Western Animation / Big Tim

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Big Tim is an animated Short Film by Wilding Pictures Production Inc., and United Productions of America, for the purpose of promoting Timken brand roller bearings.

Tim is a brand-new locomotive, fresh out of the workshop, with an innovative new feature: roller bearings. These are axels fitted on the inside with a series of spinning cylinders meant to help the axle spin more easily and reduce the wear and tear on the axle and the fillings. He's come to the yard where his Uncle Smedley works, and soon learns of Kid Friction: every train's worst enemy. He loves nothing more than to grab hold of axles and grind metal against metal to make it tough for trains to get moving—or worse, bring them to a railway line-clogging stop by causing a "hotbox" or overheated bearing, resulting in delays and stoppages that causes trouble for not only the railroad companies and their locomotives, but the customers and clients they provide services to.

On Tim's first job, he runs afoul of Kid Friction, who brings his roller bearing-less train to a crashing halt, causing confusion and delay up and down the line. This gets him sent to the sheds for a long while, but as Kid Friction causes more trouble for other trains on the line, it soon comes time for Tim and his roller bearings to put that bully in his place.

The short was released on June 23rd, 1949.

Big Tim contains examples of:

• Anthropomorphic Personification: Kid Friction is obviously meant to represent the friction caused by axle bearings that aren't lined with rollers, like Tim's.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Surprisingly enough, Big Tim and his fellow roller-bearing locomotives, as pointed out during Tim's time in the shed; sure, they make the locomotives run smoother, but if the freight cars are still using the old-fashioned friction and fire-prone axles, it won't make a lick of difference in the long run, since trains will still end up delayed by Kid Friction and hot-boxes clogging up the lines; it isn't until Tim gets a whole train of roller freight that he finally defeats Kid Friction and gets a train to its destination on time.
• Arc Words: "Roller Bearings", what else? Of course, the whole short is essentially a plug for Timken Roller Bearings, to advertise their product to the general public, so it's expected that you'll hear those to words a lot.
• By the Lights of Their Eyes: When Tim has been sent to the sheds, only his eyes are visible in the darkness. Same for the other engines in the shed with him.
• Character Development: At first, Mr. Kelly wasn't on good terms with Big Tim due to him bumping into his caboose by accident, but Mr. Kelly was shown to be on good terms with him at the end.
• Character Narrator: The short is narrated by a voiceover of Tim.
• Cool Old Guy: Smedley, Tim's uncle, warns him about Kid Friction and later cheers his nephew on when he is pulling a train of new cars.
• Cool Train: Big Tim, who else? He even appears to be the only character in the film based on a diesel locomotive, whereas his coworkers are all steam trains.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After getting his train on time thanks to the new roller bearings, lots of people respected Big Tim.
• Green and Mean: Kid Friction is a man whose whole entire body is solid green, clothes included.
• How We Got Here: At the beginning, Big Tim is shown as a successful locomotive running on time, speeding past a station right on schedule with an amazed crowd watching him. The animation is effectively a flashback that tells us how Big Tim got this way.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being a bit cantankerous towards Tim and relegating him to the sheds after his Hot-Box incident on the main line, Mr. Kelly isn't a bad guy; he's just very strict about his schedule and easily annoyed by his caboose being jerked around thanks to the old bearings on his rolling stock not providing the smoothest stops and starts in the yard. He even helps Tim in the climax when his train gets the new roller bearings, kicking Kid Friction off the back and having a crane hoist the villain into the air and out of the way.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After Mr. Kelly's caboose was placed on new wheels fitted with roller bearings, Kid Friction gets a kick in his own "caboose," also courtesy of Mr. Kelly, leaving him stranded and left behind on a loading crane as Tim pulls out of the station.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Big Tim cost the railroad lots of money, and he ends up being put away in the sheds after his first freight train gets a hot-box. Technically, the incident WASN'T entirely his fault since Kid Friction was the one who "hot-boxed" the bearings, but, as several of Tim's fellow locomotives lament about, it doesn't do much good to only have the new (and expensive) locomotives using roller bearings when the rolling stock itself is the main problem:
  Big Tim (narrator): Kid Friction has burned up all our schedules and given me a bad name, (The words "Big Jerk" appears on Tim) especially with the vice presidents, (a word "disgust" appears), and the treasurer. That one ol' hot box tied up the shipper's money, stalled those perishables until they perished, and delayed the goods that should've been at market. (The camera cuts to the roundhouse) Not to mention the half million-dollar locomotive doghouse, and I was costing the railroad a lot of money, not doing any good.
  Locomotive 1: Don't worry, Tim, we've all been through it.
  Locomotive 2: What's the use of us locomotives having roller bearings...
  Locomotive 3: ...with Kid Friction holding back a hundred cars?
• Protagonist Title: The titular Big Tim.
• Sentient Vehicle: Tim and all the other locomotives in the yard.
• Truth in Television: In real life, roller-less axles (dubbed 'Friction Bearings' by Timken advertising) were indeed a huge problem for railroads, as lack of maintenance (Namely neglecting to oil a bearing) would often result in entire trains coming to a stop over a single axle heating up from friction to the point of catching fire. They were enough of a problem in the past that modern Class-1 railroads ban the use of cars that use roller-less axles.
• You Are Number Six: When pulling a train with cars fitted with roller bearings, Tim passes plenty of trains who left before he did, like Numbers 66, 77, 88, and 99.