- āRight, team, can we fix it?ā
- ―Bob's original catchphrase
- āMorning, team!ā
- ―Ready, Steady, Build!
Bob is the main character and titular protagonist of the eponymous television series. He is a general contractor with being head of his own construction yard along with his close colleague and best friend Wendy. He is based in Bobsville, Sunflower Valley or Fixham Harbour depending on the series.
Biography
Bob is from a family of builders - his father Robert is also a builder and so was his Grandfather Billy. Bob wanted to be a builder ever since he was a child and he got a hardhat for Christmas when he was young, and the first thing he fixed was Tomās toy elephant, as seen in A Christmas to Remember. When he was a teenager, him and his twin brother Tom went out camping in Sunflower Valley. He is assisted by Wendy and a host of five anthropomorphic vehicles in various projects in and around town. In the early episodes he was not good with computers but in newer episodes he used them for construction work designing. Some of the problems in the show arise from Bob's habit of forgetting to turn his mobile phone on. He also is the owner of Pilchard the cat.
He was voiced by Neil Morrissey in the UK and by William Dufris, Greg Proops and Marc Silk in the US of the original series.
Personality
Bob is a very kind-hearted, caring, and hard-working man who enjoys his work and encourages everyone else. He is shown to be a fun-loving and intelligent individual. During a crisis/problem, he is not one to lose focus and often comes up with ideas on how to fix things. He acts as a parental figure to his machines and makes sure to keep them in line. While he is honest and frank about how he feels, Bob is far from being overly strict or stern. Rather, he is shown to be quick to forgive, but also willing to teach and correct. He can at sometimes be forgetful when he tries to remember what jobs to do. Thus, Wendy is there to help his mind kickstart.
In early series, Bob was a little more serious (particularly in Series 1), but this was toned down as the series progressed.
Relationships
Wendy
- Main article: Bob-Wendy Relationship
Bob met Wendy at the age of fifteen, when he helped his father Robert build a house in Bobsville. Wendy, who watched the construction day after day, secretly started attending builder courses. That's also why Bob accepted her request to be in charge of the building yard's office; she saw that Bob had too much to take care of the paperwork and requests properly.
In the course of time, Bob and Wendy strengthened their relationship, and in some episodes it is possible to see strong emotions from both sides.
Tom
Bob and his twin brother Tom were very close during childhood, and it is logical to assume that they were each other's first real friends. During their teenage years, the twins went camping in Sunflower Valley several times during the holidays.
After his work move to the Arctic Circle, Tom rarely visited Bobsville, so Bob was happy for any opportunity for Tom to visit home.
Robert and Dorothy
Bob has a healthy relationship with his parents, although father Robert can be very opinionated. It was the latter who introduced Bob to construction and general technical work, although Bob initially did not see the point in it. What both Robert and Dorothy have in common is that they call their son "Bobby", which Bob didn't like at first, but it later apparently stopped bothering him.
Physical Appearance
Bob is a tan-fair skinned male with small black eyes and a medium sized nose. As a construction worker, he is often shown to be wearing his building clothing which consists of a red and orange chequered/patch shirt (which has a collar in Ready, Steady, Build!), faded blue dungarees (which are a darker shade of blue in the first series and in Project: Build It), brown boots, and a yellow construction worker's hat. Around his waist, Bob also carries a tan-coloured toolbelt which usually contains a pipe spanner, two screwdrivers (the first one is yellow with two red circle lines on it and the second one is black), and a hammer, as well as a silver and orange tape measure from the first to third series. When his hat is removed, he is shown to have brown hair. His hair was longer during his youth. When he was learning to build, he wore a blue boilersuit.
Other Attires
- A pair of jeans
- Prince costume (at the end of The Knights of Can-a-Lot)
- Cowboy costume (several times)
- Tuxedo (at parties)
- Brown fur/fluff trim coat
- Santa Claus costume (Christmas)
- Wizard costume (Halloween)
- Sweater
- Pyjamas
- Raincoat
- Welding apron
- Orange short-sleeved shirt
- Black winter vest with yellow stripe
- High viz coat
- High viz vest
- Yellow shirt with cactus patterns.
