Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends - Races, Rescues & Runaways [VHS]

Thomas and his English engine buddies face floods, landslides, and taunting trucks in these half dozen 5-minute stories narrated by Alec Baldwin. As in their previous adventures, the spunky toy vehicles survive their mishaps with a combination of quick thinking and help from their fellow vehicles. The hard-working Percy is irked at how dirty he gets hauling rock and coal until being trapped by an avalanche from a mine-shaft collapse puts things in perspective. Competition comes to the Island of Sodor when lorries (British for "trucks") with a bad attitude try to take the engines' places. But a series of accidents and breakdowns restores the engines to their rightful place. The 35-minute video is capped off by a 3-minute "music video" featuring kids singing "Accidents Will Happen" over a series of clips showing the vehicles involved in a series of crashes and other misadventures involving jelly, snow, and a runaway "boulder" that looks suspiciously like a tennis ball. --Kimberly Heinrichs