Why Duck Doesn't Work (and why OLIVER does)
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- Опубликовано: 7 июл 2024
- This was a really fun video to make, I hope you all enjoyed.
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Before everyone picks it up, I'm aware that Duck's first appearance in S17 was in Henry's Hero. However, it was a very fleeting appearance and although there was hype over it, it was essentially on the same kind of level as his later HiT appearances in S12... very fan-servicy. The Thomas Way was his true return, and that's why I refer to it as such in the video.
Next Everything Great About will be dropping next week!
Also, what do you think of Oliver's character in the Brenner era as opposed to Duck? I think he was represented okay, but I just wish they had done more with him, because we all know Toad stole the spotlight in those same episodes. Not that I'm complaining about that a bit, but I do wish they'd done more with Oliver as well as Toad.
@JintyGreenthePonkSparkleFan Same here, but Duck, Oliver, and Toad are all 10/10 for me.
Oliver is better cause of his side kick toad
@Lewis The Hufflepuff I still think Oliver Duck and Toad are tied
6:11 Ahem, let me correct you, it’s MVE, most valuable engine.
I’ll be completely honest here: I see Duck and Oliver as equal, they both have strengths and weaknesses and both have similarities and differences. Sometimes one is better written than the other, but honestly they’re both amazing characters.
Adding my own opinion to this: I think Duck and Oliver work best as a pair, kinda like Donald and Douglas but to a lesser extent. I always saw Duck as a mentor and friend to Oliver, the two both working hard on the Little Western. Sure, Duck has his own stories, and those stories are pretty good, but I feel he really hit his stride when he had Oliver to bounce off of. They both are flawed characters, but I feel Duck has experience working on Sodor that Oliver doesn't really have. The two definitely foil off each other well because of it.
Now, I haven't really seen much of the show past season 6, but I wish we could've seen more of life on the Little Western. Duck and Oliver were two of my favorite characters in the show, and I love the idea of the Little Western as a whole, so it makes me sad it wasn't fleshed out more compared to the Ffarquhar Branch line.
Honestly, the weaknesses that you mentioned for Duck are the reasons I like him. He didn't have much development in his arc because he was already a mature, well-rounded personality. James, Henry, Gordon, Thomas, Percy, and Oliver act like jerks and then make dumb mistakes and then grow from them. Duck is mature enough to not cause those dumb mistakes to begin with and when stuff does happen he's able to redeem himself exceptionally well. He's like a more active version of Edward that has more episodes/plotlines.
Also, his arc of being bullied, lied about, ostracized and then saving dozens of lives is both more relatable (at least the first part) and more epic in my opinion than being dragged from a scrap yard and ripping a single rusty truck apart. Although Oliver's arc is a treat to watch.
I love both and I completely agree that Oliver's arc is good, but Duck is a more unique character in the TTTE universe because of the role he plays and how his mature, hard working and sensible character alters situations.
I couldn't agree more. I always loved Duck because of his maturity when compared to other characters. I also have always loved his unique design and his "great western way" attitude. Was he stubborn? Yes. But he always made up for it and was always entertaining with other characters.
I feel like Duck's arc ended at *Donald's Duck*, when he got his own branch line. I agree that *All at Sea* could be written with another character and it still be the same, and starting with season 4 he starts to feel like he’s not an important character as he use to be. Duck definitely works well as a secondary character in episodes like *Toads Bright Idea* or *Scaredy Engine* and I think season 20 understand that, because I didn’t feel like Duck was put in only for fan service in episodes like *Skiff the Mermaid*
And I definitely agree that Oliver has a better arc than Duck's because like you said everything that happens is something that Oliver caused. Also Toad makes a great partner for Oliver that has been with him for who knows how long and plays well as the guy who wants to help his friends out with his knowledge but can still have problems himself like in *Busy going Backwards* for example, not to mention how well written he was in the Brender Era.
School of Duck is *actually* about him, and the episode is very good.
Duck is a symptom of what I call GRS (green ranger syndrome), where people adore characters that appear rarely but frequently enough to not be secondary.
Oliver is my absolute favourite engine as a little boy (before I turned 10 years old) I even paired him up with Thomas when I played with my trains. Probably because I had fun doing it.
Personally, Duck is one of my favorite characters, but I would say that's mostly because of how he's been overlooked for many seasons, and plus he was probably the most prominent fan-service character (until Edward and Henry were booted). I tend to like more obscure characters such as the Arlesdale engines or RWS-exclusive characters, and Duck to me is a representation of all of these characters.
