Bob the Builder

Infobox Television
show_name = Bob the Builder


caption =
genre =
creator = Keith Chapman
director = Liz Whitaker (Ep 1)
Sarah Ball
Brian Little [cite web
url = http://imdb.com/title/tt0262151/fullcredits
title = Bob the Builder - Cast and Crew
accessdate = 2008-01-22
publisher = IMDB]
presenter =
narrated =
voices = Neil Morrissey (Bob)
Kate Harbour (Wendy, Dizzy, Mrs. Potts)
Rob Rackstraw (Scoop, Muck, Roley, Spud, Travis) [cite web
url = http://www.tv.com/bob-the-builder/show/9748/cast.html
title = Bob the Builder - Cast and Crew
accessdate = 2008-01-22
publisher = TV.com]

theme_music_composer =
country = UK
language = English
num_series =
num_episodes =
executive_producer = Kate Fawkes
Theresa Plummer-Andrews
producer = Jackie Cockle
editor =
location = UK
camera =
runtime =
network = BBC
first_aired = 12 April 1999
last_aired =
website =
imdb_id = 0262151
tv_com_id =

"Bob the Builder" is a children's television character created by Keith Chapman. Bob appears as a construction 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 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 million-selling number one hit in the UK. In the US the show started airing on Nick Jr. then the show moved to Noggin until 2005 when PBS Kids bought the rights to air the series, currently it airs on Fridays and Sundays and airs daily on PBS Kids Sprout. In Netherlands, it is currently aired on Jetix.

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. [ [http://www.fluidpowersafety.com/sfty_toy1.html FLUID POWER SAFETY INSTITUTE™ - Toy Safety - ATTENTION PARENTS! - Bob the Builder Alert! ] ] However, in later episodes, Bob is seen wearing safety glasses.

Humans

*Bob the Builder – 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. He is the owner of Pilchard the Cat.
*Wendy – Bob's business partner who runs the office and keeps the business in order, and often organizes tools and equipment. She is also seen doing construction work in many episodes. An underlying romantic tension between Bob and Wendy is hinted at in several episodes.
*Farmer Pickles – a nearby farmer who sometimes helps out with Bob's projects.
*Spud – a mischievous scarecrow (male voice; catchphrase: "OK, Farmer Pickles" & "Spud's on the job!").

Recurring characters

Vehicles

* Scoop – is a yellow backhoe loader and the unofficial leader of all the machines (male voice; catchphrase: "No prob, Bob!"). At some points there is hinted romance between him and Dizzy.
* Muck – is a red bulldozer with additional dumping bed who acts before he thinks 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!"). Dizzy sometimes appears to have a crush on Scoop.
* Roley – is a green steamroller, rounds out the "Can-Do Crew" (male voice in UK dub; female voice in US; catchphrase: "Rock and roll!").
* Lofty – is a blue crane who isn't very confident; he in UK; she is hesitant and timid, but with the encouragement of the team comes through in the end (male voice in UK dub; female voice in US; catchphrase: "Uh ... yeah, I think so!", usually said in response to the question "Can we fix it?").
* Benny – is a darkish red excavator (female voice; catchphrase: "Unreal, banana peel!")
* Scrambler – is darkish blue quadbike (ATV) (male voice; catchphrases: "Let's Scram!", "Awesome!" and "Cool as a Mule")
* Sumsy – is a maroon & yellow striped forklift, owned by Farmer Pickles (female voice; catchphrase: "I can pack 'em, I can stack 'em!")
* Packer – is a red semi-trailer truck, owned by Farmer Pickles. It has two trailers, a flatbed trailer and a covered trailer. (male voice; catchphrases: "Pick up and Deliver!" and "Pack me up and watch me go-go").
* Dodger – is a lightish blue pickup truck, owned by Meg and carries milk. He has a crane with a grabber that lifts the milk. His horn makes honking sounds. (male voice; catchphrase: "Dodger Delivers").
* Tumbler – is a green, yellow, and nice concrete transport truck. (male voice; catchphrase: "I'm a Rumblin' and a Tumblin'")
* Flex – is a yellow cherry picker. (male voice; catchphrase: "Fantastic Flex!")
* Bristle - is a grey and blue street sweeper.{male voice; catchprase: "Clean as a whistle" or "Clean as a whistle bristle, that's me!}
* Splasher - is a yellow & blue water vehicle, who works at Bobland Bay (male voice; catchphrase: "Never fear, Super Splasher is here!")
* Travis – is Farmer Pickles' cyan tractor. He helps out the crew when they need it and keeps an eye on Spud the scarecrow.
* Skip – is a yellow skip-carrier (male voice)
* Trix – is a purple forklift; belongs to J.J. (female voice; catchphrase: "Easy peasy!")
* Scoot – is a black & yellow snowmobile, owned by Tom (male voice)
* Zoomer – is a purple, Bobsville snowmobile (male voice; seen in 'Snowed Under')
* RV – is a light blue crane machine belonging to Bob's Dad. (male voice; catchphrase: "Amazing RV, that's me!").
* Jackaroo – is a blue pickup truck. He is owned in the Wild West by a female cowboy.

