'''Bob the Builder''' is a
children's television character created by
Keith Chapman. Bob appears as a
construction contractor 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 actor
Neil Morrissey.
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
comic relief hit in England.
Production
The show is produced in the United Kingdom and then United States by
Lyrick Studios, then
Hot Animation for
HIT Entertainment, and draws heavily on
stop motion techniques such as those pioneered by
Art Clokey and more recently on the successful works of
Aardman Animations. The show does not use
claymation, but instead the characters are made with silicone skin and a metal armatured skeleton inside. The Supervising Animator is Paul Couvela and the characters and sets are designed by
Curtis Jobling.
Characters
All the characters are adult humans, machines or animals, except for Spud the scarecrow who serves as the
stand-in for a naïve child. It is Spud who must learn to be patient, not to eat all of the food, etc. Spud has a habit of trying to do work and with his limited intelligence getting it wrong and spoiling materials. The machines also often exhibit the behaviors of children, being impatient, not fully understanding the consequences of their actions, and generally acting like children. In these circumstances, Bob acts like their parent, patiently teaching them lessons and helping them fix the messes they've gotten themselves into.
Some have complained about technical errors and lack of proper safety practices in the program, especially the absence of protective eye-wear.
[1] However, in later episodes, Bob is seen wearing
safety glasses.
Humans
'Bob the
Builder' is a construction worker and head of his own construction yard. He is the namesake of the show and also its
main character. Some of the problems in the show arise from Bob's habit of forgetting to turn his
mobile phone on.
'Wendy' who runs the office and keeps the business in order. She is his
business partner and often organizes tools and equipment. An underlying romantic tension between Bob and Wendy is hinted at in several episodes.
'Farmer Pickles' is a nearby farmer who sometimes helps out with Bob's projects.
'Spud', a
scarecrow who means well, but more often than not makes a mess of things.
Machines
Major machine characters
★ 'Scoop' is a yellow
backhoe loader and the unofficial leader of all the machines (male voice; catchphrase: "No prob, Bob!").
★ 'Muck' is a red
bulldozer with additional dumping bed who thinks before he acts and often gets in trouble for it, but finds his way back (male voice; female voice in US dub; catchphrase: "Muck to the rescue!").
★ 'Dizzy' is an orange
concrete mixer and one of the youngest in the yard. She is eager, curious, and easily excitable (female voice; catchphrase: "Brilliant!").
★ 'Lofty' is a blue
crane who isn't very confident; he is hesitant and timid, but with the encouragement of the team comes through in the end (male voice; catchphrase: "Uh... yeah, I think so!", usually said in response to the question "Can we fix it?").
★ 'Roley' the green
steamroller, rounds out the "Can-Do Crew" (male voice; catchphrase: "Rock and roll!").
★ 'Travis' is Farmer Pickles'
cyan tractor. He helps out the crew when they need it and keeps an eye on Spud the scarecrow.
★ 'Spud' the
scarecrow (male voice; catchphrase: "OK, Farmer Pickles" & "Spud's on the job!").
Minor machine characters
★ 'Scrambler' - Darkish blue
quadbike (male voice; catchphrase: "Awesome!" and "Scram to the Valley")
★ 'Benny' - Darkish pink
excavator (female voice; catchphrase: "Unreal, banana peel!")
★ 'Skip' - Forklift,
skip-carrier (male voice)
★ 'Sumsy' - Maroon & Yellow Striped
forklift
★ 'Packer' - Red pick up truck.
★ 'Trix' - Purple
forklift; belongs to J.J. (female voice; catchphrase: "Easy peasy!")
★ 'Scoot' - Black & yellow, Tom's
snowmobile (male voice)
★ 'Zoomer' - Purple, Bobsville
snowmobile (male voice; seen in 'Snowed Under')
★ 'Jackaroo'- Blue pick up truck.
★ 'Patrick' -
bmi baby Jetplane (Male voice; catchphrase: "A Jet plane is ready to go!")
Animals
'
Pilchard the Cat' is Bob's
pet and considered a part of the team. However, she's often sleeping when she's needed. Farmer Pickles has two animals: 'Scruffty', a
dog and 'Humpty', a prize
pig.
Other animals
★ Bird - A
bird, Roley's best friend
★ Squawk - Another
bird, friend of Bird
★ Tommy - Mrs. Potts'
turtle
★ Hamish - Molly's
parrot
Project Build-It
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 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. Also, the show added recycling and being
environmentally friendly to its lessons, emphasising the phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle".
International versions
''Bob the Builder'' is shown in more than thirty countries, and versions are available in English, French, Spanish, Slovenian, German, Italian, Dutch, Hebrew, 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 and
June Whitfield.
Australia
''Bob the Builder'' is shown with the
ABC Kids programming in Australia.
[2]
Catalonia
"Bob el Manetes" is aired in Catalan on TV3, the national
public television. Bob always asks "Ens en sortirem?" and his friends answer "Si, i tant".
Czech Republic
"Bořek stavitel" is aired on
Česká televize, the national
public television.
Finland
"Puuha-Pete" is aired in Finland on
Nelonen on Wednesday at 7.50 AM.
France
Beginning
October 22, 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''".
[3]
Germany
Beginning February 2, 2001, "''Bob der Baumeister''" has been airing on
Super RTL in
Germany. Since then, 157 episodes have been aired.
Japan
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."
[4].
Quebec, Canada
In the province of Quebec, the series is entitled "''Bob le Bricoleur''" and airs on
Télé-Québec.
Slovenia
In Slovenia the show is named "Mojster Miha" and is being aired on
RTV slovenija channel TV Slovenija 1.
The Netherlands
Soon after the BBC started airing,
Fox Kids and later
Jetix aired the episodes of "''Bob de Bouwer''" in
the Netherlands. Main voices are done by
Bram Bart (Bob, Spud, Mr. Dickson, Mr. Ellis, Bennie),
Caroline Mout (Wendy, Dizzie, Scrambler) and
Fred Meyer (Scoop, Lofty, Mr. Beasley, Mr. Bentley, Mr. Fothergill, Pogo ),
Laus Steenbeeke (Farmer Pickles, Jake, Mr. Adams, Mr. Sabatini, Mr. Stevens, Robert the Builder, Scip, Tom the Builder, 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.
North America
Treehouse TV airs ''Bob the Builder'' in
Canada, and it was shown on
Nickelodeon in the
United States until the 2005-06 season when it was moved to the
PBS Kids network. The show also aired in the US on
CBS between 2001 and 2002.
The North 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
American football or
Canadian football (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.
Norway
In Norway the show is named "Byggmester Bob" and is being aired on
TV2.
Wales
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''.
[5]
Sweden
In Sweden the show is named "Byggare Bob" and is being aired on
SVTs child times.
References
★ Character section information from:
Meet all of the Bob the Builder Characters
1. http://www.fluidpowersafety.com/sfty_toy1.html
2. Bob the Builder - ABC Kids TV guide
3. Bob le Bricoleur
4. Bob the Builder fixed for Japan
5. Can we fix it? Ie, ni'n gallu, says Bob on S4C
External links
★
Official Website
★
''Bob the Builder'' area on NickJr.com
★
''Bob the Builder'' web page at TreeHouseTV.com
العربية
ä¸å›½
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€
Italiano
日本語
Português
РуÑÑкий
Español