I think with first generation fans, and later their children, Duck is special because there are so many 5700's in preservation. There is one at Paddington that runs excursions into the Chilterns. There is a LT variant (which Duck inexplicably is in CGI) that is used semireguarly on the Underground for celebrations and excursions. So for many people the first stem train they see in real life is a 5700.
I do think Oliver’s story is more engaging, because of past trauma he’s been through and how he’s had to restart his life. People relate to that; adult Thomas fans especially as life can be more tough as one grows older, because we’ve more opportunities for more experiences to change us, like Oliver.
When I was young I had a really bad temper and throughout my childhood never knew my own strength. And while these issues have gone now I look back and realise that Oliver, held similar traits such as not knowing his own strength and having a violent temper during occasions of outburst.
In season three Oliver was far more childish and excitable whereas in season five he had definitely matured into a more calm and collected individual but still had the tendency to lose his rag.
And simply because of Oliver’s many flaws and successes I gelled very well with him from the first day I saw him. Perhaps subconsciously I saw much of myself in him and perhaps his stories and look always intrigued me? What do you think?
for me ducks voice just feels so cheery
I've always liked Duck, Oliver, Mighty-Mac, Stepney, Daisy, and Bo-Co for the reason that they were super interesting looking especially Mighty-Mac being a double fairlie
I don't know how you haven't shown up in my recommended, this is the first video I've seen from you and I'm already subscribed!
Kind of like how Gordon is more important than Thomas.
Tbh outside of "All At Sea" The unlucky tug describes duck the best. He's a character that is mostly carried by interactions with other characters more interesting than him. Hell even when they brought him back in the Brenner Era his episodes were not exactly about him. Duck in the water is more about James and his pompous behavior nearly causing an accident. In Duck and the slip coaches he's used to set up the plot point with the slip coaches and only comes in the end when James screws up, even his classic episodes dont really let his character shine aswell. The trilogy he had with diesel was intriguing because of well diesel, and his good episodes. Duck goes on strike and all at sea could be written with other characters. Again duck is not a bad character but if he wasnt part of the original cast of the classics he would've been forgotten like any other back up character that they add for toys and merchandise.
The reason why duck is my fave character because I strongly relate to most of his situations like when his friends picked diesel over him. A very similar thing happened to me when I was in grade 5
I remember owning a Great Western VHS and when the basis' of Duck, Oliver and Toad showed up I soon recognized them. That was part of the joy of Thomas for me, recognizing the basis' the characters were.
Duck: clumsy hero
Oliver: true survival
I also really like Duck's design. Its just the quirkiness of the Pannier Tank.
Oliver ripped the gang leader of the trucks to literal shreds
I love Duck because of his character in the RWS and Model Series. I mean, he literally saved many lives by stopping the runaway train (and somehow didn't kill anyone in the barber's shop, but that's beside the point). But I have to agree that Oliver has had a much more interesting arc. If I'll be honest, I've always preferred Oliver more. In his first appearance in Enterprising Engines, he was used by Awdry to help raise awareness of the dire situation steam locomotives on British Railways were in at the time. And I definitely feel that Oliver's story is the main factor as to why Enterprising Engines is such a powerful book. To me, the book feels like a farewell to steam power, which was completely abolished on BR the same year the book was published. So that is my personal reason for preferring Oliver.
And this is somewhat related, but I will go to the grave saying that Toad is the series' most lovable character. He's just so sweet and innocent. He is too pure for this world, and must be protected from all of the harsh realities of life.
I like both Oliver and Duck they are both one of my favorite characters but I like Oliver more because he has an awesome backstory. He gets saved from scrapped by Douglas, gets shunted into the turntable by trucks and is the laughing stock and what does he do? He literally rips the leader apart which is why Toad Stands By is one of my favorite episodes.
Fair points. Though to me, Duck is favorite a little bit cause he's the most mature one. He's like the straight man of the whole railway. All the characters have their own flaws that make for interesting stories. Duck had his minor ego trip where he gets in his Great Western Way gig, but it never becomes the constant. He's the stable character. Only thing is, he was such a stable character, he was slowly written out of the show because the writers couldn't figure how to break his character. Edward was old, so they made him the weak old man, with Toby being the scaredy old man, and Duck jsut couldn't be changed since he'd mostly ever been there, quietly doing his job. THey couldn't even make him harp on his Great Western Way thing since that was left behind seasons ago, unlike James' vanity, or Gordon's pompous attitude which were easy to just elevate to insanity. And let's not forget Oliver got the flanderization of "I escaped from scrap, aren't I great?" So... the fact we didn't get SUPER insane Great Western Duck is something impressive.
