Thomas: Cousin Nevill

Thomas: Cousin Nevill is the third installment in the Thomas franchise. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation, and distributed by Paramount Pictures, and was released in U.S. theaters on March 23, 2007 (exactly 6 years after the first film). It is the fourth DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by Paramount Pictures and the first Thomas film to do so.

Plot
King Don falls fatally ill as a frog and his engine son-in-law,  is next in line to be King of Sodor. Thomas declines, insisting that he as king is a bad idea and that there has to be someone else for the job. With his final few breaths, the king tells Thomas that there is one other heir who can become the new King of Sodor: Their Cousin Nevill. Thomas sets out on a quest to bring back the new king, along with Percy, James and Henry. As they're sailing off, Sir Topham Hatt runs to the dock and announces to Thomas that he is going to turn their shed into an orphanage and he is going to be a father. Shocked, Thomas begins to have nightmares about his future children on the journey to find Nevill.

The trio's journey soon leads them to Worcestershire Academy, an elite boarding school, where they discover that Nevill is a scrawny underachiever picked on by virtually everyone, from the cool kids down to the retainer-wearing Dungeons and Dragons geeks. Far removed from the courageous legend his name evokes, Nevill stands literally at the bottom of the high school food chain. He is constantly used as a punching bag by the school Jousting Team, led by the obnoxious Sir Lancelot (John Krasinski), and cruelly scorned by Guinevere (Latifa Ouaou), the Valley Girl-like school "Queen Bee."

At the school pep rally, Thomas finds Nevill and tells him that he's the new king of Sodor. Encouraged by his new title, Nevill then delivers a heartfelt speech, berating all the high school students (particularly Lancelot and the jousting team), and professing his undying love to Guinevere, but Thomas stops him, stating, "You just overdid it." Later, on board Thomas's ship, Nevill is only too excited to be on his way to the throne, until Percy, James and Henry inadvertently scare him by talking about responsibilities of being king. Panicked, Nevill tries to take control of the ship and ends up crashing it on an island where they meet Nevill's retired wizard teacher, Mr. Merlin.

Meanwhile, a revenge-lusted Prince Charming has gone to the Poison Apple, where he encounters a slew of fairy tale villains including Captain Hook (Ian McShane), the Evil Queen (Susanne Blakeslee), a Cyclops (Mark Valley), Rumpelstiltskin (Conrad Vernon), Mabel the Ugly Stepsister (Regis Philbin), the Headless Horseman (Conrad Vernon), the Puppet Master (Chris Miller), the talking trees' Steve and Ed, and an assortment of outlaws, black knights, pirates, gnomes, and witches. Although they initially despise Charming, he persuades them to join him in a fight for their "happily ever after". The villains feel their side of the story has never been told and now is the time to do it.

Charming and the other villains invade Sodor and attack the palace, disrupting Sir Topham Hatt's celebrating.

Captain Hook and some of his pirates track Thomas and company to Merlin's island, where they attempt to capture Thomas and kill the others. Thomas and Nevill tag-team them effectively, however, and send the villains running, but not before Hook mentions Charming and the takeover of Sodor. Concerned for his wife and his future children, Thomas urges Nevill to return to the safety of school; Nevill, however, has other ideas. He cons Merlin into coming out of retirement long enough to use his magic and send them all back to Sodor; the spell works, but accidentally causes Percy and James to switch bodies because they were touching each other. They also transport to an island of Rock Monsters who help them get back. They find that Charming is bent on revenge against Thomas for "stealing" his "happily ever after," and plans to kill Thomas in a play later that night. Charming's men arrive shortly, but another clever ruse by Nevill tricks the knights into not taking them into custody. They then break into the castle, where play rehearsal and set design are in full swing, and where Charming is bad at rehearsing and mock battles, In Charming's dressing room, Thomas menaces Charming but Charming is able to summon his men, who burst in and take the four captive.

Charming prepares to kill Nevill, believing he's the next king. To save Nevill's life, Thomas tells Charming that Nevill was just a fool to take his place as King of Sodor. Charming believes Thomas and decides not to kill him. Nevill, who had just been growing to trust Thomas, is crushed by this and runs away, not realizing that Thomas only said what he said as a ruse to save Nevill's life. Percy and James are thrown into the tower with Sir Topham Hatt, Gordon and Audrey. Queen Audrey successfully smashes the stone wall of the prison by head-butting the walls. The team launch a rescue mission for Thomas, who is being held captive elsewhere, Percy and James encounter Artie, and Percy and James explain to him that Thomas lied so Charming wouldn't kill him. Nevill seems hesitant to believe them.

As the kingdom watches, Charming stages a theatrical performance in which he heroically rides to the rescue of Rapunzel in a (fake) tower and sings, somewhat badly. To Charming's profound annoyance, the chained Thomas wins the audience's support by ridiculing his singing and acting. Just as Charming is about to kill Thomas, Sir Topham Hatt, along with Percy, James, Gordon and Henry, leap onto the stage to confront the villains. It goes awry, however, as the villains largely outnumber the heroes and take them prisoner again. In the nick of time, Nevill arrives and convinces the villains to stop and turn over a new leaf, proving himself to possess effective leadership skills. He says something that Thomas told him when they were sitting around a fire at Merlin's island- "Just because some people treat you like a villain, an ogre, or just some loser, it doesn't mean you are one. The thing that matters most is what you think of yourself. If there's something you really want or someone you really want to be, then the only one standing in your way is you." The villains drop their weapons and release their captives.

Charming, furious at having been thwarted, lunges for Nevill with his sword. Thomas manages to break out of the chains, blocks the blow and appears to take it in his own chest, leading Charming to believe he's won; but fortunately Charming missed, and the sword is lodged harmlessly under Thomas's arm. Charming says that he was supposed to live happily ever after, but Shrek informs Charming that he needs to keep looking, because he's not giving up his own. As Thomas pushes Charming aside, Hamster slyly knocks over Rapunzel's model tower, Charming is presumably killed when the tower lands on him as he fearfully utters his last words ("Mommy..."). Charming's crown is sent rolling across the stage by the impact and is caught by Nevill. Thomas tells him that the throne is his if he wants it, but it is his decision to make. Nevill lifts the crown toward the audience, who cheer him loudly, then sets it on his own head. While the kingdom celebrates their new monarch, Merlin appears and restores Percy and James to their proper bodies.

As Sodor is left in the capable hands of young Nevill, the film ends as Thomas retires with the others and they return to their shed a few months later.

Cast

 * Ramahfool as Thomas, Percy, Gordon, James, Henry, Sir Topham Hatt, and Nevill.
 * David Ogden Stiers as Don Hatt
 * Nicole Oliver as Audrey Hatt
 * Kevin Kline as Pirate Captain

Songs

 * Royal Pain - (Eels)
 * Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? - (The Ramones)
 * Joker & the Thief - (Wolfmother)
 * S.W.A.T. Theme
 * Feeling So Fly - (TobyMac)
 * Yo Ho Hero - (Newsboys)

Trivia

 * Thomas: Cousin Nevill is the only film in the series not to start off with a narration and Storybook Sequence.
 * Henry says the famous line from Jaws, "We're Going to need a bigger boat."
 * The only film where Thomas didn't roar.
 * The only Thomas film not to have the Coal Box.
 * Casey Jr., the train from Dumbo makes a cameo in this movie.
 * The scene where Prince Charming and the Fairy Tale villains invade Sodor is somewhat similar to real-life invasions such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor as well as Germany invading Poland, along with the German Blitzkrieg.