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"Happy Birthday, Theodore!"
— The tugboats and boats
BigHarbourBirthday103
Big Harbour Birthday/
Theodore's Birthday Surprise
Producer(s)

Andrew Cochran

Narrator

The Harbour Master
(Denny Doherty)

Previous episode

Theodore and the
Northern Lights

Next episode

Theodore's
Backwards Day

Big Harbour Birthday, retitled Theodore's Birthday Surprise, is the eleventh episode of the third season.

Plot

The sun is rising in the Big Harbour. Theodore is already awake and is very excited. Today is his birthday. The other tugs are still asleep, and Theodore goes around, trying to wake them up. He goes to wake up Hank and tells him that it's today. Hank is still feeling sleepy and asks him what today is with a yawn. But Theodore tells him nothing special with a secret smile.

At last the other tugs are awake and prepare for the morning work meeting. Usually, the birthday tug is given a special place in the middle. And everyone sung happy birthday. But to Theodore's dissatisfaction, the Dispatcher tells the tugs that it would be a busy day. He tells Theodore that he, Hank and George would be moving a container ship. The other tugs head off to work. But Theodore asks the Dispatcher if that was all. But he tells him there will be more later. Theodore starts to become a little more happier knowing there will be more later, and even repeats the words to Donald Dock, and believes the Dispatcher will throw him a big birthday party later. And Donald replies with a simple "uh-huh", which is all he ever says. So, Theodore hurries off.

Colchester the container ship has arrived in the Big Harbour. Theodore is thinking Foduck is hiding behind and is going to squirt at him with his firehose. And everyone is going to sing happy birthday, and there will be balloons and games and everything. He turns around behind Colchester and shuts his eyes with excitement. He hears a voice, thinking his surprise is coming. But when he turns around, nothing happens. Theodore is disappointed, only to see that it was Petra the pilot boat calling his name. She tells him that he will be the tug in charge and leads him to Colchester. Colchester is a pretty big ship, and Theodore tells Petra that George is usually the tug in charge. But Petra insists that he can do it. It may not be what Theodore expected, but he feels happy being the tug in charge and tells George and Hank what to do.

As they reach the dock, George, Hank and Petra tell him he did a good job. Theodore comments that he has learned a lot since his last birthday. Unfortunately, they left for their next job and didn't hear. Theodore starts to wonder when he's going to have his birthday party. Then Emily shows up and tells him that Pearl is waiting for him at Willy's Island. Theodore believes that it must be time for his birthday party and rushes off with excitement. But his excitement is short lived as he sees there's no one around Willy's Island either. Pearl shows up and tells Theodore that a barge has spilled its logs near Maroon Bay. But Theodore's not paying attention, as he's still thinking of his birthday party. Petra leads him to Maroon Bay.

As they reach the bay, Theodore can see that Bobby Barge (who is mistaken for Bonnavista) had spilled his logs in the water. Theodore groans a very disappointed groan. He thinks he'll never be able to celebrate his birthday now. Pearl toots her horn and tells Theodore to get started. Theodore tries to get a log, but it floats away. He has no idea how he's going to get the logs together. But he's surprised to hear that Pearl will help him. They push the logs together, and Bobby picks them up with his crane. Pearl even suggests on making a game out of it by seeing who can collect the most logs. Theodore has never seen that side of Pearl before and can't believe what he heard. And they do. She even tells stories about pilot boat adventures. Soon all the logs are back on Bobby. Pearl tells Theodore he did a good job. But Theodore can see the sun is setting and sadly tells her thank you. Pearl asks if something's wrong, and Theodore tells her it was his birthday. Pearl wishes him a happy birthday, but Theodore still feels belittled as he assumed everyone forgot. Pearl suggests they better head home, and Theodore sadly follows with Bobby in tow.

As they reach the harbour, Pearl points out that Benjamin Bridge is looking nice. But Theodore thinks Benjamin always look the same. But that's when he looks up, he sees that Benjamin was decorated with balloons, bunting and streamers. The Dispatcher was also decorated as well. Then he gets sprayed by Foduck's firehose. And all the tugboats rush out from behind Benjamin to surprise Theodore. Theodore can't believe it. Emily tells him they wanted it to a be a big surprise, and they waited until the right moment. And they all whistle in the tune of "Happy Birthday to You" together to Theodore. Afterwards they played their favourite game Stop & Go, sang songs, and told stories until the sun went down. Hank asks Theodore if he feels different on his birthday. Well, Theodore does feel different, but he can't explain it. He feels like he was floating a little higher in the water. And it's the best birthday he could ever have.

Characters

Trivia

  • In some cases, this episode is unofficially called Theodore's Birthday.
  • "Happy Birthday to You" is heard as an instrumental throughout the episode.
  • This is the second episode where a birthday is involved. The first being The Dispatcher's Best Birthday.

Goofs

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