Bob the Builder is a British animated children’s television series that first aired in 1999. Created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment, the series follows the titular Bob, his wife Wendy, and their anthropomorphized work vehicles Scoop, Muck, Dizzy, Roley, and Lofty, as they help their friends and neighbors with renovations and construction while emphasizing teamwork and conflict resolution. Bob’s catchphrase in the series is “Can we fix it?” to which the other characters reply “Yes we can!”
The original series utilized stop-motion and ran from 1999-2004 in the United Kingdom, and from 2001-2005 in the United States. A spin-off series, Project: Build It debuted in 2005 and ran until 2009. A second spin-off series titled Ready, Set, Build! began airing in 2010 and concluded in 2011, when the series was sold to Mattel.
The franchise was rebooted in 2015 with a CGI-animated series, which ran for 130 episodes before ending in 2018.
A Bob the Builder film is currently in production, with Jennifer Lopez overseeing the production.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
Bob the Builder was represented in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time in 2001 by a 18-foot long, 14-foot wide, and 12-foot tall float. The float featured Bob bulldozing his way down Broadway with Scoop (a yellow digger backhoe) and Pilchard, his trusty feline friend. The float hammered home the series’ core message of teamwork and self-confidence.
In 2002, the Bob the Builder float was updated to a tandem unit, adding co-worker Wendy and her big red machine pal Muck. The float returned in part to promote the upcoming Bob the Builder LIVE stage show that launched in Spring 2003.[1]
The float made its final appearance in the 2004 Parade, promoting the video Snowed Under: The Bobblesburg Winter Games, in which the team face the Olympic-sized challenge of racing against the clock after a snowstorm to finish building ski runs and an ice rink for the annual Bobblesburg Winter Games.[2]
After the float was retired and dismantled, Pilchard could be seen on the roof of Macy’s Parade Studio in Hoboken until 2011. Scoop was also saved, and was last seen inside the Macy’s Parade Warehouse in 2011.[3]
Bob the Builder was later planned to appear as a giant helium balloon in 2006. The balloon passed the design stage with a design by Joel Naprstek, however it was scrapped shortly after.