I love Oliver, not only for his personality, but also his DESIGN!
I do like Oliver more than Duck for sure, but I would argue the detailing of Duck’s arc doesn’t quite do him justice. He comes in, and he’s very confident in himself, and quickly shows himself to be an equal to the big main line engines, to the point where they have at least some amount of respect for him, something Thomas and Percy as the pilots before him never really got from the big engines, especially not Percy. City of Truro’s visit is really the catalyst of Duck’s arc, not Diesel. That’s the instance where Duck went from confident to condescending. It was his attitude and his pride that made him act especially stubborn and disdainful towards Diesel, allowing him to be humiliated, and spurring Diesel to react. Being sent away was a humbling experience for him, and he only really mentions the Great Western a few times from then on. Duck’s work ethic is also a very important part of his story. Not only does it earn him the respect of the big engines, but it also is what earns him his branch line. Unlike Thomas, who was rewarded for a single heroic act, Duck’s branch line was a reward for years of hard work and dutifulness. It’s less noticeable than characters like Thomas or Oliver, because there isn’t a specific thing Duck does that solidifies his reward, rather it’s an ongoing buildup of who he is and what he does.
And while yes, to that effect you could say Duck’s arc was still started by outside forces like City of Truro, in many ways you could say the same about Oliver. His pride came from being praised by the big engines, and impressionably holding himself to the high expectations that they did. Just like Truro’s praise effected Duck’s, the big engines’ praise effected Oliver. Not to mention, the destruction of Scruffey was almost entirely Toad’s doing, not Oliver’s. After his accident, Oliver was so down on himself that he’d resigned himself to the trucks’ harassment, thinking he deserved it. It was Toad who made the plan to do something about it, and if you’re going by the RWS, it was Toad who actually caused Scruffey to break, as Oliver very clearly didn’t actually do that on purpose. Their arcs are a lot more similar than we realize. Oliver runs away from the threat of scrap on BR, while Duck confronts the toxic mentality of the big engines’ prejudice towards tank engines. A mentor figure gives each of them praise that causes them to act arrogantly, leading to someone taking revenge on them in some form, which humbles them, and then they pull off a heroic feat that redeems them in the eyes of the others. For Oliver, that’s about where the story ends, at least in the RWS, but Duck’s continues in subtle ways. Oliver’s story is more exciting, but Duck’s is equally complex - maybe even more.
@Commissar Carl the only issue i have with the setup to duck’s branch line is how they put some of the stories out of order, and donald’s duck comes a whole book after escape/little western, where we first learned he had a branch line, so the payoff kinda got spoiled too soon. if you read donald’s duck between super rescue and escape then it works out fine tho
Conclusion: Duck is a Disney princess
Duck for me is that guy next door. He's the one with the most nnormal life of the friendgroup, is the most mature, and knows what kind of engine he wants to be....basically he's what you would call a "control" in science, just an average dude vibing and his adventures come from him just trying to live his life and someting interupts him.
I still love him tho
I’ve noticed that another reason people like Duck is because a lot of people headcanon him as being neurodivergent (usually on the Autism spectrum). Since there’s a lot of people in the fan base that are neurodivergent, it gives them someone to identify with.
Another reason is that in the Classic Series, Duck appeared in some S-tier episodes (A Close Shave, All At Sea, Donald’s Duck), so that might have skewed people’s perception on him.
Never heard that headcanon before, interesting concept.
@@TheThomasCynic It exists and it doesn't really make sense.
@@TheThomasCynic have you ever heard of sodor fallout
I think that’s a wild stretch I think it’s just cause he looks cool, called duck which is a bit different and in some good eps as u did mention
An excellent view dear TTC.
i like them both
It's a bit of a coincidence for me at least. Duck has always been my favorite character as a child and even today, long before he was ever brought back to the series, and as a kid I never even really noticed that he left. Something about his design and attitude combined stuck out to me for whatever reason.
I’ll never look at Oliver the same way again after watching sodor fallout
I always loved both characters because they both have great stories in the classic series and because they're both green and man I just love green!
