Bob the Builder
Encyclopedia
Bob the Builder is a British children's animated television
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...

 show created by Keith Chapman
Keith Chapman
For organist Keith Chapman , see Keith Chapman Keith V. Chapman is a television writer and producer based in the United Kingdom who most notably created Bob the Builder.-Biography:...

. In the original series Bob appears as a building
Building
In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...

 contractor specialising in masonry in a stop motion animated
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...

 programme with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of anthropomorphised
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...

 work-vehicles and equipment (all made of clay). The show is broadcast in many countries, but originates from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 where Bob is voiced by British actor Neil Morrissey
Neil Morrissey
Neil Anthony Morrissey is an English actor, media personality and businessman. He is best known for his role as Tony in Men Behaving Badly....

. The show was later created using CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...

 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
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...

, 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
Can We Fix It?
"Can We Fix It?" is the name of the theme song, written by Paul K. Joyce, from the children's television programme Bob the Builder, produced by Hot Animation. The title is derived from the main character's catchphrase, a query towards the rest of the cast when presented with a challenge...

, which was a million-selling number one hit in the UK. The show is targeted at children ages 8th.

Development

Hot Animation began development on Bob the Builder in 1997's, with the premise of a main character, Bob, with a gang of building machines. Sarah Ball, formerly of Cosgrove Hall Film, joined the development team to flesh out Bob's world. Whilst Bob was not based on a real person, Wendy was named after Zoe Turnpaugh's mother. The show's catchphrase Can we fix it?" is also attributed to Sarah Ball.

Impact

Bob the Builder was nominated in the BAFTA "Pre-school animation" category from 1997 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:
Bob the Builder has been parodied by Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...

in the episode "More Blood, More Chocolate," and by Comedy Inc.
Comedy Inc.
Comedy Inc. was an Australian sketch comedy television series, which ran on the Nine Network from 1 February 2003 to 26 December 2007. The series was produced by Crackerjack Productions. It first premiered in February 2003 in the new wave of Australian sketch comedy shows being launched across the...

as Bodgy Builder.

Bob was also parodied on Cartoon Network's MAD
Mad (TV series)
MAD is an American animated sketch comedy series created by Kevin Shinick and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Based upon the magazine of the same name, each episode is a collection of short animated parodies of television shows, movies, games, celebrities and other media using various types of...

in the episode "S'Up/Mouse M.D." In the episode when Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...

 portrays Gregory House
Gregory House
Gregory House, M.D., or simply referred to as House, is a fictional antihero and title character of the American television series House, played by Hugh Laurie. He is the Chief of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where he leads a team of diagnosticians...

 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
Handy Manny
Handy Manny is a Disney animated children's television program that premiered on September 16, 2006. The program was originally part of the Playhouse Disney daily block intended for preschoolers...

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
Destroy Build Destroy
Destroy Build Destroy was a live action program on Cartoon Network. It focuses on an unusual type of a game show, where two teams destroy a random object and build vehicles out of them, and then destroy the losers' creation...

. In the episode, Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K. is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, and motivational speaker. He is the host of the television series Destroy Build Destroy.-Early life & career:Andrew Wilkes-Krier was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan...

 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 a robot, smashing Andrew W.K. repeatedly.

Merchandise

Various companies manufacture licensed Bob the Builder Merchandise(e.g.: Brio, Lego Duplo, Hasbro, Learning Curve, etc) since about 1999-present.

Brio

Brio
Brio
Brio or BRIO can refer to several things:*brio is a noun: quality of being active or spirited or alive and vigorous; in music, see List of musical terminology...

 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 that. Years later, the range had been discontinued.

Lego Duplo/Explorer

Lego
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...

 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 2 and up. Duplo manufactured the sets (e.g. Scoop at Bobland Bay, Muck Can Do It, etc.) until 2009.

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 currently holds a license to produce official merchandise.

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
Greg Proops
Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work as an improvisational comedian on the UK and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?...

 as the new voice of Bob, and Neil Morrissey
Neil Morrissey
Neil Anthony Morrissey is an English actor, media personality and businessman. He is best known for his role as Tony in Men Behaving Badly....

, who played the original Bob, to be the voices of Spud the Scarecrow and Mr. Bentley. The show also added recycling and being environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....

 to its lessons, emphasising the phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."

Ready, Steady, Build!

