BOB THE BUILDER Deconstructed

Bob the Builder was a British television show that went global. The animated children’s television series was created by Keith Chapman and followed the adventures of Bob, a general building contractor, specializing in masonry.

Along with his colleague Wendy, various neighbors, and friends, and a gang of anthropomorphized work vehicles, Scoop, Muck, Dizzy, Roley, Lofty, and others, it was created for preschool/early elementary school-age children. It spreads messages of positivity and teamwork. It was known for its tagline – “Can we fix it? Yes, we can!”

The show was sold to over thirty countries, and it was translated into French, Spanish, Serbian, Swedish, Slovenian, German, Italian, Dutch, Hebrew, Hindi, Croatian, and Bengali, among others. He even had to have an extra finger added in Japan, so people did not think he was ex-Yakuza. True story.

Such was the value of the IP that a bidding war broke out between Netflix, Amazon MGM Studios, and DreamWorks Animation for the rights to make a film version of the character.

So, of course, now Hollywood is involved it has to be deconstructed. Jennifer Lopez will produce Bob The Builder, with writer-director Felipe Vargas penning the screenplay. Anthony Ramos (In the Heights) will star as the title character, and in an interview with Total Film he revealed that this version of Bob The Builder is suffering from an existential crisis and has lost his building mojo:

“It’s a story that’s set between two places, and Bob — his name is Roberto, but everyone calls him Bob – he comes from a family of construction workers, and Bob is one himself.

But it’s about a guy who has to go… He leaves, basically, from where he’s from, and moves to another place. He’s still building these beautiful buildings. He’s responsible for some of the most amazing skyscrapers. But…he doesn’t really understand why he’s building.”

Positivity, teamwork, and “Can we fix it? Yes, we can!” to malaise and existential self-examination? And we wonder why we have a children’s mental health crisis in the West.

Bob The Builder – or El Constructor Roberto, to give it the culturally appropriate new name – will apparently see Roberto traveling to Puerto Rico for a major construction job and take on issues affecting the island. Whilst there he digs deeper into what it means to build as he grows aware his building could be hurting the community. According to the blurb:

“[He] starts to tap into his roots, and he starts to tap into those old machines he grew up with, that his grandfather left behind. There are things in the story, for sure, that we pay homage to – the original characters, and character names, and Pilchard the cat. But obviously, I’m different to the Bob that people were watching back in the day.”

The press release says Bob The Builder will:

“…celebrate the vibrant and colorful textures of the Caribbean Latin nations and their people…”

I want to make a taco joke here, but I am afraid it would just fall apart.

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