- “This really is going to be...the best Christmas ever!”
- ―Bob and Tom
A Christmas to Remember is the first (second in the US) Bob the Builder special.
Plot
Bob and his friends are excited for Christmas, especially Bob because his twin brother Tom, a zoologist who works in the Arctic circle, is coming home for the first time in years. Bob wants a quiet break with his brother, but the new town mayor has other plans. She's organised a special free concert, featuring local rock star Lennie Lazenby, and asks Bob to sort out the stage and lighting. Spud scares Lofty so much that the latter ends up making a mess with the Christmas tree, forcing Bob and the team to clean it up. On top of all this, Tom's travel plans are hindered by a mission to reunite a baby deer with her father, causing him to miss the last boat. Bob still has to fix the stage for the concert, but Lenny comes up with a way to make sure Tom does come home for Christmas. Can Bob please the Mayor, meet up with his brother and have a good Christmas?
Characters
- Bob
- Wendy
- Scoop
- Muck
- Dizzy
- Roley
- Lofty
- Pilchard
- Bird
- Travis
- Spud
- Farmer Pickles
- Mr. Bentley
- Lennie Lazenby
- Mrs. Potts
- Scruffty
- Santa Claus (does not speak)
- Mr. Ellis (cameo)
- Doris Ellis (cameo)
- Mr. Beasley (cameo)
- Mr. Dixon (cameo)
- Mrs. Broadbent (cameo)
- Mr. Fothergill (cameo)
Characters Introduced
- Bunty Ferguson
- Tom
- Pogo
- Scoot
- John
- Banger
- Unnamed Humans
- Angelo Sabatini (brief cameo)
- Luigi (mentioned)
- Suzie (mentioned in Crocodile Rock)
Locations
- Bobsville
- Bob's Yard
- Bob's Office
- Bob's Living Room
- Town Hall
- Music Studio
- Bob's Yard
- The Countryside
- The Arctic Circle
Cast
UK
- Neil Morrissey as Bob, Roley, Lofty, Farmer Pickles, Drummer, Scruffty, Rooster, Baby Reindeer and Fans
- Rob Rackstraw as Scoop, Muck, Travis, Spud, Mr. Bentley, Airport Manager and Squirrels
- Kate Harbour as Wendy, Dizzy, Pilchard, Bird, Mrs. Potts, Bass guitarist, Crowd Control Woman and Fans
- Alison Steadman as Bunty Ferguson
- Chris Evans as Lennie Lazenby
- Stephen Tompkinson as Tom and Pogo
- Maria Darling as Scoot and Reporters
- Elton John as John
- Noddy Holder as Banger
US
- William Dufris as Bob and Farmer Pickles
- Lorelei King as Wendy, Bunty Ferguson, Mrs. Potts, Crowd Control Woman and Fans
- Alan Marriott as Scoop, Travis, Spud, Mr. Bentley, Airport Manager and Fans
- Lachele Carl as Muck, Reporter #2 and Fans
- Maria Darling as Dizzy, Roley and Scoot
- Sonya Leite as Lofty and Reporter #1
- Chris Evans as Lennie Lazenby
- Rupert Degas as Tom and Young Bob
- Stephen Tompkinson as Pogo (credited as Additional Voices)
- Elton John as John
- Noddy Holder as Banger
- Neil Morrissey as Drummer, Scruffty, Rooster and Baby Reindeer
- Kate Harbour as Bass guitarist, Pilchard and Bird (credited as Additional Voices)
- Rob Rackstraw as Squirrels (uncredited)
Sweden
- Magnus Ehrner as Bob and Tom
- Eva Gröndahl as Wendy
- Claire Wikholm as Scoop
- Björn Gedda as Muck
- Claes Månsson as Lofty
- Anneli Martini as Roley
- Tuvalisa Rangström as Dizzy, Mrs. Potts and Fans
- Pierre Lindstedt as Travis
- Louise Raeder as Bunty Fergusson, Scoot, Bass Guitarist, Fans and Crowd Control Woman
- Steve Kratz as Spud, Farmer Pickles, Mr. Bentley, Lennie Lazenby and Fans
- Dick Eriksson as Banger and Airport Manager
- Ole Ornered as John
Songs
Crocodile Rock - sung by Elton John and Lennie and the Lazers
Trivia
- This special takes place between the fifth and sixth series.
- This special marks the first and only time of some things:
- The first appearance of the other Lazers, Banger (voiced by Noddy Holder from Slade) and John (voiced by Elton John). It is also the first special to have famous musicians as part of its voice cast. The second one being Built To Be Wild.
