| Bob the Builder | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Steven Feldman, Fred Holmes, Brian Mack, Liz Whitaker (Ep 1) Sarah Ball Brian Little |
| Voices of | Neil Morrissey Rob Rackstraw Kate Harbour Rupert Degas Colin McFarlane Maria Darling Emma Tate Stephen White June Whitfield Richard Herman Wayne Forester[1] |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 18 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Kate Fawkes Theresa Plummer-Andrews |
| Producer(s) | Jackie Cockle |
| Camera setup | Single camera (1997), Multi-camera (2004–present) |
| Production company(s) | HiT Entertainment Hot Animation |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBBC (1996), CBeebies (2002–present) Nick Jr. (2001-present) |
| Original run | 12 April 1999 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Bob the Builder is a British children's animated television show created by Keith Chapman. In the original series Bob appears as a building contractor specialising in masonry in a stop motion animated programme with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of anthropomorphised work-vehicles and equipment (all made of clay). The show is broadcast in many countries, but originates from the United Kingdom where Bob is voiced by British actor Neil Morrissey. The show was later created using CGI animation starting with the spin-off series Ready, Steady, Build!.
In each episode, Bob and his gang help with renovations, construction, and repairs and with other projects as needed. The show emphasizes conflict resolution, co-operation, socialization and various learning skills. Bob's catchphrase is "Can we fix it?," to which the other characters respond with "Yes we can!" This phrase is also the title of the show's theme song, which was a million-selling number one hit in the UK.
Bob the Builder was nominated in the BAFTA "Pre-school animation" category from 1997 to 2009, and won the "Children's Animation" category in 2003 for the special episode "A Christmas to Remember".[2] Of the show's success, Sarah Ball said:
I think diggers and dumpers fascinate kids in the same way that they are drawn to dinosaurs. They both have a timeless appeal. The technique of stop motion is very tangible - the characters look like you can just pick them up and play with them. It’s a safe, lovely, bright, colourful world, which is very appealing. Curtis Jobling did a fantastic job designing the show - it’s very simple and stylized but has such charm!—Interview with Sarah Ball, Gurgle.com[3]
Bob the Builder has been parodied by Robot Chicken in the episode "More Blood, More Chocolate," and by Comedy Inc. as Bodgy Builder.
Bob was also parodied on Cartoon Network's MAD in the episode "S'Up/Mouse M.D." In the episode when Mickey Mouse portrays Gregory House he goes to perform surgery on Bob who smashed his thumb asking similar to his famous catchphrase "Can we fix it?" Mickey then replies no and orders for it to be amputated. He later appears in another episode when Bob interacts with Manny from Handy Manny after they get into a fender bender and get into an argument with Bob saying "Stop copying my show!" He leaves then someone tells Manny he just got built. In another episode, "Kung Fu Blander/Destroy Bob the Builder Destroy," Mad parodies Bob the Builder and Destroy Build Destroy. In the episode, Andrew W.K. of Destroy Build Destroy, is portrayed as being a jerk towards Bob. Andrew destroys everything Bob builds. In the end, Bob transforms his construction vehicles into a robot, smashing Andrew W.K. repeatedly.
Various companies manufacture licensed Bob the Builder Merchandise (e.g.: Brio, Lego Duplo, Hasbro, Learning Curve, etc) since about 1999 to present. Sometimes some fans make fan-made merchandise for the television show, such as racing games that are not related to the show.
Brio created some Bob the Builder characters and minifigures for their Bob the Builder line. For example, the Travis and Scoop Wooden Race Set was created, along with other sets that. Years later, the range had been discontinued.
Lego began manufacturing licensed Duplo Bob the Builder sets in 2001. Lego Explorer also made the sets using the same bricks that Duplo used (e.g. Naughty Spud, Wallpaper Wendy, etc). The sets were aimed at younger children 2 and up. Duplo manufactured the sets (e.g. Scoop at Bobland Bay, Muck Can Do It, etc.) until 2009 when Lego's contract has been expired.