The third spin-off has been revealed as Bob the Builder: Ready, Steady, Build! It was created by Keith Chapman
Keith Chapman
For organist Keith Chapman , see Keith Chapman Keith V. Chapman is a television writer and producer based in the United Kingdom who most notably created Bob the Builder.-Biography:...

 and Mallory Lewis
Mallory Lewis
Mallory Hurwitz Lewis is an American writer, television producer, and puppeteer. Lamb Chop is a "sock puppet" of the mother and daughter. Like Shari's daughter, Lamb Chop remains a "sister" legacy to Mallory.-Early life:Mallory Lewis was born Mallory Tarcher in New York City...

. 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, though still retains the theme song. Scratch is first seen in this spin-off.

Guest appearances

Celebrities who have provided voices for the series (usually for one-off specials) include John Motson
John Motson
John Walker Motson OBE ,AKA Motty, is an English football commentator on both television and radio as well a well known moter. He made his name as 'Moty' after he moted out the entire Huddersfield huddersfield cheerleaders team. writer.-Biography:The son of a Methodist minister, Motson was educated...

, Sue Barker
Sue Barker
Susan Barker, MBE is an English television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won the women's singles title at the French Open and reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3...

, Kerry Fox
Kerry Fox
Kerry Fox is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie An Angel at My Table directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and Television Awards....

, Ulrika Jonsson
Ulrika Jonsson
Eva Ulrika Jonsson is a Swedish television presenter in the UK, who became famous as a TV-am weather presenter and moved on to present Gladiators and became a team captain of the show Shooting Stars.-Early life:...

, Alison Steadman
Alison Steadman
Alison Steadman OBE is an English actress. She established her career with roles such as Beverley in Abigail's Party and Candice Marie in Nuts in May for the director Mike Leigh, to whom she was once married. In addition to her stage and radio work, she has had lead roles in The Singing Detective,...

, Stephen Tompkinson
Stephen Tompkinson
Stephen Tompkinson is a British actor. He is best known for his work in comedy and drama productions such as Drop the Dead Donkey, Ballykissangel, Grafters, In Deep, Wild at Heart and DCI Banks....

, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

, Noddy Holder
Noddy Holder
Neville John "Noddy" Holder MBE is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock band Slade....

, 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
CBeebies
CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...

 on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 television in the UK. Voice actors
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...

 who have contributed to the original British version include Neil Morrissey
Neil Morrissey
Neil Anthony Morrissey is an English actor, media personality and businessman. He is best known for his role as Tony in Men Behaving Badly....

, Rob Rackstraw
Rob Rackstraw
Robert "Rob" Rackstraw is a British voice actor. He is perhaps best known for his various voices in the television series Bob the Builder, mainly the scarecrow Spud. He has an extensive voice over career over 15 years long and is considered to be one of the UK's leading male voice actors...

, Kate Harbour
Kate Harbour
Kate Harbour is a voice actor who provides many voices for the television series Bob the Builder including Wendy, Dizzy, Mrs. Potts, Mrs. Broadbent and Mrs...

, Rupert Degas
Rupert Degas
Rupert Joel Degas is an English actor and voice artist.- Early life:Degas was born in London, the son of screenwriter Brian Degas and television presenter Maggie Clews, whose marriage ended in divorce when he was eight...

, Colin McFarlane
Colin McFarlane
Colin McFarlane is an English actor and voice artist. He has appeared in several TV series, including The Fast Show, Judge John Deed, Jonathan Creek, Randall & Hopkirk , Jeeves and Wooster, Black Books and The Thin Blue Line. He is also known for portraying Police Commissioner Gillian B...

, Maria Darling
Maria Darling
Maria Darling is an English voice actress who regularly provides character voices for children's television programmes in the UK and the US, as well as videogames such as the Professor Layton series and the UK versions of the Ape Escape franchise....

, Emma Tate, Richard Briers
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...

, June Whitfield
June Whitfield
June Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....

, Richard Herman, and Wayne Forester.

Australia

Bob the Builder is shown with the ABC Kids
ABC Kids (Australia)
ABC Television broadcasts the greatest amount of children's content than any other network in Australia.Prior to early 2009, there was a brand called ABC Kids which was separate from regular ABC TV and contained all children's programming on the ABC...

 programming in Australia.

Canada and the United States

Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel with programming targeted towards preschoolers that was launched on October 17, 1997. Its name comes from YTV's old children's programming block, The Treehouse...

 and TVOntario
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...

 air Bob the Builder in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and it was shown on Nick Jr. beginning on 15 January 2001 up until 2005 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 until the 2005–06 season when it was offered as part of PBS Kids
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...

 lineup, and currently airs on the PBS Kids Sprout
PBS KIDS Sprout
PBS Kids Sprout is a U.S. digital cable television channel, video-on-demand service, and website providing PBS Kids shows and original programming for preschoolers and their families...

 cable network. The show also aired in the US on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 between 2001 and 2002 as part of the "Nick Jr. on CBS" E/I
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...

 lineup.

