Bob the Builder

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 television series Stop-motion Animation
Created by	Keith Chapman
Directed by	Sarah Ball Liz Whitaker Brian Little Nick Herbert Gilly Fogg Andy Burns Geoff Walker
Voices of	Original series Neil Morrissey Rob Rackstraw Kate Harbour Rupert Degas Colin McFarlane Maria Darling Emma Tate Richard Briers June Whitfield Greg Proops Reboot series Lee Ingleby (UK) Joanne Froggatt Jacob Scipio (UK) Colin Murdock (US) Ian James Corlett (US) Lee Tockar (US)
Theme music composer	Paul K. Joyce
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	18 (original series) 3 (reboot series)
No. of episodes	250 (+10 specials) (original series) 130 (+1 special) (reboot series) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Original series Kate Fawkes Theresa Plummer-Andrews Peter Curtis Reboot series Kim Dent Wilder (2015–2017) Michael Hefferon (2015–2017) Edward Catchpole (2015–2016) Christopher Keenan (2015–2018) Steven DeNure (2018) Kirsten Newlands (2018)
Producers	Jackie Cockle (original series) Kylie Ellis (2015–2017) Fred de Bradeny (2015–2017)
Editors	Zyggy Markiewicz Jane Hicks Bruce Marshall
Camera setup	Single camera (1999-2004) Multi-camera (2005–2018)
Running time	10 minutes
Production companies	HiT Entertainment (1999–2017) Mattel Creations (2017–2018) Mainframe Studios (2015–2017) DHX Studios Halifax (2018)
Original release
Network	CBeebies (original series) Channel 5 (reboot series)
Release	12 April 1999 (1999-04-12) – 30 December 2018 (2018-12-30)

Bob the Builder is a British children's television series, it was broadcast on 12 April 1999 from BBC Kids and developed by HiT Entertainment. In the US, Nick Jr. opened in 2001, after four years until PBS Kids aired with funding by the United States Department of Education and Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The series centres his life of a construction worker named Bob and his anthropomorphic vehicles to help him fix things. Bob has a partner named Wendy and a cat named Pilchard. The slogan of the series is "Can we fix it? Yes we can!".

There are albums of songs from Bob the Builder. Out of these songs, there are 2 number 1 hits, "Can We Fix It?" and "Mambo No. 5". There is also the number 81 hit "Big Fish Little Fish". There is also merchandise which is based on the show.

Cast and characters

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.

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, and Noddy Holder.

Episodes

See the main article: List of Bob the Builder episodes

International broadcast

Bob the Builder is broadcasted internationally and is available in several languages, including English, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Slovene, German, Dutch, Hebrew, Hindi, Serbo-Croatian, Bengali, and others.

Versions

Country	Language	Title
Argentina	Latin American Spanish	Bob el constructor
Australia	British English	Bob the Builder
Austria	German	Bob der Baumeister
Belgium	Dutch	Bob de Bouwer
	French	Bob le bricoleur
Bolivia	Latin American Spanish	Bob el constructor
Brazil	Brazilian Portuguese	Bob o Construtor
Canada	American English	Bob the Builder
	French	Bob le bricoleur
Chile	Latin American Spanish	Bob el constructor
Colombia	Latin American Spanish	Bob el constructor
Ecuador	Latin American Spanish	Bob el constructor
France	French	Bob le bricoleur
Germany	German	Bob der Baumeister
Ireland	British English	Bob the Builder
Italy	Italian	Bob aggiustatutto
Mexico	Latin American Spanish	Bob el constructor
Netherlands	Dutch	Bob de Bouwer
Paraguay	Latin American Spanish	Bob el constructor
Peru	Latin American Spanish	Bob el constructor
Portugal	European Portuguese	Bob o Construtor
New Zealand	British English	Bob the Builder
Romania	Romanian	Bob constructorul
Spain	European Spanish	Bob y sus amigos
South Africa	British English	Bob the Builder
Switzerland	Swiss German	Bob de Boumaa
United Kingdom	British English	Bob the Builder
United States	American English	Bob the Builder
Uruguay	Latin American Spanish	Bob el constructor
Venezuela	Latin American Spanish	Bob el constructor

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:

I think diggers and dumpers fascinate kids in the same way that they are drawn to dinosaurs. They both have a timeless appeal. The technique of stop motion is very tangible - the characters look like you can just pick them up and play with them. It’s a safe, lovely, bright, colourful world, which is very appealing. Curtis Jobling did a fantastic job designing the show - it’s very simple and stylized but has such charm.

— Interview with Sarah Ball, Gurgle.com

Reboot series

On 1 September 2015, a reboot series first aired on Cartoonito and Channel 5's Milkshake block and dub American aired on 7 November 2015 with no funding and programmed during weekdays (twenty-first season does not aired and reruns) until three years Cartoonito was left. In 2021, Channel 5 left as it has since ended its run. Two years after the 2015 series ended, the original Bob the Builder also aired on Qubo but it ceased operations on 28 February 2021. A new titled Bob the Builder reboot series is to be announced.

Other websites

• Official Website