A most popular YouTube and internet user, CEO100able, will be creating trucks and models of the Bob the Builder characters for the racing packages (4x4 Evolution and 4x4 Evo 2) made by Terminal Reality and Gathering of Developers. In these off-road racing games, the user can drive and control a selected vehicle over a chosen track, created or downloaded by the user. Both of these games are available for purchase on Amazon.com.[4] [5]
Many of the characters and items of trucks and models will be created, along with CEO100able's version of Bobsville, since it was completed in 2011. An updated version of the same track, along with the "Sunflower Valley" track for the games will be avialable soon. CEO100able will first upload them to KC's 4x4 Evo 1 and 2 fan-sites. His username on those sites is "4x4EvolutionFan." For his IP address, check the history page on this article. Also, in early 2013, CEO100able will upload them to his sites, CEO100able's 4x4 Evo 1 Place and CEO100able's 4x4 Evo 2 Place. It is unknown if his trucks and models will be completed sometime in the future.
When they're uploaded, they will be available. To download from KC's 4x4 Evo 1 and 2 Places, go to vales.com/evo1 and/or vales.com/evo2, register for an account, buy a membership and read the review topics first. Then, you can download them from the sites. To download from CEO100able's 4x4 Evo 1 and 2 Places (which are coming soon in early 2013), go to the URLs: ceo100ables4x4evo1place.com and/or ceo100ables4x4evo2place.com and go to the downloads page. For the character vehicles, go to the vehicles page. For the tracks, go to the tracks page. Click on the word "Download" and you can download the ZIP files to your hard drive. [6] [7]
Hasbro created licensed Bob the Builder characters. They included talking characters and others to go with the Bob the Builder line. The Hasbro line was discontinued in 2005 when Learning Curve took the chance to take over.
Learning Curve among countless others currently holds a license to produce official merchandise. They first merchandised their Bob the Builder products in 2005 after the Hasbro range was discontinued. They are a lot more fun to use than any other company. Learning Curve also created the Thomas and Friends characters, while the company still makes the sets (e.g. Scoop, Muck, Lofty, Dizzy, Bob's Trailer, etc) and then sold them to stores. They still make the toys as of today.
An internet user named Dynami1creature recorded Bob the Builder videos for YouTube, but made specially-created American TV shows.
In the second season, a sort of spin-off series was created titled "Project: Build-It." Bob hears of a contest to build a new community in a remote area called Sunflower Valley, outside of Bobsville. He moves from Bobsville (supposedly temporarily) with Wendy and the team and builds a new yard there. Bob convinces his father, Robert, to come out of retirement and take over the Bobsville building business. It is not known whether Bob will return to Bobsville or not.
For the US version of the Project Build-It series, different actors were found to do the voices for many of the human characters, including casting Greg Proops as the new voice of Bob, and Neil Morrissey, who played the original Bob, to be the voices of Spud the Scarecrow and Mr. Bentley. The show also added recycling and being environmentally friendly to its lessons, emphasising the phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."
The third spin-off has been revealed as Bob the Builder: Ready, Steady, Build! It was created by Keith Chapman and Mallory Lewis. The group, now joined by newcomer Scratch are now residing in the town of Fixham Harbour (which is very similar to Bobsville, and is even implied to be Bobsville in several episodes), deal with construction and other building tasks around the area. Unlike previous series, "Ready, Steady, Build!" is animated in full CGI animation, though still retains the theme song.[8] Scratch is first seen in this spin-off.
Celebrities who have provided voices for the series (usually for one-off specials) include John Motson, Sue Barker, Kerry Fox, Ulrika Jonsson, Alison Steadman, Stephen Tompkinson, Elton John, Noddy Holder, and Chris Evans (Bobsville's resident rock star Lennie Lazenby).
Bob the Builder is shown in more than thirty countries, and versions are available in English, French, Spanish, Slovenian, German, Italian, Dutch, Hebrew, Hindi and Croatian, among other languages. It is shown on CBeebies on BBC television in the UK. Voice actors who have contributed to the original British version include Neil Morrissey, Rob Rackstraw, Kate Harbour, Rupert Degas, Colin McFarlane, Maria Darling, Emma Tate, Richard Briers, June Whitfield, Richard Herman, and Wayne Forester.
