Best of James

This article is about the US and Canadian release. You may be looking for the UK release or the Japanese VHS.

Best of James is a US VHS/DVD featuring three first series episodes, one second series episode and four third series episodes narrated by George Carlin and one song. The DVD release also featured three additional songs.

It was released by Anchor Bay Entertainment and distributed on VHS and DVD in 2002. It was released again as part of multi-DVD boxsets in 2003, and again with a slipcover in 2007. Lionsgate re-released the title on DVD in 2009 and for digital download in 2013.

Description

Episodes

1. A Proud Day for James
2. James in a Mess
3. Old Iron
4. No Joke for James
5. James Learns a Lesson
6. Percy, James and the Fruitful Day
7. James Goes Buzz Buzz
8. Time for Trouble*

*Followed by a song on VHS and Netflix

Songs

1. Don't Judge a Book by its Cover (Separate from main feature and auto-played on DVD, only song on the VHS release and Netflix)
2. Harold the Helicopter (DVD only, auto-played)
3. The Island Song (DVD only, auto-played)
4. Gone Fishing (DVD only, auto-played)

Bonus Features

• Best of James Trivia
• Build an Engine
• Where Do I Belong?
• Hooray for Thomas! read-along story
• Character Gallery
• Web Site Fun

Trivia

• Some copies of the Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD release came with a bonus CD sampler of Thomas' Songs & Roundhouse Rhythms. It featured the following songs, mostly ones also available as music videos on the DVD releases:
  • Thomas' Theme
  • Harold the Helicopter
  • Gone Fishing
  • Every Cloud has a Silver Lining
• Additional clips from Old Iron, Thomas, Percy and the Dragon, No Joke for James, James Learns a Lesson, Cranky Bugs, Horrid Lorry, A Better View for Gordon, James and the Trouble with Trees, A Proud Day for James, Thomas Saves the Day, Percy Runs Away, James in a Mess, Foolish Freight Cars, and Baa! are used in the intermissions between the episodes, accompanied by snippets from the songs Really Useful Engine, It's Great to be an Engine, Don't Judge a Book by its Cover and Let's Have a Race.
• During the intermissions, sound effects from Trouble for Thomas were used.
• The 2002 DVD release is the only US DVD release not to feature Thomas on the cover artwork at all, whether on the front, spine or back. However, the VHS, 2005/2009 slimcase DVD, and 2007 and 2009 standard DVD releases do feature Thomas on the back cover.
• The DVD features an intermission after Time for Trouble before cutting right to the end credits.
• Don't Judge a Book by its Cover is shown at the end of the program on Netflix.
• The booklet features different thumbnails for the songs, Don't Judge a Book by its Cover and Harold the Helicopter.
• This is one of the two US releases to be captioned by CaptionMax until The Thomas Way; the other was being Hero of the Rails.
• The VUDU digital release features some alternate title cards.
• This is the only time that George Carlin's narrations of James Learns a Lesson and A Proud Day for James was released on home media since one was seen on the Shining Time Station episode, The Mayor Runs for Re-Election, and the other was seen on Mister Moose's Fun Time.
• The episodes on the Korean VHS/DVD are voiced over the English track.

Goofs

• Some early VHS back covers list Percy, James and the Fruitful Day as "Percy and the Fruitful Day." This was corrected on later VHS covers.
• The back cover of the VHS has "It's" instead of "Its" where it says "Don't Judge a Book by its Cover"
• The last few seconds of Old Iron are reversed.
• Elizabeth is shown on the Korean DVD back cover, but she does not appear in any episodes and she was not introduced until the sixth series.
• The thumbnail for Time for Trouble on the DVD menu of Pick a Story in US and Korean is actually from Foolish Freight Cars. This is because it is taken from the intermission after the episode, despite the episode not appearing on that DVD.
• When Really Useful Engine plays during the intermissions, the captions say "He's the prettiest red engine we adore."
• On Best of James Trivia game, for the question of Percy, James and the Fruitful Day, Percy is said he crashed at the harbor with the fruit, but he crashed into the buffers.
• On the DVD game "Where Do I Belong?", James' number 5 is mirrored.
• On the disc, James' wheels are grey instead of black.
• The Island Song is shortened as "Island Song" on the US and Korean Sing-Along menu.
• On the slimcase, the runtime reads 55 minutes, despite it being 45 minutes.
• In the "Where Do I Belong?" game, it is stated that Cranky works at the quarry, though he works at Brendam Docks.
• Some DVD copies have a 2001 copyright date, even though the DVD was first released in 2002.
• On the intermission that plays after the end of Old Iron, an audio cut occurs on the last two clips.

In Other Languages

DVD Packs

Best of Thomas, Percy and James Platinum Edition

Best of Collection

Best of Thomas and Best of James Double Feature

Best Tales on the Tracks

KOR

• Best of Thomas and Best of James VHS Double Pack