I still hold that Donald and Douglas deserve more screen time
I have always like Oliver very much and would like if he had more storie of his own.
Boy, the comments are going to be “interesting” I can already feel it now
Duck had a cameo in a music video in Season 10 called "Navigation"
“Duck and Oliver are both green smiley engines.”
Henry: am I a joke to you
Thoughts:
1. Tbh when I saw Oliver in the bottom right corner in the thumbnail, I thought you were collabing with a RUclipsr who had an Oliver profile picture XD
2. I think the main reason Duck receives a lot of attention is because he was supposed to be in the steam team but got deprived of his time in the spotlight because they added Emily for female representation.
3. Actually I think The Thomas Way could have very easily be rewritten into a great episode, if Thomas had his original classic series “absolute jerk” personality.
4. Well, Duck did drive the story with his own actions in The Thomas Way, when he didn’t listen to Thomas and went into the tunnel.
5. True, Duck’s single flaw is being stubborn but it can still be used to write multiple stories.
6. So in the end, I feel that both Duck and Oliver are good characters. I’ve never had a problem with either of them, and actually I don’t even prefer either of them over each other.
7. Anyways, great video!
@Some youtuber named Zachary Yes, HiT wanted female representation in the main cast.
Ya know, this has some serious valid points bro. This was a fire upload my man. 🙏
I honestly agree with you in the question of why Duck has such a huge fan base. I was more excited about D&D's cgi return in SLOTLT than I was with Duck. And I do agree that Oliver is the better Great Western engine if we aren't counting Percy (Yes I am one of those people who thinks Percy is based off of the GWR Trojan).
my opinion is I think Percy is a great western engine as well
I honestly feel that Duck could really have done with a bit more building up when he was first introduced. IMO the best engines have a 'core' to them which resonates through their stories. Gordon's is his status as the express train and from this flows his stories; be it his pride and hubris causing trouble or his experience and strength helping others. The problem with Duck is that we don't really see that core.
I always felt that it should have been a strong sense of right and wrong as was shown when he stood up to the larger engines when he first arrived, even when it meant getting into trouble. I think this is where Oliver really outshone Duck as his 'core' was his experience of being close to getting scrapped which feeds into his character arc.
I tuned out after Season 5, so this has certainly been an interesting view.
Oliver: I always thought I don't work
Duck: OMG THIS IS A BAD 🦆🦆🦆🦆ING VIDEO
I have heard someone say it, I think it was unlucky tug, and I agrees. Duck is the boba fett of the ttte series, he’s a great character when a good story is written around him, but he is a character that’s very hard to actually use.
I mainly liked duck because I am from the great western region of the uk so seeing him made me feel like a piece of the south west had made an international jump.
Oliver is one of my favorite characters btw
7:24
" My name is Montague. Duck for short"
I agree that Oliver's origins & stories are definitely more driven by him then by what happens to him. He takes matters unto himself without hesitation, something I respect about him as a character. The writers could well have made him as GWR-proud as Duck & left it at that, but they didn't; they fleshed him out fully & gave his arc a very grounded feel to it, after all, his origins of being very nearly broken up with most of his classmates, but instead making the effort to preserve himself paint him as being more courageous & fire-y then Duck is. I also kind of prefer Oliver's basis. I love all things Great Western, & the pannier tank is a very long lineage that was, in one form or the other, being constructed for around 100 years. Duck can be traced back to 7ft Broad Gauge saddle tank engines that were rebuilt with panniers to create a new class of engine that stands for essentially everything GW. Looking at this, it can be deduced that Duck's being part of a long line of 6-coupled, Swindon-designed panniers gives him this sense of pride in his company (although GWR 5741 was actually built by the North British Locomotive Works in Glasgow!). Perhaps this fact of being built to a very GW design by a Scottish company gives Duck a misguided sense of insecurity? Oliver, however, is a GWR 48/14xx. That design had its origins in 1868, as the 517, but the original 0-4-2ST that started the 517 lineage bares little resemblance to the 1930s class of 4800 (of which Oliver is No.4836). The 517s were so variable in shape & look that to call them all as one class seems scarcely possible! The 4800s were constructed to replace these elderly engines, & all 75 looked exactly the same. They were then renumbered (though not in any way modified) to create the 14xx. Oliver being a thoroughbred Swindon machine might have given him a lot of pride initially, but perchance on learning the fact that he was replacing older engines that were essentially his sisters, that pride in Swindon might have ebbed away a lot thanks to his dislike of the 'scrap and build' policy. This gives weight to his desire to remain alive & steaming, perhaps in memory of his 14xx sisters, & the 517s, some of which donated boilers to the new engines. You can derive a lot of Oliver from that when you think about it.