- White tuxedo
Appearances
Trivia
- Bob was originally going to be called Bill, but out of the two names of Bill and Bob, Keith Chapman settled on Bob.[1]
- In the summer of Bob's teen years Bob helped his dad build the yard, which later inspired him to become a builder.
- In the UK dub, Bob speaks with a Midlands accent, however, in the episode Buffalo Bob, he can speak in a Southern American accent. In the US dub, Bob speaks with a clear American accent.
- When Bob was younger, he had longer hair. This is also the same case for Wendy.
- In Ready, Steady, Build!, Bob is only ever seen wearing his work clothes. This applies for Wendy, too.
- Bob is the only character to appear in every episode.
- In a production wrap party poster from 1999, Bob's hard hat is shown to be able to swivel on top of his head.[2]
- Another thing worth noting is that it was possibly the first public appearance of Bob before S1 aired in the UK. This is also the first "crude" showing of Bob. In the poster, he is seen having a cigarette in his mouth and lying on the floor behind a wall (possibly Bob's Building Yard) next to Farmer Pickles, who is either vomiting or urinating, while he is drunk. There are also four glass bottles of alcohol in front of them.
- The first thing Bob ever fixed was his brother Tom's toy elephant.
- Due to limitations with the stop-motion models, Bob (as well as all of the human characters) was usually seen smiling in the original series, even if the scene doesn't really make sense to have him smiling. In Ready, Steady, Build! he is more expressive, and tends to frown at times where it makes sense.
- In the 'Official Children in Need Medley' music video, Bob is the first cartoon character to be seen singing at a recording studio. The only line in the medley that Bob sung on his own was "If you look around, the whole world's coming together now" when it was on its first part. ('Can You Feel It') That line in the medley was also from the 'Can You Feel It' song itself.
- Bob's reboot series counterpart slightly resembles his pilot episode design, including five fingers on each hand.
References
Residents | ||
---|---|---|
Machines | ||
Animals | ||
Locations | Bob's Yard | Farmer Pickles' Farm | Town Hall | Post Office | Music Studio | Airport | J.J.'s Building Yard | Mr. Sabatini's Pizza Shop | Little Town Tunnel | Crows-foot Car Park | Bobington Harbour | Castle | Bobsville Machine Workshop |
Residents | Bob | Wendy | Spud | Farmer Pickles | Marjorie | Mr. Beasley | Mr. Bentley | Angelo Sabatini | Mrs. Barbara Bentley | Sophia Sabatini | Sunny | Saffron | The Pickers (Micky Picker), (Ricky Picker), (Vicky Picker) | Carlo and Cassia Sabatini | Ella | Annie | Chip Chipper | Meg | Piper | Pablo Sabatini | Llewela | Dickie Chester | |
---|---|---|
Machines | Scoop | Muck | Dizzy | Roley | Lofty | Travis | Scrambler | Sumsy | Packer | Dodger | Tumbler | Flex | Bristle | Splasher | Gripper and Grabber | |
Animals | Pilchard | Scruffty | Giddy | Buttercup | |
Locations | Sunflower Valley Machine Shelter | Bob's Yard | Scarecrow Cottage | Farmer Pickles' Sunflower Factory | Sunflower Valley General Store | Splasher Stop | Bobland Bay (Beach | Promenade | Hotel | Splasher Stop | Sports Stadium | Machine Shelter | The Lighthouse) |
Residents | Bob | Wendy | Spud | Farmer Pickles | Mr. Bentley | Sunny | Saffron | Carlo and Cassia Sabatini | Ella | David Mockney | Brad Rad | Mrs. Toosie | Dickie Oliver | Tony Toberomi | Carlie | |
---|---|---|
Machines | Scoop | Muck | Dizzy | Roley | Lofty | Travis | Scrambler | Packer | Splasher | Gripper and Grabber | Scratch | Rubble | |
Animals | Pilchard | Scruffty | |
Locations | Bob's Yard | Supplies Yard |