Bob the Builder

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Bob the Builder

Bob the Builder is a stop-motion animated children's TV programme about the adventures of a construction contractor and his friends.

It features Bob (voiced by actor Neil Morrissey in the English original), his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of anthropomorphised work-vehicles and equipment. In each episode they 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?" The response to this (from the rest of his team) is "Yes we can!" (though Lofty generally follows up later with "uhh yeah I think so"). This phrase is also the title of the show's theme song; the song became a Christmas number one single in 2000 and was the biggest selling single of the year, appearing 72nd in the all-time UK best-sellers list issued in 2002. (The single also reached number one in Australia in 2001.) A second single by Bob, "Mambo No.5", with the lyrics adapted from Lou Bega's 1999 hit version, also reached number one a year later. An album called 'The Album' followed, which debuted at #4, and it included a cover of Elton John's Crocodile rock.

The show is produced in the UK by 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 (although the show is not claymation but instead the characters are made from silicone for the skin with a metal armatured skeleton inside). The characters and sets are designed by Curtis Jobling. It is shown in more than thirty countries, and versions are available in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, and Croatian, among other languages. It is shown on CBeebies on BBC television in the UK, and was shown on Nickelodeon in the US, and Treehouse TV in Canada. In the US, starting with the 2005-06 season, episodes will be shown on PBS Kids instead. The "North American" version uses the actual BBC episodes, but dubs the voices in local accents and slang (for example, the word "soccer" is used to avoid confusion with the very different "football" popular in the U.S. and Canada). Voice actors who have contributed to the Original UK Version include Neil Morrisey, Rob Rackstraw, Kate Harbour, Rupert Degas, Colin McFarlane, Emma Tate, Richard Briers and June Whitfield. In the US version, Bob's voice is performed by comedian Greg Proops.

Characters

Humans

• Bob the Builder
• Wendy - Bob's business associate
• Farmer Pickles
• Spud - a scarecrow (belongs to Farmer Pickles)
• Mr Bernard Bentley - the building inspector
• Mrs Barbara Bentley - his wife
• Mr Sabatini - runs the local pizza shop
• Mrs Sabatini
• Pam
• Mr Ellis - museum manager
• Mr Beasley
• Mrs Percival - school headmaster
• Mrs Potts
• Mavis - postwoman
• Mr Dixon - postman
• Robert - Bob's Dad
• Dorothy - Bob's Mum
• Tom - Bob's fraternal twin brother
• Mr Costello - Drive-in movie manager
• JJ - Parts supplier
• Molly - JJ's daughter
• Jenny - Wendy's sister
• Dora - Bob's aunt
• Mr Williams - an airport manager
• Mr Stevens - an archaeologist

• Scoop - Yellow backhoe (male voice; catchphrase: "No prob, Bob!")
• Muck - Red bulldozer with additional dumping bed (male voice; female voice in US dub; catchphrase: "Muck to the rescue!")
• Dizzy - Orange concrete mixer (female voice; catchphrase: "Brilliant!")
• Roley - Green steamroller (male voice; catchphrase: "Rock and roll!")
• Lofty - Blue crane (male voice; catchphrase: "Uh... I think so!")
• Travis - Cyan tractor (belongs to Farmer Pickles, male voice)
• Skip - Yellow like Scoop, skip-carrier (male voice)
• Trix - Purple forklift (Female voice)
• Scrambler - Darkish blue quadbike (male voice; catchphrase: "Awesome!")
• Benny - Darkish pink excavator (female voice; catchphrase: "Unreal, banana peel!")
• Scoot - Black & yellow, Tom's snowmobile (male voice)

• Pilchard - Bob's cat
• Bird - A bird, Roley's best friend
• Squawk - Another bird, friend of Bird
• Tommy - Mrs. Potts' turtle
• Humpty - Farmer Pickles' prize pig
• Scruffty - Farmer Pickles' dog
• Hamish - Molly's parrot

Some have complained about technical errors and lack of proper safety practices in the program, especially the absence of protective eyewear. [link] However, in later programmes this appears to have been addressed - Bob is seen with safety glasses in a number of episodes.

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 (along with his Dad) and builds a new yard there. It is not known whether he 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 made recycling and being environmentally friendly to its lessons, emphasising the phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle".

The episodes have been released in DVDs:

• Volume 1:episodes 01 to 04:called Bob's Big Plan
• Volume 2:episodes 05 to 09:called Chip Off The Old Block
• Volume 3:episodes 10 to 14:called Let's Scram!
• Volume 4:episodes 15 to 19:called Super Speedy Benny
• Volume 5:episodes 20 to 23:called Special Houses
• Volume 6:episodes 24 to 27:called Harvest Time!

SERIES 1

• Muck

• Lofty Can Lift It!

• Fix It, Team

• Let's Having A Race
• Really Useful Builder
• The Buiding Song
• Rock 'n' Roll
• Farmer Pickles, Travis & Spud

• Scoop
• Come For A Ride!
• Wendy Paints the Wall
• Scruffy

• The Machines
• Gone Fishing
• Trix & Molly
• Skip
• JJ

Crew

• Paul Couvela - Supervising Animator
• Jonathan Kershaw - Lead Propmaker
• James Taylor - Propmaker

Episodes

Season 1

• The Environment (101)
• Divergent Thinking (102)
• Surprises (103)
• Self-Esteem (104)
• Taking Responsibility (105)
• Creativity (106)
• Helping Others (107)
• Animal Habitats (108)
• Discovery (109)
• Antcipating Outcomes (110)
• Comfidence (111)
• Using Clues (112)
• Problem Solving (113)

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External links

• [Official Website]
• [Bob the Builder area on NickJr.com]
• [Bob the Builder]
• [Fluid Power Safety site critical of Bob the Builder safety practices]

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