Bob the Builder is shown with the ABC Kids programming in Australia.[9]
"Bob, o Construtor" is aired in Brazil on Discovery Kids.[10]
Treehouse TV and TVOntario air Bob the Builder in Canada, and it was shown on Nick Jr. beginning on January 15, 2001 up until 2005 in the United States until the 2005-2006 season when it was offered as part of PBS Kids lineup, and currently airs on the PBS Kids Sprout cable network. The show also aired in the US on CBS between 2001 and 2002 as part of the "Nick Jr. on CBS" E/I lineup.
The Northern American version of the show uses the original British footage, but dubs the voices in local accents and slang; for example, the word "soccer" is used instead of "football" to avoid confusion with the gridiron forms of the game (though sometimes this is done haphazardly; in one episode, a "soccer field" is referred to but later it talks about "football tricks"). The original North American voice of Bob (and Farmer Pickles/Mr. Beasley/Mr. Sabatini) was William Dufris, however, he was replaced with comedian Greg Proops. More recently, Bob's US voice has been provided by Marc Silk; an English voice actor from Birmingham.[11] [12]
In the province of Quebec, the series is entitled "Bob le Bricoleur" in the French language and airs on Télé-Québec.
In the Chinese Language version, it is called "Babu engineer." The show has been dubbed to into the Chinese Language.
"Bořek stavitel" is aired on Česká televize, the national public television.
In Denmark the show is named "Byggemand Bob" and is being aired on TV2 and repeated on DR1.
"Puuha-Pete" is aired in Finland on Nelonen every week from Monday to Friday at 7.50 AM (in June 2010).
Beginning from 22 October 2005, "Bob le Bricoleur" has been airing on France 5 in France. This is the second season (called "Project: Build It" in English): "Mission Nature".[13]
Beginning from 2 February 2001, "Bob der Baumeister" has been airing on Super RTL in Germany. Since then, 157 episodes have been aired.
"Bob o Mastoras" is aired on Alter Channel, in both Greek and English.
In 2007, beginning 20 November until the end of the year, "Bob, a mester" was aired every weekday (from 16:15) on Channel m1 of Hungarian Television.[14] The names of the characters are either translated in a more or less literal way (Farmer Pickles,[15] Pilchard,[16] Lofty, Roley[17]), left untranslated (Bob, Wendy[18]), or replaced to a phonetically similar word (Muck became Muki,[16] this similar-sounding word is semantically unrelated); in some cases, entirely new names were given, unrelated to the original ones both semantically and phonetically (Dizzy has become Trixi,[17] Scoop has become Márkus,[18] and Spud has become Piff,[19] neither of these new names has any meaning in Hungarian). Bird is given a new name as well,[17][20] a word meaning "short" in a countryside dialect (infiltrated into youth slang as well);[21] but the choice may be motivated also by its onomatopoetic sounding. Not only the broadcast episodes have been translated, but also the 2006 Annual.[22]
In India, the name is still "Bob the Builder" and it is broadcast on POGO. It is dubbed in Hindi.
In Israel, "Bob HaBanai" (בוב הבנאי) is aired in the Israeli Educational Television and in other children's channels in Cable and Satellite television. It is dubbed to Hebrew, and Bob's catchphrase is "נצליח לתקן?," to which the other characters respond with "כן! כן! כן!"
In Italy the show is named "Bob Aggiustatutto" and is being aired on RaiSat Yoyo.
When being exported to Japan, it was reported that characters of Bob the Builder would be doctored to have five fingers instead of the original four. This was because of a practice among the Yakuza, the famed Japanese mafia, where members would "cut off their little fingers as a sign they can be trusted and have strength of character, and will stay through.".[23]
In the Spanish speaking part of Latin America, the show is called "Bob, el Constructor" (literal translation of the title) and is aired by several public TV channels as well as by Discovery Kids. It was dubbed in México and some of the voice actors are: 'Arturo Mercado' (Bob), 'María Fernanda Morales' (Wendy) and 'Jesús "Chucho" Barrero' (Spud).
