Wake Up" modulates up one-and-a-half steps.
- The last verse of "We're Friends (reprise)" modulates up one whole step.
- Wham Episode: In this movie, Nia comes to Sodor and joins the North Western Railway, due to her old shed being destroyed.
- World Tour: The premise of the movie. Thomas visits China, Africa, and North and South America.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Nia's shed in Africa was destroyed, thus she has no place to stay now. Fortunately, Thomas is glad to offer her a new home in Sodor.