One of my reasons for liking duck is simply the fact that i like his shape
Duck is the reason why is Diesel is a villan .
Have to disagree there. Diesel's first intention was to worm his way up the ranks of Sodor. He flattered the big engines and proceeded to wax philosophical on Duck about how Duck's extended family were all going to die, and that he was a superior class.
Diesel is racist, slimy, and devious. That's why he's a villain.
@@TheThomasCynic I would love to see an Oliver and Diesel story then. That has so much potential given their views and backstory.
Sometimes I hear people say Duck has no character, and that's his problem. I actually disagree with that to an extent.
The thing is, he DOES have at least some character - it's just that said character isn't really enough to carry an entire story.
Duck has been a favourite of mine along with Oliver since I was a child, and I actually agree with your opinion. I remembers some people saying Henry’s Hero being the best episode of Season 17 just because of Duck’s one appearance for only a few seconds.
This is a great video. Probably one of my favourites of your's. Even when it's a quit controversial subject, you're still not worried about saying your points of view. And you explain your points with facts, fairness towards the other side and logical examples without giving the impression that you want to hate on someone. And that's how proper Essays should be made.
I've always liked both engines equally. But you make an excellent case for why Oliver is a better overall character than Duck. Well done!
Thank you so much, it means a lot to have a RUclipsr I've watched for almost 2 years comment on one of my videos. Love your content dude, can't wait for Season 4 Part 2! Thanks for sharing my video too.
Yeah, and I bet in this concept, Mr. Ryan might turn this into a Thomas meme.
Duck:
Oliver:
Surprisingly, I never consider Duck to be one of my favorites. Sure, he has some entertaining interactions with Percy, Diesel, Oliver, etc., but I never put him in my Top 10 or 20. My favorite episodes starring him are definitely _All at Sea_ and (one of the better BWBA episodes) _School of Duck._
In the Brenner Era, Oliver almost had the same problem Duck had, being only there for the fans to rave on him appearing rather than enjoying the episode itself. At least they gave Toad much more to do in the 3 episodes he starred in (and I personally enjoyed those 3 more than Busy Going Backwards). Oliver was this close to starring in an episode in season 21, but plans changed because Mattel (at least that one episode *finally* made me like Samson).
I've always preferred Oliver but the story arc comparison definitely solidified my feelings. I remember watching Oliver's find on a vhs and loved the epsidoe due him making up for his mistakes.
Oliver was indeed the better written character compared to Duck definitely.
And with All At Sea, I kinda see your point in that you can replace the main lead with anyone and the story would still work, but to me, that's what makes it special. They could've chosen anyone else but they chose Duck to develop his character more.
One of my favourite things about Series 3 was how the original stories expanded on the older characters in new ways we never saw in the books. I.e. Henry's love of nature, James' pride of his paintwork and Bill and Ben's mature and heroic sides.
In Duck's case, it's going beyond him being proud of his great western heritage and seeing a new side to him. His love for the seas and dreams to travel beyond the horizon. It doesn't make him a better character than Oliver, but it gives more depth to him than I think is lead on.
Great video regardless 👍
I think Duck works in the CGI era, but only as a secondary character when it makes sense for him to appear. The main examples being Toad and the Whale, Blown Away and Skiff and the Mermaid, where the episodes are about Toad and Skiff, but they take place on Duck's branch line so it makes sense he would appear
Episodes like James (I mean Duck) and the Slip Coaches, The Thomas Way and Duck in the Water also kind of work. They're not amazing episodes or anything, but he's the main character and you can't really sub anyone else in his place, so they're fine
The main problems are Henry's Hero, where he has a minor role that could be filled by anyone, or Spencer's VIP and Last Train for Christmas where it's almost as if the writers created a scene just to shoehorn Duck in
In my opinion Thomas has A characters and B characters. A characters tend to usually be the lead role in their episodes and usually screw up while B are usually not and most major appearances are shared with an A character
A characters include the core 4 (thomas, Percy, James and gordon), Henry (depending on era), Duncan, Oliver, Daisy, Scottish twins, and Bill and ben
B characters include Duck, Toby, Skarloey, Rheneas, Emily, and especially Edward
Honestly for me, when I was a kid Oliver was my favourite character. His backstory and story arc was something I really enjoyed. I liked Duck, but for me Oliver was the best.
