Parents' Guide to Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels

Movie NR 2011 58 minutes
Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Renee Schonfeld By Renee Schonfeld , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 3+

The engines learn how to handle hurt feelings.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 3+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 8+

Based on 3 parent reviews

age 6+

Based on 9 kid reviews

What's the Story?

Percy feels left out when Thomas makes friends with Belle and Flynn, two new fire-fighting steamers. The Diesels, jealous of all the "luxuries" that the Steam Engines seem to have, are happy to use Percy's hurt feelings and his desire to be special to trick him into helping them take over The Steam Works. In the end, everyone learns important lessons about being special, how to be a good friend, and the value of working together.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 3 ):
Kids say ( 9 ):

DAY OF THE DIESELS offers standard Thomas fare, this time with Percy in the forefront. There are more characters (including actual villains) in this story, as well more than the usual number of incidents and some surprisingly complex motives. Still, the likable steam engines "gasp" and "huff" their way to an expected happy ending.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Percy's behavior in this story. What are some of the choices that he makes? How does he feel when he realizes what he has done? Have you been in a situation similar to Percy's?

  • Why were the Diesels trying to take over The Steam Works? What did they really want?

  • Percy felt left out when Thomas made new friends. Should he have told Thomas that his feelings were hurt? What would you do if that happened to you?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels Poster Image

What to Watch Next

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate