The movie tells the (very strange) story of a young diesel engine known as Nicholas, who was designed to have near-limitless potential by the (never-seen) head engineer. It’s his first day on the job at Roaring Camp Railroad, and his steam-powered grandfather Hiram has to teach him how to use his powers- in time to avert a disaster.
The film, oddly, was released in two versions- the original 1996 release, which mixed live-action train footage with models, and a later re-release, which replaced the model work with CGI sequences created by the animation company Space Monkeys. It was narrated by Ron Masak, of all people.
Tropes in this film include:
- Be Yourself: “If You Could Be What To Be”, sung by Brittany near the end of the film, is half about this and half about how you can do anything if you believe in yourself.
- Blunt "No": When two people-person boys spot Nicholas:Younger Boy: (something unintelligible)
Nicholas (to himself): Choo-choo train? He’s gotta be kidding.
Older Boy: That’s not a choo-choo train, that’s a SD-90. Can’t you read?
Younger Boy: No. - Cool Train: The jet-train form that Nicholas takes when he learns to use his powers.
- Educational Song: “The Steam Engine” is one of these, stopping the plot on its tracks to explain how steam locomotives work.
- Ending Theme: The end credits are accompanied by (surprise) a reprise of the Theme Tune.
- Go-to-Sleep Ending: The final part of the tape has Nicholas wishing on a star about wanting to be a “people-puller” while Brittany (the boxcar he saved earlier) is trying to get to sleep nearby. She has a short conversation with him which reveals that she wants to be a fancy dining car and then falls asleep; Nicholas changes his wish to be for her and also falls asleep.
- Humans by Any Other Name: The locomotives (and random Talking Animals) call humans “people-kind”; human children are specifically known as “children-kind”.
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: In the 1999 version Nicholas references sending a message to an “Albert the Yard Engine” to collect Brittney after stopping her runaway, though no such engine appears (presumably he’s one of these diesels seen in the wide shot of Model!Nicholas and Brittney at night, replaced in the CGI scenes by blue recolors of Nicholas)
- Lightning Can Do Anything: Like activate a Magic Meteor held inside Nicholas for… reasons. (Also, lightning strikes out of nowhere whenever Nicholas uses his powers, although that might just be an artistic thing.)
- Magic Meteor: Nicholas has a strange meteor inside him which is explicitly referred to as “magical” by the narrator; however, it doesn’t do anything until Nicholas is struck by a bolt of lightning.
- Ominous Fog: Some random fog rolls in for the section of the tape where Nicholas has to stop a runaway dynamite-filled boxcar.
- Once Upon a Time: The Storybook Opening kicks off with this narration (and a page holding only the words “Once Upon a Time”).Once upon a time, in a train yard somewhere on the other side of tomorrow, lived a family of locomotives. The youngest of these giant machines is a six-year-old, truly special, engine named Nicholas.
- Opening Monologue: The film kicks off with one, done by a different narrator than the rest.There’s a new kind of hero in town and his name is Nicholas. With a single bolt of lightning, this young diesel engine is transformed into a super-powerful locomotive. Come with us now as we travel the rails in the first episode of the continuing adventures of Nicholas.note
- Runaway Train: Not quite a full train, but Nicholas’ first “adventure” has him stopping a runaway boxcar loaded with dynamite
- Sentient Vehicle: Nicholas the diesel engine and his grandfather Hiram the steam engine (no word is given on how engine reproduction works). They sometimes have drivers, and aren’t supposed to talk to humans- although Nicholas breaks this rule without a second thought when he meets Zach. Oh, and there’s also a talking boxcar by the name of Brittany.
- Special Thanks: Seen in the end credits:Nicholas would like to give a special thanks to all the people-kind at Roaring Camp, Big Trees and Pacific Railroad for their help in producing his first video.
- Spider-Sense: One of Nicholas’ powers is his “engine-sense”, which is somewhat of a mix between the classic danger sense and the way The Force guides users even if they can’t see what they’re doing.
- Storybook Opening: Once the theme song ends, we cut to a book with a “N” stamped on the cover opening to a title page displaying “The Adventures of Nicholas at Roaring Camp”.
- Talking Animal: For some reason, the re-released film will occasionally cut to random animals who give their thoughts on what’s occurring at the moment.
- Theme Tune: An infectiously catchy one by the name of “Nicholas At Roaring Camp”.Diesel locomotive, diesel locomotive, diesel locomotive known as Nicholas!
- You Can Talk?: Young boy Zach has this reaction when Nicholas talks to him; he then proceeds to ask where Nicholas’ mouth is.