Animals

* Bird – is a bird, Roley's best friend
* Fin - Bob's pet fish.
* Hamish – became JJ and Molly's parrot after Mr. Fothergill found out he was allergic to him.
* Humpty – is a prize pig, owned by Farmer Pickles.
* Pilchard – Bob's pet cat and considered a part of the team. However, she's often sleeping when she's needed.
* Scruffty – a dog, owned by Farmer Pickles.
* Squawk – Another bird, friend of Bird
* Tommy – Mrs. Potts' turtle

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 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. 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, 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 and June Whitfield.

Australia

"Bob the Builder" is shown with the ABC Kids programming in Australia. [cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/abckids/shows/prog34.htm|title=Bob the Builder - ABC Kids TV guide|accessdate=2006-09-03]

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.

Poland

"Bob Budowniczy" is aired on TVP1 7.00PM

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". [cite web| url = http://licences.francetv.com/public/ficheLicence.php?id=2| title = Bob le Bricoleur| accessdate = 2006-08-11| publisher = francetélévisons distribution| language = French]

Germany

Beginning February 2, 2001, "Bob der Baumeister" has been airing on Super RTL in Germany. Since then, 157 episodes have been aired.

Hungary

In 2007, beginning 20 November till the end of the year, “Bob, a mester” was aired every weekday (from 16:15) on Channel m1 of Hungarian Television. [cite web |title=Bob, a mester |publisher=m1 of Hungarian Television |language=Hungarian |url=http://www.mtv.hu/magazin/cikk.php?id=244142 The flashes on the page are advertisements, not video excerpts.] The names of the characters are either translated in a more or less literal way (Farmer Pickles,Bob a Mester nagykönyve 2007: 12] Pilchard,Bob a Mester nagykönyve 2007: 10] Lofty, RoleyBob a Mester nagykönyve 2007: 9] ), left untranslated (Bob, WendyBob a Mester nagykönyve 2007: 8] ), 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,Bob a Mester nagykönyve 2007: 13] neither of these new names has any meaning in Hungarian). Bird is given a new name as well,Bob a Mester nagykönyve 2007: 15] a word meaning “short” in a countryside dialect (infiltrated into youth slang as well); [cite web |last=Ladó |first=Anett |title=A nagyvárosi és a kisközségi gyerekek szleng használata |language=Hungarian |pages=12, 15 |url=http://nevarchivum.klte.hu/szleng/hallgato/lado_a.doc |format=Word document] but the choice may be motivated also by its onomatopoetic sounding. Not only the broadcast episodes have been translated, but also the 2006 Annual. [cite book |title=Bob a Mester nagykönyve |others=translated by Markwarth, Zsófia |publisher=Egmont-Hungary Kft |location=Budapest |year=2007 |language=Hungarian |isbn=978 963 628 813 6 Made after the original: cite book |title=Bob the Builder Annual 2006 |publisher=Egmont Books Ltd |location=United Kingdom |year=2005 |isbn=1405220430]

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." [cite news|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/720419.stm |title = Bob the Builder fixed for Japan |publisher = BBC News |date = 2000-04-20 |accessdate = 2006-08-11] .

Latin America

In the Spanish talking 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 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, MarjorieMayor, 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 and TVOntario air "Bob the Builder" in Canada, and it was shown on Nick Jr. from 2001 to 2005 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.

Quebec, Canada

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

lovenia

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

pain

"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 regional public television of Catalonia as "Bob el Manetes". Bob always asks "Ens en sortirem?" and his friends answer "Si, i tant".

weden

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

Great Britain (non-English languages)

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". [cite news|url = http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=17428240&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=can-we-fix-it--ie--ni-n-gallu--says-bob-on-s4c-name_page.html |title = Can we fix it? Ie, ni'n gallu, says Bob on S4C |publisher = icWales |date = 2006-07-22 |accessdate = 2006-08-11]

"Bob the Builder" enters the music industry

The decision was made to do a deal which with Koch Records, leading to the release of an album based on the TV series, entitled "Bob the Builder; The Album". The album featured members from the original cast, including Neil Morrissey and Kate Harbour.

At least two songs were released in the UK from this album, securing two number one hits. "Can We Fix It?" was a Christmas number one in the UK in 2000, followed by the number one cover of "Mambo No. 5" in 2001.

Notable 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).

Other media

Bob the Builder was recently parodied in the "Robot Chicken" episode "More Blood, More Chocolate" with Bob voiced by Jamie Kaler and Spud, Roley, and Scoop voiced by Seth Green.

Bob the Builder has also been parodied by Comedy Inc. as Bodgy Builder.

References

*Character section information from: cite web|url=http://www.bobthebuilder.com/usa/meet_bob_the_builder_and_his_whole_gang.htm|title=Meet all of the Bob the Builder Characters|accessdate=2006-08-11|work=Bob the Builder website (U.S. version)|format=flash

External links

* [http://www.hitentertainment.com/bobthebuilder Official Website]
* [http://www.nickjr.com/home/shows/bob_the_builder/index.jhtml "Bob the Builder" area on NickJr.com]
* [http://treehousetv.com/watch/shows/BobtheBuilder/default.aspx "Bob the Builder" web page at TreeHouseTV.com]
* [http://imdb.com/title/tt0262151/ Bob the Builder] at IMDB