- The first appearance of the Mayor, Bunty Ferguson. She was previously often mentioned by Mr. Bernard Bentley in many regular episodes.
- The first time Bob cries on screen.
- The first time Bob and Tom hugged each other.
- This is the first special in which characters sing an original song.
- The first and only time where an airport and aeroplanes are seen in Bobsville, though the airport would later be mentioned in Dizzy Goes Camping and Bob's Big Plan.
- The only appearances of Bob's fraternal twin brother Tom, Pogo the husky and Scoot the snowmobile.
- The only time when Mr. Bentley's last name was mispronounced.
- The only time where Maria Darling is part of the UK cast.
- References to Bob's White Christmas (Series 2) and Roley's Animal Rescue (Series 4) are made by Bob and Roley in the beginning of the movie. Roley sings the song he made up for the hedgehog/porcupine after the band arrives.
- Just like Bob's White Christmas, in the North American version, all lines mentioning "Father Christmas" is removed and replaced with "Santa Claus".
- This is the third time characters have been shown crying, the first being "Pilchard in a Pickle" and the second "Lofty to the Rescue".
- This special features the hit Elton John song, "Crocodile Rock".
- In the UK version, Mr. Bentley says, "Oh, have you, now? And boiled eggs are running. Well, we'll see about that, young man", and the US version, Mr. Bentley says, "Oh, have you? And the moon's made of cheese. Well, let's see about that, young man".
- This special features Bob, Tom, Spud, Elton John and Roley as the main characters.
- This special was released between the seventh and eighth series in the US.
- It's revealed that the first thing Bob has ever fixed was Tom's toy elephant.
- Bob says Lofty's catchphrase when the mayor asks him "Can you fix it?".
- In the UK, a special edition DVD was released featuring this special, Bob's White Christmas and Snowman Scoop.
- The German DVD also has Bob's White Christmas
- This title of the movie is named after the Amy Grant song and album.
- In this special, Tom wears the Santa outfit, beard, and hat that Bob wore in Bob's White Christmas.
- The 5 photographers and the cameraman, who appear in this special, later appear in the 'Official Children in Need Medley' music video.
- The video uploaded by Bobsville Times on YouTube retains the ABC DVD logo at the end as it was sourced from the 2006 Australian DVD master.
- When Roley tries to help John write his song by telling him he thinks about whatever he sees, after John tells Roley they can't write a song about a squirrel, Roley sees a Robin and sings a line from "Rockin' Robin", to which John tells him "Sorry, Roley. I think it's been done." Later, he suggests that John should try a song about a lobster, which is a reference to the song “Rock Lobster”.
- Hulu uses the UK dub.
- When it starts to snow, Banger (because of the fact that he's voiced by Noddy Holder, the lead singer of Slade) shouts "It's Christmas!", a nod to Slade's hit "Merry Xmas Everybody", where he said the same thing at the end of the song, which is obviously the reason why Holder was cast in the first place.
- It is shown that Spud likes mince pies in this special.
- A lot of background humans are dressed up Bob puppets.
- When asked how he found America (Europe in the US), Lennie answers that he "turned left at Greenland"; that is most likely a reference to John Lennon's line in The Beatles film A Hard Day's Night (1964) where he answered the same question "Turn left at Greenland".
- The squirrels reading the lyrics on John's crumpled up piece of paper and then singing it is Rob Rackstraw's voice pitched up.
Goofs
- The UK Amazon Prime version uses the US dub.
- When the fans are escorted off the airport runway, in the background, Mr. Beasley is seen lying on the ground before he vanishes because of the stop-motion process.
In Other Languages
Language | Name | Meaning |
---|---|---|
Brazilian Portuguese | Um Natal Inesquecível | An Unforgettable Christmas |
Croatian | Božić za pamćenje | A Christmas to Remember |
Danish | En Mindeværdig Vinter | A Memorable Winter |
Dutch | Een kerstfeest om nooit te vergeten | A Christmas to Never Forget |
Finnish | Kaikkien Aikojen Joulu | The Best Christmas in History |
French | Un Noël inoubliable | An Unforgettable Christmas |
German | Bobs schönstes Weihnachtsfest | Bob's Most Beautiful Christmas |
Latin Spanish | Una Navidad Inolvidable | An Unforgettable Christmas |
Polish | Niezapomniane Święta | A Christmas to Remember |
Slovene | Nepozabni Božič | Unforgettable Christmas |