Will You Won't You

Will You Won't You (Take Me To The Railway Show?) is the first song featured in The Great Race. The song is sung by the majority of the characters in the special.

Lyrics

 * Duck: It's gonna be special!
 * It's gonna be great!
 * Off to the Mainland without coaches or freight


 * Edward, Norman, Stanley and Duck: Please Sir, I beg you
 * I just have to know
 * Will you won't you take me to the Railway Show?


 * Henry: Take me, Sir
 * I pull the heaviest trains
 * I'm such a mighty engine, Sir
 * It's never a strain


 * (Gordon laughs)


 * Gordon: It's not a tough decision, though I have to confess
 * It's hard to find a better engine for the express


 * Sir Topham Hatt: (spoken) Mmm, precisely!
 * Gordon: (spoken) But...I didn't mean not to take me, Sir!


 * Philip: Haha!
 * I know I'm kinda small, Sir
 * But I'm not a beginner
 * I had a race with Gordon once
 * And I was the winner!


 * Gordon: Oh...
 * (Philip yelps)


 * Diesel: You ought to take me, Sir
 * I'm modern and new
 * Your first diesel ever
 * I'm loyal, kind and true


 * Percy, Emily and Sidney: It's gonna be special
 * It's gonna be great
 * Off to the Mainland without coaches or freight
 * Charlie, Scruff and Stafford: Please Sir, I beg you
 * You can't tell me no
 * James: Will you won't you take me to the Railway Show?


 * Flynn and Belle: Fast engines
 * Henry and Daisy: Long engines
 * Bill, Ben, Timothy and Marion: Tough engines
 * Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel and Peter Sam: Strong engines
 * Salty, Porter and Paxton: Everyone who's any engine's eager to go


 * Cranky: (spoken) I'm not goin' anywhere.


 * Oliver, Bert, Rex and Mike: Will you won't you take us to the Railway Show?


 * Stephen: It's gonna be special
 * It's gonna be great
 * Duck, Donald and Douglas: Leavin' behind all our coaches and freight
 * Please Sir, we're beggin'
 * Ya just can't say no


 * Gordon, James and Diesel: Will you won't you take us to the Railway Show?
 * Henry, Duck, Donald and Douglas: Will you won't you take us to the Railway Show?


 * Thomas: Will you won't you take me to the (wears out) Railway Show...?
 * (Gordon, James and Diesel laugh)

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Duck
 * Donald and Douglas
 * Oliver
 * Bill and Ben
 * Emily
 * Stanley
 * Charlie
 * Scruff
 * Belle
 * Stephen
 * Porter
 * Timothy
 * Diesel
 * Daisy
 * Salty
 * Paxton
 * Norman
 * Sidney
 * Philip
 * Flynn
 * Stafford
 * Marion
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Sir Handel
 * Peter Sam
 * Bert
 * Rex
 * Mike
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Winston
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Toad
 * Owen
 * Big Mickey
 * The Teacher
 * One of Dowager Hatt's Friends
 * The Great Composer

Locations

 * Knapford
 * Knapford Station Yard
 * Henry's Tunnel
 * The Washdown
 * Sodor China Clay Company
 * Blue Mountain Quarry
 * Brendam Docks
 * Arlesburgh West
 * Arlesburgh Works
 * Knapford Yards
 * The Mainland

UK and AUS

 * John Hasler as Thomas and Rheneas
 * Keith Wickham as Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Salty, Norman, Stafford, Skarloey, Sir Handel, Bert and Sir Topham Hatt
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy
 * Steven Kynman as Duck, Charlie, Porter, Paxton and Peter Sam
 * Joe Mills as Donald, Douglas and Oliver
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * Rob Rackstraw as Flynn
 * Teresa Gallagher as Belle, Marion and Daisy
 * Tim Whitnall as Timothy and Mike
 * Tom Stourton as Rex
 * Bob Golding as Stephen and Sidney
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Philip
 * Kerry Shale as Scruff and Diesel
 * Matt Wilkinson as Stanley and Cranky
 * Jonathan Broadbent as Bill and Ben

US and CAN

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * William Hope as Edward
 * Kerry Shale as Henry, Gordon, Scruff and Diesel
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Stanley and Flynn
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy
 * Steven Kynman as Duck, Charlie, Paxton and Peter Sam
 * Joe Mills as Donald, Douglas and Oliver
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * Teresa Gallagher as Belle, Marion and Daisy
 * David Menkin as Porter
 * Keith Wickham as Salty, Norman, Stafford, Skarloey, Sir Handel, Bert and Sir Topham Hatt
 * Tim Whitnall as Timothy and Mike
 * Tom Stourton as Rex
 * Jonathan Broadbent as Bill and Ben
 * John Hasler as Rheneas
 * Glenn Wrage as Cranky
 * Bob Golding as Stephen and Sidney
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Philip

Trivia

 * Philip references the events of The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead.
 * Diesel mentions that he is the Fat Controller's first diesel engine, which is most likely intended to be a reference to the second series episode, Pop Goes the Diesel and to the fact that he was the first diesel engine to be introduced in both the Railway Series and the TV series.
 * In the US version, when Duck, Stanley, Edward, and Norman sing "Please Sir, I beg you, I just have to know", they sing it one at a time, but in the UK version, they sing it at the same time.
 * This is the only song featured in The Great Race which does not have an alternate version of itself.
 * After all the engines stop singing and get back to work, Percy sings "La la la la la la la la Railway Show!" to the tune of the song.

Goofs

 * When Thomas enters Knapford, in the first shot he is already inside the station, but in the next shot he is seen entering the station again.
 * When the song first begins, Thomas' driver's elbow clips through his cab door.
 * Duck is not steaming as he goes through Knapford Station.
 * In the US dub, when Stanley and Norman first speak, their voices are swapped over.
 * As Gordon pulls into Knapford:
 * Emily is leaving the station with a row of her coaches. The second coach's body is missing, as only its chassis can be seen.
 * When Gordon sings, the audio from the singing and the mouth animation do not sync.
 * Gordon is seen puffing right to the end of the platform, but during Philip's and Diesel's solos, he is near the start of the platform and moves between the shots.
 * Thomas goes over Henry's tunnel, despite the fact that there aren't any rails.
 * Rex's tender merges through his cab and his driver's head sticks through his boiler.
 * Stephen's wheels are moving slower than his side rods are.
 * In the US dub, when Gordon, James and Diesel sing "Will you, won't you take us to the railway show," Emily's voice can be faintly heard, her voice can be heard again when Henry, Duck, Donald and Douglas sing "Will you won't you take us to the railway show." She can even be heard laughing when Thomas arrives at the yard to sing along.
 * In both dubs, Percy's UK voice can be heard when Henry, Duck, Donald and Douglas sing "Will you won't you take us to the railway show.", but he is nowhere to be seen in either scene.
 * Towards the end of the song, James' bufferbeam clips through Gordon's running board. In the same shot, they stop moving, but in the next shot, they stop moving again.
 * In the UK dub, when Thomas comes in, James is seen laughing but his voice is not heard. This could be because his voice was drowned out by Gordon and Diesel.