Bob the Builder

“Can we fix it? Yes we can!”

―Bob the Builder catchphrase

Bob the Builder is the original series of Bob the Builder. It ran between 1999-2004 in the United Kingdom and between 2001-2005 in the United States. The series was based on characters created by Keith Chapman and was animated by HOT Animation using physical stop-motion models. This show was the most popular out of all the later incarnations.

About

In this series, Bob appears as a building contractor specialising in masonry in a stop motion animated programme living in a small town called Bobsville with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends such as Percy Pickles, Spud, Angelo Sabatini, J.J., Mr. Bentley and their crew of anthropomorphic work and construction-vehicles which include: Scoop the yellow backhoe loader, Muck the red bulldozer dumper, Dizzy the orange cement mixer, Lofty the blue crane, and Roley the green road roller. The series was produced by HOT Animation and distributed by HiT Entertainment. The series aired on the BBC and later CBeebies in the United Kingdom. A North American dub of the show started production during 2000. It initially debuted on Nickelodeon on January 15, 2001. Series 1-6 later premiered on Nick Jr. from 2001-2002, and reruns on Nick Jr. and Noggin continued up until 2004. PBS premiered the series' seventh-ninth series in 2005, and later aired new TV blocks of Series 1-2 in 2006.

Impact

Bob the Builder was nominated in the BAFTA "Preschool 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

Series Overview

Se	Ep	Originally aired
		First aired	Last aired
1	13	April 12, 1999	August 02, 1999
2	13	October 11, 1999	December 28, 1999
3	13	September 01, 2000	September 19, 2000
4	13	February 01, 2001	February 19, 2001
5	13	April 01, 2002	April 13, 2002
6	13	September 02, 2002	September 14, 2002
7	13	February 03, 2003	February 20, 2003
8	13	September 01, 2003	November 24, 2003
9	13	April 03, 2004	December 20, 2004

NOTE: For US dates see here

Trivia

• Series 1-4 are available in complete series DVDs. Series 6-9 are currently available in complete sets on the CBeebies website. Series 5 was later given a complete release set when the UK series was added to Paramount+.
• When the 16:9 widescreen master started production, the US version was cropped to 4:3 Fullscreen in their releases, making US viewers miss portions of the left and right frame (This is also the case with Project: Build It.) This would be discovered if US viewers crossover to watch the UK version.
• This series is the only series to have the original music soundtrack by Paul K. Joyce before Project: Build It and Ready, Steady, Build! introduced new music soundtracks that were done by Keith Hopwood beginning with Bob's Big Plan in Series 10-18.
• Series 1-6 premiered on Nick Jr. in the US between 2001-03 while Series 7-9 premiered on PBS in early 2005. It is unknown why they didn't premier on Nick Jr. in 2003 or 2004. Though, Series 7 and some of Series 8 was released on home media between 2003-04.
• Canada aired both dubs of the show. The US dub was shown on Treehouse TV while the UK dub was shown on Canada's BBC Kids.
• In November 2018, the BBC posted every episode from Series 6 to 9 on the official CBeebies website and BBC iPlayer for the 20th anniversary of the series, the rest of the series was later added in September 2020.
  • However, as most of the air dates were wrong back in 2018, it was put on BBC iPlayer five months early as the actual anniversary was in April 2019.
• Unlike the UK, most of the voices from the US dub changed throughout Project: Build It and Ready, Steady, Build!, with Bob, Dizzy, Roley, Lofty, Spud, Mr. Bentley, Farmer Pickles, Scoop, and other characters getting new voice-actors and actresses (with the exception of Wendy) after the end of main series from the original show ended and the Snowed Under movie leading up to the Project: Build It with the introduction of Scrambler. It is unknown why most of the original voices from the US dub either got replaced or why they left.
• Series 3-9 are the only series to be fully released on home media in the US. Series 1 is missing one episode while Series 2 is missing two episodes.
  • However, Kristopher Walker uploaded recordings of all three missing episodes, one in 2018, and the other two in 2020 making all US episodes (minus the shorts) completed.
• The UK dub aired for the first time in the US on Qubo debuting on October 7, 2020 (starting with Series 2, though unknown why Series 1 was not shown given Qubo is still a 4:3 ratio channel). This was likely because Universal Kids still owns the US dub and the episodes were distributed from WildBrain which currently owns the UK dub. Though this wasn't the first time it aired in North America as it aired previously on one of Canada's BBC channels while the US DUB has always aired on Treehouse.
• There were a total of 3 sets of animation props used for filming. One set is on display in Keith Chapman's home.
• This is the first series of the original Bob the Builder series lineup.
• There is a 2015 series, separate from the original lineup, of the same name as this series.
• In the Russian Dubs of Season 1 and 2 the animals have been dubbed over
• According to Curtis Jobling's original concept art, among the characters mentioned who hadn't been drawn yet were a building apprentice and a milkman, but they were dropped when the series began, with the apprentice likely being removed to prevent the show from getting too complicated, with Wendy eventually becoming the second builder starting with the second series, while the milkman was most likely removed because of the decline of milkmen in the UK, though the idea of a building apprentice for Bob and Wendy was later explored in the Reboot with the character of Leo.
• Bob the Builder was never dubbed in Irish Gaelic, Ukrainian, Macedonian, Latvian, Lithuanian or Estonian. However only the reboot received a Ukrainian and Macedonian dub.

Gallery

The original logo, seen on the 1997 pitch pilot.

Early versions of Bob and Scoop, then called "Digger" from the pitch pilot.

Curtis Jobling's orginal concept art of Bob and the machines, which mentions the characters that would eventually become Wendy, Farmer Pickles, Travis and Spud.

First prototype design by Curtis Jobling

Second prototype design by Curtis Jobling

Poster for a production wrap party on Friday, February 26th, 1999 at World Service, Ashley Rd. Altrincham. (Note the intoxicated appearances of Bob and Farmer Pickles and the bottles, cigarette in Bob's mouth, and puke or urine on the ground)

Third and official design by Curtis Jobling (circa 1998 - 2011)

Logo

Series 2 promo pic

Early promo picture from Fall 1999

Promo of the main cast

Another promo of the main cast