Bob the Builder

Bob the Builder is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment which ran from 12 April 1999 (1999-04-12) to 31 December 2011 (2011-12-31) in the United Kingdom on the BBC, first on BBC One and later CBeebies. The series centres on the adventures and escapades of a general contractor named Bob who owns a team of anthropomorphised construction vehicles that go about their day helping out with construction work in several towns.

The show used stop-motion animation for most of the series as well as Project: Build It, provided by Hot Animation in Manchester. The series changed to CGI animation in 2010 for its final two seasons; titled Ready, Steady, Build!, of which SD Entertainment completed animation production.

Following the series' conclusion, HIT Entertainment was purchased by US toy company Mattel for $680 million. In October 2014, the company announced a new series that would feature changes in the setting, casting and character designs. The revival aired on Channel 5's Milkshake! for three series from 2015–2018, and was severely criticised by fans of the original version. An animated theatrical movie adaptation of the series was announced in January 2024; it will be produced by Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions and star Anthony Ramos as the voice of Bob.

In each episode, Bob and his group help with renovations, construction, and repairs and with other projects as needed. They are also joined by work colleague Wendy, alongside their neighbours and friends. The action is set in Bobsville; with Sunflower Valley and Fixham Harbour introduced in later seasons.

The show emphasises conflict resolution, co-operation, socialisation, 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, which was a million-selling number one hit in the UK.

In May 2005, a sort of spin-off series was released titled Bob the Builder: 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 machines 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 unknown whether Bob returned to Bobsville in the stop-motion series or not after this spin-off series was finished.

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 as the new voice of Bob, and Rob Rackstraw, who played the original voices of Scoop, Muck and Travis, to be the voices of Spud the Scarecrow and Mr. Bentley for both the UK and the US. The show also added recycling and being environmentally friendly to its lessons, emphasising the phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."

This series premiered on 2 May 2005 in the United Kingdom and 3 September of the same year in the United States, and was the first series made in HD 1080p.