The Little Engine That Could

The classic children's book comes to life in this enjoyable computer-animated feature with Whoopi Goldberg as the voice of Tower, manager of the train yard where Little Engine (Alyson Stoner)—a small blue shunter—attaches boxcars to powerful locomotives that haul toys and happiness from Dreamland to the real world. When Little Engine wishes aloud that she could also make long journeys, veteran freighter Rusty (Jim Cummings) tells her, “If you think you can, you will. If you think you can't, you won't. Either way, you're right.” After a tunnel collapses because Rusty fell asleep on the job (leading to a demotion), Little Engine gets the chance to prove her mettle, relying for help on her caboose (Patrick Warburton) and a schoolboy named Richie (Dominic Scott Kay) who accidentally got stuck in the land of talking trains. Together, they chug along the dangerously rickety mountain track, traveling through colorful terrain dotted with patchwork fields and mushroom forests, picking up a band of lost toys along the way (Jamie Lee Curtis voices Bev, a stuffed clown). The goal is to get Richie home and to restore Rusty to his rightful job—a formidable challenge. Is Little Engine up to the task? Granted, there's a lot of syrup in the folk-style tunes that play over the montage sequences, but it's a small price to pay for such a pleasurable ride. Recommended. Aud: P. (K. Fennessy)