The Northern American version of the show uses the original British footage, but dubs
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...

 the voices in local accents and slang; for example, the word "soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

" is used instead of "football" to avoid confusion with the gridiron
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...

 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
Greg Proops
Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work as an improvisational comedian on the UK and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?...

. More recently, Bob's US voice has been provided by Marc Silk
Marc Silk
Marc Silk is a voice actor from Solihull, England.His work includes appearances in Chicken Run and as the U.S. voice of Bob in Bob the Builder, the roles of Aks Moe in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Johnny Bravo, and commissions for Disney.- Animation & Cartoons :* Bob The Builder -...

 - an English voice actor from Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

.

Quebec (Canada)

In the province of Quebec, the series is entitled "Bob le Bricoleur" and airs on Télé-Québec
Télé-Québec
Télé-Québec is a French language public educational television network in the Canadian province of Quebec. Known legally as Société de télédiffusion du Québec , it is a provincial crown corporation owned by the Government of Quebec...

.

China

In the Chinese Language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 version, it is called "Babu engineer." The show has been dubbed to into the Chinese Language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

.

Czech Republic

"Bořek stavitel" is aired on Česká televize
Ceská televize
Česká televize is the public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting four channels.- Czechoslovak Television :Television in Czechoslovakia started to take its first steps before World War II. However, before visible results could be achieved, all activities were interrupted by...

, the national public television
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...

.

Finland

"Puuha-Pete" is aired in Finland on Nelonen
Nelonen
Nelonen is a Finnish commercial TV channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1989 on the HTV cable network, which name was changed first to PTV4 and then to Nelonen. It started on June 1, 1997. Nelonen, in Finnish, means the glyph of the number four. The channel is...

 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
France 5
France 5 is a public television network in France, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring educational programming, the channel's motto is la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir...

 in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan 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
Super RTL
Super RTL is a Cologne-based German television network operated by RTL Disney Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG. It was the second German television channel aimed mostly at children...

 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Since then, 157 episodes have been aired.

Greece

"Bob o Mastoras" is aired on Alter Channel
Alter Channel
Alter Channel better known as Alter, is a private TV network in Greece. It launched in 1994 and is owned by Eleftheri Tileorasi S.A, which is headed by Andreas Kouris. Programming mainly consists of news & current affairs shows and entertainment programmes...

, in both Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

.

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
Magyar Televízió
Magyar Televízió is the Hungarian national public service television company, with three TV channels, called m1 , m2 and m3....

. 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, neither of these new names has any meaning in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

). 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 sounding. 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
POGO
POGO may refer to:* Project On Government Oversight, non-profit organization in USA that investigates corruption and other misconduct* Pogo oscillation, a potentially dangerous type of oscillation found in rocket engines....

. It is dubbed in Hindi.

Israel

In Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, "Bob HaBanai" (בוב הבנאי) is aired in the Israeli Educational Television
Israeli Educational Television
The Israeli Educational Television is a state-owned public television network which used to concentrate on producing and broadcasting programs for schoolchildren. The first Israeli children's show, featuring Kishkashta, aired on Channel 1 in the 1970s and '80s...

 and in other children's channels in Cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

 and Satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...

. It is dubbed to Hebrew, and Bob's catchphrase is "נצליח לתקן?," to which the other characters respond with "כן! כן! כן!"

Japan

When being exported to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, 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
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...

, the famed Japanese mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...

, where members would "cut off their little finger
Little finger
The little finger, often called the pinky in American English, pinkie in Scottish English , or small finger in medicine, is the most ulnar and usually smallest finger of the human hand, opposite the thumb, next to the ring finger.-Muscles:There are four muscles that...

s as a sign they can be trusted and have strength of character, and will stay through.".

Latin America

In the Spanish speaking part of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, the show is called "Bob, el Constructor" (literal translation of the title) and is aired by several public TV
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...

 channels as well as by Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids is an American website owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. created for children. Until October 10, 2010, it was an American digital cable specialty channel, owned by Discovery Communications with television programming for education of children. It was launched in October 1996...

. It was dubbed in México and some of the voice actors are: 'Arturo Mercado' (Bob), 'María Fernanda Morales' (Wendy) and 'Jesús "Chucho" Barrero' (Spud).

