Bob the Builder
Bob the Builder is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a general contractor, specialising in masonry, along with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours, and friends, and equipment, and their gang of anthropomorphised work-vehicles, Scoop, Muck, Dizzy, Roley, Lofty and many others. The series ran from 12 April 1999 to 31 December 2011 in the United Kingdom through the CBBC strand and later CBeebies. The series originally used stop-motion from 1999 to 2009, but later used CGI animation starting with the spin-off series Ready, Steady, Build! (2010-2011). The British proprietors of Bob the Builder and Thomas & Friends sold the enterprise in 2011 to US toy-maker Mattel for $680 million.
| Bob the Builder | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Bob the Builder: Project: Build It (series 10–16) Bob the Builder: Ready, Steady, Build! (series 17–18) |
| Genre | Children's animation |
| Created by | Keith Chapman |
| Directed by | Sarah Ball Liz Whitaker Brian Little Nick Herbert Gilly Fogg Andy Burns Geoff Walker |
| Voices of | Neil Morrissey Rob Rackstraw Kate Harbour Rupert Degas Colin McFarlane Maria Darling Emma Tate Richard Briers June Whitfield Greg Proops |
| Theme music composer | Paul K. Joyce |
| Composer | Keith Hopwood |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 18 |
| No. of episodes | 250 (+10 specials) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Kate Fawkes Theresa Plummer-Andrews Peter Curtis |
| Producer | Jackie Cockle |
| Editors | Zyggy Markiewicz Bruce Marshall Adam Taylor |
| Camera setup | Single camera (1999–2004) Multi-camera (2005–2009) |
| Production companies | Hot Animation (1999–2009) HIT Entertainment SD Entertainment (2010–2011) |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBeebies |
| Release | 12 April 1999 – 31 December 2011 |
In each episode, Bob and his group help with renovations, construction, and repairs and with other projects as needed. The show emphasises conflict resolution, co-operation, socialisation, 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 October 2014, Bob the Builder was revamped by Mattel for a new series which was broadcast on Channel 5's Milkshake! in 2015. Among the various changes in the new series include the setting, casting, and appearance of the characters. The changes have been criticised by fans of the original version.
An animated theatrical movie adaptation of the series was announced in January 2024, produced by Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions with Anthony Ramos as the voice of Bob.