5:55 Nice reference there! There are a few things about Duck's history that can bring out more with Duck. What I'm getting at here is the fact that according to the RWS, Duck was built by the North British Locomotive Co. Meaning he is a Scottish built Western Engine. To me this can add more possibilities to him. It makes me wonder what sheds he was allocated to before going to Sodor. But at the same time, this gives Oliver more points too because this leaves Oliver as the only true GWR built engine on the Little Western.
Duck used to be my favourite growing up now its Oliver. The story Escape used to scare me as a kid but it is the best episode and Olivers story is the best.
I still like Duck. He is just behind Oliver, Edward, James, Diesel 10 for me
Thanks for making this man, I suppose my love of Duck is a more sentimental thing than anything else. He's my Grandad's favourite character and a GWR Pannier Tank was the first ever model engine he bought me.
I do love Duck and how he acts like a big brother to Percy and the voice of reason to the main cast (more than Edward really does in some eras) but I can't deny that Oliver does have a much better arc and definitely had a lot more potential in the TVS due to being so untouched following his intro in the RWS.
Duck will always be my favourite character, the one that I personally love the most. But he isn't the best overall.
Great Video
I largely agree, but I have one discrepancy:
In the RWS, Tenders for Henry is a major plot point. Unlucky Tug explains it better than I can in his video on Gordon.
duck is life itself
When you think about it duck is a Mary Sue that people love
The Thomas Cynic
Is it also perhaps the fact that Duck runs away from his problems and hates plus avoids confrontation and then Oliver only runs away because it buys him enough time to think about a possible revenge plot or how to hit his enemies where it hurts the most to prove a point that they shouldn’t mess with him?
Oliver will always be better. He was soo underutilized.
i love duck but i do have to agree. i think that if diesel returned in the railway series or the tv series and we could have rivalry episodes.
Unlucky tug JR?!?! LOL
“Toad helps sanction murder”
I thought that duck and Oliver were cousins when I was a wee little lad.
This is why Oliver is one of my favorites
I see duck and Oliver both great characters
I literally only like Duck more than anyone because of his shape xD The unusual square shape, but not a diseal, is so cool to me. My first favorite is James, based off his theme and that he is red (My fav color), but loved Duck for his shape design. As a child, Oliver's "Escape" episode also scared me, so I didn't like him but loved Toad haha.
Duck is my favourite character and I think you hit the nail with the hammer with his problem. One criticism I have is that I believe that Duck didn't start disappearing in season 5. I believe he was handled very well in seasons 5 and 6 (even though he had no lead stories). He didn't need to be a spotlight character and Oliver is a much better character for this. I think he started to disappear in season 7.
I also think the best series to handle him in the Brenner Era was season 20. No stories about him but he made a good side character.
One thing I think BWBA did wrong was that it never gave Oliver any good stories. Duck had one; but Oliver? He definitely has more potential than Duck!
That’s the thing, Oliver was gonna have one…
In Season 22, the episode “Samson and the fireworks” was gonna be originally an Oliver episode called “Oliver’s fear of Fireworks.”
Off speculation, I can assume that it was gonna be based off on Oliver’s PSTD of the scrapyard, but they of course changed it to be about Samson, which makes me so pissed off (I heavily dislike Samson as well, to add insult to injury).
Man your channel blew up, the first video I watched you either had 40 or 400 subs I can’t remember
Great video! I remember being on RUclips around the time that Duck returned in CGI and everyone was losing their minds over it and I didn’t really get why. I was happy to see him and all but I didn’t understand all the praise. Looking back at it all now and after watching this video, it all makes sense and I’ve gained an appreciation for the character as well as an even greater appreciation of Oliver. Thanks for making this!