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
TV3 (Malaysia)
Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad or TV3 began broadcasting on 1 June 1984 as Malaysia’s first commercial television station. It is part of Media Prima Berhad group of companies. It now transmits opened broadcasting business private 24-hours a day, 7 days a week since 1 January 2010...

 in January 2000. Shortly after, Astro picked it up for its Astro Ria
Astro Ria
Astro Ria is a Malaysian 24 hour television network broadcast on the Astro satellite television service. It was one of the first 22 channels to commence broadcast on Astro in 1996.Programs on the network include Malay dramas, films and reality shows....

 in-house channel. The version aired on Astro Ria is dubbed into Malay, with the original British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...

 soundtrack is also available by using the audio language button on the satellite decoder's remote. TV3 stopped airing the programme in 2003, however resumed in 2006 for a short period of time. Shortly after, TV9
TV9 (Malaysia)
TV9 is a free-to-air private television station in Malaysia. TV9 began broadcasting on 22 April 2006, as a subsidiary of Media Prima Berhad. It formerly existed as Channel 9, which began airing on 9 September 2003 and ceased transmission on 1 February 2005 due to financial difficulties faced by the...

 picked up the programme for a short period of time in original version. In 2010, Astro Ceria
Astro Ceria
Astro Ceria is a 24-hour Malay language television channel that is broadcast on the Astro satellite television service. This channel is dedicated to toddlers and children...

 stopped the broadcast of the programme and was aired on ntv7
Ntv7
Natseven TV Sdn Bhd or better known as ntv7 is a terrestrial television channel in Malaysia. It was launched nationwide on 7 April 1998 and was the country's third private free-to-air TV station after TV3 and Astro. Its mission is to promote a happier and more enlightened Malaysia...

 with new episodes.

Netherlands

Soon after the BBC started airing, KRO
KRO
KRO, or Katholieke Radio Omroep , is a Dutch public broadcasting organization founded on 23 April 1925. Broadly Catholic in its spiritual outlook, KRO broadcasts the bulk of its television output on the Nederland 1 channel. KRO is also responsible for managing broadcasts made by the Catholic Church...

 aired the episodes of "Bob de Bouwer" in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. Main voices are done by Bram Bart
Bram Bart
Bram Bart is a Dutch voice actor. He speaks with television programs and commercials in Dutch in voting. For example, in Pokémon, Matt's Monsters, Bob the Builder and Ratz.-Voices:...

 (Bob, Spud, Mr. Dickson, Mr. Ellis, Benny), Caroline Mout (Wendy, Dizzy, Scrambler) and Fred Meijer (Scoop, Lofty, Mr. Beasley, Mr. Bentley, Mr. Fothergill, Pogo ), 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.

Norway

In Norway the show is named "Byggmester Bob" and is being aired on TV2
TV 2 (Norway)
TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....

.

Philippines

In the Philippines, the name is still "Bob the Builder" and it is broadcast on TV5
Associated Broadcasting Company
The Associated Broadcasting Company, Inc is a television network in the Philippines, with main broadcast facilities and transmitter located at 762 Quirino Highway, San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City. The network was previously known as the , Associated Broadcasting Company remains the legal...

. It is dubbed in Tagalog.

Poland

"Bob Budowniczy" is aired on TVP1 7.00PM. MiniMini
MiniMini
MiniMini+ is a Polish television channel owned and operated by Canal+. Its mainstreaming its programing mainly to 2-7 children....

 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
Canal Panda
Canal Panda is the first Portuguese cable television channel dedicated to children's programming, mostly animated series. The channel was founded in 1996 as Panda Club in Spain and Portugal, but the name was changed to Canal Panda in 1997. In 2000, the channel left Spain, thus concentrating...

 and Jim Jam.

Slovenia

In Slovenia the show is named "Mojster Miha" and is being aired on RTV slovenija channel TV
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...

 Slovenija 1.

Spain

"Bob y sus amigos" is aired in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 on Playhouse Disney
Playhouse Disney
Playhouse Disney was Disney Channel's television block for programs aimed at entertaining preschool aged children, often airing as its own channel outside the United States. It was introduced in 1997 after Disney Channel's move to basic cable from premium cable, with a target audience of children...

. Bob always asks "¿Podemos hacerlo?" and his friends answer "¡Sí, podemos!".

Catalonia

The show is also aired in Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...

 on TV3
TV3 (Catalonia)
TV3 is the primary television channel of Catalan public broadcaster Televisió de Catalunya, a subsidiary of the CCMA. TV3 broadcasts programs only in Catalan, with an optional dual track in the original language for some foreign-language series and movies...

, the national public television
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...

 of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

 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
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...

 child times.

United Kingdom

Beginning from 12 February 1999, the name is still "Bob the Builder" and is being broadcast on CBeebies
CBeebies
CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...

