Bob the Builder Information

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 specializing 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 English 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.

Impact

Bob the Builder was nominated in the BAFTA "Pre-school animation" category from 1999 to 2009, and won the "Children's Animation" category in 2003 for the special episode "A Christmas to Remember." Of the show's success, Sarah Ball said: </ref>}}

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 Build-Tron (a parody of Voltron). A New Yorker cartoon shows a parent in a toy store asking for toys depicting Alex the Architect, supposedly a white-collar equivalent to Bob the Builder.

Characters

Merchandise

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

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. Years later, the range had been discontinued.

Lego Duplo/Explorer

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, two and up. Duplo manufactured the sets (e.g. Scoop at Bobland Bay, Muck Can Do It, etc.) until 2009 when Lego's contract expired.

Hasbro

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

Learning Curve among countless others held a license to make the toys, but discontinued them. They first merchandised their Bob the Builder products in 2005 after the Hasbro range was discontinued. Learning Curve also created the Thomas and Friends characters, while the company still makes the sets (e.g. Scoop, Muck, Lofty, Dizzy, andys trailer etc.) and then sold them to stores. They discontinued them in 2010 and it is unknown if they could ever return to making them. The toys are currently available in the United Kingdom by Character Options.

Character World

In 2012 Character World announced that they had signed a license to manufacture official Bob the Builder bedding and bedroom textiles. A duvet cover is said to be available in the UK in late 2012.

Project: Build-It

Template:Mainlist 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 machines 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.

Ready, Steady, Build!

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, which allows for larger and more elaborate construction projects that would be too large or expensive for the model sets of the stop-motion series, though it still retains the theme song. But unlike the original and Project Build It, the intro has clips from the actual episodes instead of scenes that were never included in the episodes. The machines now posess more human-like traits allowing them to move their grill-mouths whenever they speak (a feat that was impossible with the stop-motion animation), sniff, as well as move their bodies like as if their flexible, and even eating as implied in one of the bedtime stories in the Bob the Builder Magazine. It is currently unknown that the series will be completed as for the latest episode aired in 10 June 2012 and hasn't aired future episodes since.

Guest appearances

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).

International broadcasts

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.

Australia

Bob the Builder is shown with the ABC Kids programming in Australia.

Brazil

"Bob, o Construtor" is aired in Brazil on Discovery Kids.

Canada and the United States

Treehouse TV and TVOntario air Bob the Builder in Canada, and it was shown on Nick Jr. beginning on 15 January 2001 up until 2005 in the United States until the 2005"2006 season when it was offered as part of the 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 and script, 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.

Quebec (Canada)

In the province of Quebec, the series is entitled "Bob le Bricoleur" in the French language and airs on Télé-Québec.

China

In the Chinese language version, it is called "Babu engineer." The show has been dubbed in the Chinese language.

Czech Republic

"Bo?ek stavitel" is aired on ?eská televize, the national public television.

Denmark

In Denmark the show is named "Byggemand Bob" and is being aired on TV2 and repeated on DR1.

Finland

"Puuha-Pete" is aired in Finland on Nelonen every week from Monday to Friday at 7:50 am (in June 2010).

France

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".

Germany

Beginning from 2 February 2001, "Bob der Baumeister" has been airing on Super RTL in Germany. Since then, 158 episodes have been aired.

Greece

"Bob o Mastoras" is aired on Alter Channel, in both Greek and English.

Hungary

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. The names of the characters are either translated in a more or less literal way (Farmer Pickles, Pilchard, Lofty, Roley), left untranslated (Bob, Wendy), or replaced to a phonetically similar word (Muck became Muki, 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, Scoop has become Márkus, and Spud has become Piff, none of these new names has any meaning in Hungarian). Bird is given a new name as well, a word meaning "short" in a countryside dialect (infiltrated into youth slang as well); but the choice may be motivated also by its onomatopoetic sound. Not only the broadcast episodes have been translated, but also the 2006 Annual.

India

In India, the name is still "Bob the Builder" and it is broadcast on POGO and (Cartoon Network) in English and also in Hindi,Tamil and Telugu as in show's "Tiny Tv"(a show broadcast on cartoon network).

Ireland

In Ireland, Bob the Builder is shown on RTE Two.

Israel

In Israel, "Bob HaBanai" ("?"?"? "?"????) is aired in the Israeli Educational Television and in other children's channels in cable and satellite television. It is dubbed in Hebrew, and Bob's catchphrase is "????"? ?????," to which the other characters respond with ""??! "??! "??!"