I fancied Duck as a kid, don't ask how that worked bc I don't fucking know
He was always my favourite until Arthur and Emily, never been able to figure out why I loved Duck so much
Probably partly to do with his theme song being my favourite one, and his adventure theme with Stepney being one of my all time favourite pieces of music
Actually, Duck was always writing as a Secondary Character, while Oliver was always writing as a main character
That's just a theory A THOMAS THEORY!
this video is especially one of my favorites of yours- i've been thinking about this topic since Duck returned in s17, and seeing someone make a short video essay on the topic was really neat
i don't know how you manage as far as suggestions go, but it seems you're pretty knowledgable with the characters and their personalities.. i'd love to see a long video essay (or many shorter ones) covering the characters, their journey across their main arcs, and how they grew from there
as always, the video was fantastic- even if my idea is passed over, i can't wait to see what else you bring up!! i'm never disappointed with what this channel brings
I remember that SkarloeyRailway01 said in a video of his from several years ago that people feel like they can relate to Duck, in that they are very proud of their heritage, like how Duck is so proud of being Great Western. But interestingly, that was really fuelled by another character. Cause in Duck and the Diesel Engine, they say that "City of Truro's visit made Duck conceited about being Great Western." I still like Duck, but I definitely have pretty much always preferred Oliver.
Only in S20 and S22 was I really fine with Duck's personality in the CGI series.
I honestly prefer duck over Oliver because duck is a more relatable character to me, and probably people who have Asperger’s syndrome like me. While yes, Oliver has a better character arc, duck, in my book, deserves a little better. Not to mention, regarding what you said about duck, it should be noted that this whole duck worship has been poked fun of in Tobias and the Half-pariah.
Same here
I've always liked Duck, even before he was forgotten by the show and then rediscovered, but I do also like Oliver a little better. I think Duck has a vibe about him, showing the old pride of the railways before BR. I do think Duck has always been more of a great symbol than a great character, but I also think he is more than just a symbol of the changes in the franchise.
I like Duck because 57xx is my favorite class loco and GWR is my favorite Big 4. I adore Pannier Tanks
I'm a little sad, as Duck is honestly my favorite character in the series. :(
I’m sure if the writers didn’t make a bunch of one off characters they actually do something with his arc. The Thomas fandom can make better duck stories than television so I feel like there is a way to make the character interesting and some good arc.
Maybe its because I didn't invest myself in the thomas fandom until like 2019ish, but I saw Oliver as the kinda overrated one.
While I prefer Duck, I found it hilarious that he was the only standard gauge engine that Thomas didn't miss in jbs
good video, mate! can't wait for the next upload
I like both
Aaaah, you're one of the favorite things I like to watch your stuff on a Saturday morning --w--
It feels great seeing trains, not iron caterpillars. Or Cuggington.
I feel like Duck works in the earlier seasons, but not in CGI.
Agreed. There was just a point where they didn't really need to say anything more about him. It's a similar thing with BoCo in my opinion - he's a good character, but I don't mind him fading into obscurity because I don't think he has enough story potential to bring out new sides of his character while keeping him faithful to his original character.
Season 3 Duck used him very well
@@TheThomasCynic to be honest, it can also be down to the decade in which the writing takes place. Duck has his first original story in All At Sea in the early 90s versus his return in the Brenner era in the early 2010's where there are changes in the visuals and writing of that decade
you see, the f and the d are really close, and i said the f instead of the duck soooo
oops
@@TheThomasCynic BoCo deserves to return to CGI and Andrew Brenner would have succeed at that if Mattel didn't make him drop the idea. Fans would be happy for it like with other returning characters.
Finally someone talks about this. I like Duck mostly because of his neutral personality and great design, but besides that he's nothing to stand outish. Oliver on the other hand was always on of my favorites. Definetly in my top ten. And im also one of the people who are fine with him not being in the offical steam team since i think Emily brings more to the group. (Although I consider him an honorary member).
This might be a factor as to why Duck and Oliver are so popular. In the early 2000's my first ever train set was Hornby's basic train set, which was the GWR and a included a pannier tank engine "Duck".
While I agree with your opinion about Duck, I think he had lots of potential that was left unused. When Duck is teased by Gordon, Henry and James in "Duck Takes Charge", he asks Percy if they order him about, heavily implying that the same had previously happened to him. This fact could've been used to make Duck have a prejudice against big engines, much like Thomas, and then have a character arc where Duck thinks he's superior to them, only for him to get himself into trouble because of it, a character similar to that of Thomas or James, both of which have strong characters in the TV series, but this never happened.
A similar thing could've been done with BoCo. BoCo's basis, a BR Class 28, which was known for being a flawed diesel design, could've been used to create a character for him, explaining how BoCo's flawed design led him to accept steam engines and having him warn other diesels on the railway that the same thing could happen to them if they're not careful, much like Edward's character, but again, this never happened.
So, while Duck and BoCo aren't strong characters, they have the potential to be so if sufficient effort is given.