. The voice of Bob is done by Neil Morrisey, a creator for drama adult's programme Men Behaving Badly
Men Behaving Badly
Men Behaving Badly is a British comedy that was created and written by Simon Nye. It follows the lives of Gary Strang and his flatmates, Dermot Povey and Tony Smart It was first broadcast on ITV in 1992...

. The third spin-off is being broadcast (Ready, Steady, Build). Other voices include Rob Rackstraw
Rob Rackstraw
Robert "Rob" Rackstraw is a British voice actor. He is perhaps best known for his various voices in the television series Bob the Builder, mainly the scarecrow Spud. He has an extensive voice over career over 15 years long and is considered to be one of the UK's leading male voice actors...

, Kate Harbour
Kate Harbour
Kate Harbour is a voice actor who provides many voices for the television series Bob the Builder including Wendy, Dizzy, Mrs. Potts, Mrs. Broadbent and Mrs...

, Rupert Degas
Rupert Degas
Rupert Joel Degas is an English actor and voice artist.- Early life:Degas was born in London, the son of screenwriter Brian Degas and television presenter Maggie Clews, whose marriage ended in divorce when he was eight...

 and Richard Briers
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...

.

Scotland

The Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....

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

Wales

The Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 version is called "Bob Y Bildar" and began airing on S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...

 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
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 by record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 Sain
Sain
Sain , in full – Recordiau Sain Cyf is a Welsh record label, which was in the Welsh folk revival....

, which had previously provided Welsh dialogue for children's series Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas and Friends.Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue...

, The Large Family
The Large Family
The Large Family British and French animated television series is a TV series on CBeebies and ABC Kids. It also on S4C's Cyw called Y Teulu Mawr.-The Larges:*Larry Large voiced by Jeff Rawle. The kind-hearted patriarch of the family....

, Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom
Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom
Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom is an animated pre-school children's show set in an enchanted magical kingdom with fairies, elves and insects....

, Angelo Rules and Octonauts. A.

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".

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


(sales threshold)
AUS
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...


IRE
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...


NZ
UK
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...


Bob the Builder: The Album
Bob the Builder: The Album
Bob the Builder: The Album is the debut album of Bob the Builder, the fictional character from the BBC children's television series of the same name. Bob is voiced by actor Neil Morrissey....

  • Release date: 3 October 2001
  • Label: BBC Records
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

  • Formats: CD
    Compact Disc
    The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

1 59 32 4
  • AUS
    Australian Recording Industry Association
    The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

    : 2× Platinum
  • UK
    British Phonographic Industry
    The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...

    : Gold
  • Never Mind the Breeze Blocks
    Never Mind the Breeze Blocks
    Never Mind the Breeze Blocks is the second album by the Bob the Builder character from the BBC television series of the same name. It was released in 2008 by Universal Music, and spawned one single "Big Fish Little Fish". Many of the songs are parodies of popular songs, such as "Working in...

  • Release date: 8 December 2008
  • Label: Universal Music Group
    Universal Music Group
    Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...

  • Formats: CD, music download
    Music download
    A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

  • 87
    "—" denotes releases that did not chart

    Singles

    Year Single Peak chart
    positions
    Certifications
    Music recording sales certification
    Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


    (sales threshold)
    Album
    AUS
    ARIA Charts
    The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...


    IRE
    Irish Singles Chart
    The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...


    UK
    UK Singles Chart
    The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...


    2000 "Can We Fix It?
    Can We Fix It?
    "Can We Fix It?" is the name of the theme song, written by Paul K. Joyce, from the children's television programme Bob the Builder, produced by Hot Animation. The title is derived from the main character's catchphrase, a query towards the rest of the cast when presented with a challenge...

    "
    1 3 1
    • AUS
      Australian Recording Industry Association
      The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

      : 2× Platinum
    • UK
      British Phonographic Industry
      The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...

      : Gold
    Bob the Builder: The Album
    2001 "Mambo No. 5
    Mambo No. 5
    "Mambo No. 5" is a mambo and jive dance song originally recorded and composed by Pérez Prado in 1949.The song's popularity was renewed by Lou Bega's sampling of the original, released under the same name on Bega's 1999 debut album A Little Bit of Mambo....

    "
    2 4 1
  • AUS: Platinum
  • UK: Gold
  • 2008 "Big Fish Little Fish
    Big Fish Little Fish
    "Big Fish Little Fish" is a single released by Bob the Builder in 2008, it is from the album Never Mind the Breeze Blocks.It is the third song released by the character from the children's television programme of the same name. Actor Neil Morrissey, who voiced the character, again sings in the song...

    "
    81 Never Mind the Breeze Blocks
    "—" denotes releases that did not chart

    External links

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    Others
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