Italy

In Italy the show is named "Bob Aggiustatutto" and is being aired on Rai YoYo.

Japan

The series aired in Japan as "?-???"?"??-?-?"?" (Bob the Engineer). 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." In fact, Bob the Builder aired in Japan without such edits, as did other series including Postman Pat and The Simpsons.

Latin America

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 Spanish and some of the voice actors are: 'Arturo Mercado' (Bob) and 'María Fernanda Morales' (Wendy)

Malaysia

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 (later also aired on Astro Ceria) is dubbed into Malay, with the original British English soundtrack also available by using the audio language button on the satellite decoder's remote. TV3 no longer aired the programme in 2003, however, it resumed in 2006 for a short period of time. Shortly after, TV9 picked up the programme for a short period of time in the original version. In 2010, Astro Ceria stopped the broadcast of the programme, while at the same time aired on ntv7 with new episodes. As of February 2013, Astro Ceria resumed airing with new episodes.

Netherlands

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, Sprouts ), 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.

New Zealand

Bob the Builder was shown in New Zealand on TV3. And more recently (2011"present) on FOUR TV

Norway

In Norway the show is named "Byggmester Bob" and is being aired on TV2 and NRK Super.

Philippines

In the Philippines, the name is still "Bob the Builder" and it is broadcast on TV5. It is dubbed in Tagalog.

Poland

"Bob Budowniczy" is aired on TVP1 7:00 pm. MiniMini aired the third season called "Bob the Builder: Ready Steady Build" since 2010.

Portugal

In Portugal, the series is entitled "Bob, o Construtor" and airs on RTP1, RTP2, Canal Panda and Jim Jam.

Serbia

"????"??? "??? / Majstor Bob" is aired on Happy TV.

Slovenia

In Slovenia the show is named "Mojster Miha" and is being aired on RTV slovenija channel TV Slovenija 1.

Spain

"Bob y sus amigos" is aired in Spanish on Playhouse Disney. Bob always asks "¿Podemos hacerlo?" and his friends answer "¡Sí, podemos!"

Catalonia

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!"

Sweden

In Sweden the show is named "Byggare Bob" and is being aired on SVTs child times.

United Kingdom

Broadcast in English on CBeebies under the original title of "Bob the Builder".

Scotland

The Scottish Gaelic language version is called "Calum Clachair" (Bob the Stonemason). It is used for alliteration.

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 1:30 pm. 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, Octonauts and Poppy Cat.

Worldwide Broadcasts

Country/Region	Channel
	ABC Kids
	Discovery Kids (Latin America)
	Treehouse TV TVOntario Nick Jr. PBS PBS Kids Sprout CBS
Quebec	Tele-Quebec
	CCTV
	?eská televize
	TV2 (Denmark) DR1
	Nelonen
	France 5
	Super RTL
	Alter Channel
	Hungarian Television
	Pogo TV Cartoon Network (India) (English)
	RTE Two
	Israeli Educational Television
	Rai YoYo
	NHK
Latin America	Discovery Kids (Latin America)
	TV3 (Malaysia) Astro Ria TV9 (Malaysia) Astro Ceria ntv7
	KRO
	TV3 (New Zealand) Four (New Zealand)
	TV2 (Norway) NRK Super
	TV5 (Philippines)
	TVP1 MiniMini
	RTP1 RTP2 Canal Panda Jim Jam
	Happy TV
	RTV Slovenija
	Disney Junior (Spain)
Catalonia	TV3 (Catalonia)
	Sveriges Television
	CBeebies
Scotland	BBC Alba
Wales	S4C

Spin-offs

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."

Videos

See List of Bob the Builder Videos for more information

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions				Certifications (sales threshold)
		AUS	IRE	NZ	UK
Bob the Builder: The Album	Release date: 3 October 2001 Label: BBC Records Formats: CD	1	59	32	4	AUS: 2"? Platinum UK: Gold
Never Mind the Breeze Blocks	Release date: 8 December 2008 Label: Universal Music Group Formats: CD, music download	"?	"?	"?	87
""?" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions			Certifications (sales threshold)	Album
		AUS	IRE	UK
2000	"Can We Fix It?"	1	3	1	AUS: 2"? Platinum UK: Gold	Bob the Builder: The Album
2001	"Mambo No. 5"	2	4	1	AUS: Platinum UK: Gold
2008	"Big Fish Little Fish"	"?	"?	81		Never Mind the Breeze Blocks
""?" denotes releases that did not chart