The name of the program remains unchanged, however the program has been dubbed into Malay by Filem Karya Nusa. The programme originally premiered on TV3 in January 2000. Shortly after, Astro picked it up for its Astro Ria in-house channel. The version aired on Astro Ria is dubbed into Malay, with the original British English soundtrack is also available by using the audio language button on the satellite decoder's remote. TV3 no longer aired the programme in 2003, however resumed in 2006 for a short period of time. Shortly after, TV9 picked up the programme for a short period of time in original version. In 2010, Astro Ceria stopped the broadcast of the programme and was aired on ntv7 with new episodes.
Soon after the BBC started airing, KRO aired the episodes of "Bob de Bouwer" in the Netherlands. Main voices are done by Bram Bart (Bob, Spud, Mr. Dickson, Mr. Ellis, Benny), Caroline Mout (Wendy, Dizzy, Scrambler) and Fred Meijer (Scoop, Lofty, Mr. Beasley, Mr. Bentley, Mr. Fothergill, Pogo ), Laus Steenbeeke (Farmer Pickles, Jake, Mr. Adams, Mr. Sabatini, Mr. Stevens, Robert the Builder, Skip, Tom the Twin Brother, Tony, Travis, Zoomer), Marjolein Algera (Aunt Doris, Charlene, Del, Dot the Builder, Jana von Strudel, Jenny, Marjorie Mayor, Molly, Mrs. Broadbent, Mrs. Percival, Mrs. Potts, Ms Barbara Bentley, Scoot, Trix) and Stan Limburg (Muck, Roley, JJ, Lenny Lazenby). Stan Limburg also is the Dutch voice-director.
In Norway the show is named "Byggmester Bob" and is being aired on TV2.
In the Philippines, the name is still "Bob the Builder" and it is broadcast on TV5. It is dubbed in Tagalog.
"Bob Budowniczy" is aired on TVP1 7.00PM. MiniMini aired the third season called "Bob the Builder: Ready Steady Build" since 2010.
In Portugal, the series is entitled "Bob, o Construtor" and airs on RTP1, RTP2, Canal Panda and Jim Jam.
"Мајстор Боб / Majstor Bob" is aired on Happy TV.
In Slovenia the show is named "Mojster Miha" and is being aired on RTV slovenija channel TV Slovenija 1.
"Bob y sus amigos" is aired in Spanish on Playhouse Disney. Bob always asks "¿Podemos hacerlo?" and his friends answer "¡Sí, podemos!"
The show is also aired in Catalan on TV3, the national public television of Catalonia as "Bob el Manetes." Bob always asks "Ens en sortirem?" and his friends answer "Sí, i tant!"
In Sweden the show is named "Byggare Bob" and is being aired on SVTs child times.
Beginning from 12 February 1999, the name is still "Bob the Builder" and is being broadcast on CBeebies. The voice of Bob is done by Neil Morrisey, a creator for drama adult's programme Men Behaving Badly. The third spin-off is being broadcast (Ready, Steady, Build). Other voices include Rob Rackstraw, Kate Harbour, Rupert Degas and Richard Briers.[24]
The Scottish Gaelic language version is called "Calum Clachair" (Bob the Stonemason). It is used for alliteration.[25]
The Welsh language version is called "Bob Y Bildar" and began airing on S4C in October 2006, as part of the Planed Plant Bach lunchtime segment between 12:30 and 1:30pm. The show has been dubbed into the Welsh language by record label Sain, which had previously provided Welsh dialogue for children's series Thomas the Tank Engine, The Large Family, Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, Angelo Rules and Octonauts. A.[26]
In the show MAD on Cartoon Network, he is known for appearing twice, once as a character in the episode "Mouse M.D.," and his own parody, "Destroy, Bob the Builder, Destroy."
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [27] |
IRE [28] |
NZ [29] |
UK [30] |
||||||
| Bob the Builder: The Album |
|
1 | 59 | 32 | 4 | ||||
| Never Mind the Breeze Blocks |
|
— | — | — | 87 | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [33] |
IRE [28] |
UK [30] |
|||||||
| 2000 | "Can We Fix It?" | 1 | 3 | 1 | Bob the Builder: The Album | ||||
| 2001 | "Mambo No. 5" | 2 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| 2008 | "Big Fish Little Fish" | — | — | 81 | Never Mind the Breeze Blocks | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
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