Bob the Builder

Bob der Baumeister (English Bob the Builder; Swiss German Bob de Boumaa) is a television series for children with animated characters.

The series was developed by Hot Animation, HiT Entertainment and BBC Television over a three-year period from an idea by Keith Chapman. The premiere of the first episode was in November 28, 1998 on BBC. The series is now broadcast in more than 100 countries. It was launched in Germany on October 23, 1999; since then, 117 episodes of the first season and 41 episodes of the second season have been broadcast. In addition to the TV shows, the stories of Bob the Builder and his team are also available as radio plays, on DVD and VHS.

In some cases, the titles of the program were supplemented with additions. So it ran in parts as Bob, the Builder - Attention Construction Site! or Bob the Builder - Helmets on and go!

The characters were originally animated using the stop-motion film technique. From the 19th season, this technique was completely replaced by the CGI process. All the characters received a complete makeover.

Content and structure

The length of each episode is about ten minutes. Bob the Builder runs a building yard in Bobhausen. Together with his partner Wendy and the talking vehicles and equipment, he does all the work that comes up in the small community. The focus is on conflict resolution, teamwork, social behavior and other skills. These skills are taught through stories ranging from fixing, building, digging, painting, plumbing to gardening. Bob and his team are always on hand when needed. The doubting question, "Can we fix it?" ("Can we fix it?") is usually answered in chorus with a confident "Yo, we can do it!" ("Yes we can!"). There is no realistic portrayal of manual labor. In the tenth season of the series, Bob takes on the job of building a new town in Sunflower Valley. He received the order after winning a competition. In this season, both new machines and people are introduced into the plot. The principle under which construction takes place in Sunflower Valley is "reduce, recycle, reuse." Many solar plants are also built and houses are ecologically integrated with nature.

The first episode of the 19th season was broadcast by Super RTL on January 11, 2016. Starting from this season, the complete design of the series was adapted to the times: so all the characters got a new look. In addition, Leo, Bob's new apprentice, was added as another main character. In addition, the series is now set in the new town of Hochhausen.

Figures

Main characters

• Bob, in blue trousers and blue vest with signal stripes, with checkered shirt and yellow hard hat
• Wendy (Switzerland: Rita), his partner, active in the office as well as on the construction site
• Tuber (Lumpe), the scarecrow
• Leo, Bob's apprentice

The team consists of slightly anthropomorphized construction machines that can roll their headlights like eyes or contort their radiator grille like a mouth to express emotions. They are designed relatively realistically as vehicles, but at the same time as human, individualized figures.

• Baggi (Schuba, engl.: Scoop), the clever yellow shovel excavator and responsible leader
• Rollo (Walzi, English: Roley), a somewhat stoic green steamroller
• Buddel (Mocke, English: Muck), a lovable chaotic red shovel excavator
• Heppo (Chränli, English: Lofty), the sensitive blue lifting crane
• Mixi (Orangli, English: Dizzy), the youngest of the construction machines, an orange cement mixer
• Sprinti, Bob's newest vehicle, a small blue quad bike
• Benny, a dark purple tracked excavator
• Schleppo, a dark blue semi-truck (Only in the 2nd new edition)

Other figures

People

Animals

• Cuddly, blue striped, self-confident stubborn cat from Bob
• Bello, farmer Gurke's dog
• Daisy, farmer Gurke's award winning cow
• Doloris, another cow from farmer cucumber
• Feather, Rollo's best friend
• Finn, Bob's goldfish
• Hemish, Molly's parrot
• Grouchy, Farmer Gurke's Award Winning Pig
• Quaki, a crow
• Tommy/Timmy, Mrs. Potter's Turtle
• Henny and Penny, Bob and Wendy chickens
• Maisy and Daisy, the carrier pigeons of Mr. Dirksen
• Pogo, dog from Tom
• Buttercup, cow

Machines

• Amphilius (English: Splasher), yellow-blue swimming vehicle
• Conti (engl.: Skip), yellow container truck
• Bristle sweeper, light blue sweeping machine
• Flexi (English: Flex), yellow and black striped mobile lifting platform
• Speedster (eng.: Zoomer), purple snowmobile
• Hebo (English: Gripper), orange-blue chain crane
• Hubi (engl.: Grabber), turquoise-orange crawler excavator with bucket arm and front shovel
• Huper (Engl.: Dodger), milk truck
• Kessi (English: Trix), purple forklift truck
• Tumbler, orange concrete mixer with orange-green mixing drum
• Lifti (engl.: Sumsy), red-black forklift truck
• Packer, red truck
• Rumpel (English: Travis), turquoise tractor of farmer Cucumber
• Scooter, Tom's snowmobile, black and yellow
• R.VEE, Robert's mobile workshop
• Jackaroo, the truck
• Benny the chain excavator
• Scratch, blue mini-digger (Only in the 1st re-release)
• Rappel (English: Rubble), yellow-silver dump truck (Only in the 1st new edition)
• Winzi (engl.: Tiny), yellow tower crane (Only in the 2nd new edition)
• Philip, the mayor's limousine (Only in the 2nd re-release)
• Betti, the bus of the youth sports club Sportis Hochhausen (Only in the 2nd new edition)
• Alfred, tow truck from Charlie (Only in the 2nd new edition)
• Rumms, a part of the MEGA - machines (Only in the 2nd new edition)
• Firecracker, a part of the MEGA - machines (Only in the 2nd new edition)
• Ace, the leader of the MEGA - machines (Only in the 2nd new edition)
• Norm, the rock drill (Only in the 2nd new edition)
• Strech, the little chain excavator (Only in the 2nd new edition)
• Rocky, the mini excavator (Only in the 2nd new edition)
• Tread, the construction site vehicle from Bob (Only in the 2nd new edition)
• Türmer (engl. Shifter), the green forklift truck (Only in the 2nd new edition)