Can we fix it? Bob the Builder and his crew can fix anything if they put their minds to it in The Best of Bob the Builder. This DVD features 140 minutes of some of the greatest episodes from the hit television show,Bob the Builder.
Bob the Builder is a children’s television character who is a building contractor in a stop motion animated program. Along with various neighbors, friends, and a crew of construction vehicles and equipment, Bob seeks to help the neighborhood.
While I’m not a huge fan of Bob the Builder, the show does have some good points emphasizing conflict resolution, cooperation, and socialization, and it introduces various learning skills.
Several episodes included in this film highlight working together and the back story of how Bob the Builder began. Featured episodes include: “Lofty to the Rescue,” “Mucky Muck,” “Dizzy Goes Camping,” “Bob’s Big Plan,” “Two Scoops,” “Off-Road Scrambler,” “When Bob Became a Builder,” “The House That Lofty Built,” “Bob’s Big Idea,” and “Roley’s Flat Garden.”
As touched upon earlier, I do not enjoy the show as a whole and would not encourage my children to watch either. Personally, the character voices annoy me, they have weird pink cement, and most importantly, I feel that there is a lot of whining, complaining, and some unnecessary negativity within the episodes themselves.
In regard to the DVD, it feels as though a couple of the episodes are repetitive in their message. Both “Lofty to the Rescue” and “Mucky Muck” have their main characters overcoming their fear by helping others. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great message, but considering this DVD is almost three hours long I would have though that they either could have chosen a different episode with a new message or at least spaced the episodes out so they weren’t back-to-back.
I do like the focus on recycling, reusing, and reducing waste and that message is placed in several episodes and reinforced by the actions of Bob and his crew.
The story of Sunflower Valley is told throughout several of the latter episodes featured in The Best of Bob the Builder, showing how Bob wins the bid to construct an eco-friendly city.
Also included in the DVD are episodes of how Bob became a builder himself and how his friends, equipment, and vehicles came to be part of his crew, which I think is a nice touch if you are a big Bob the Builder fan or even a first time viewer. Bonus features include the never before seen On Site: Trains, and a few games.
All in all this DVD has some great messages if you can get past some negativity and annoying characters. If you’re a fan of Bob the Builder you will certainly want to add this to your collection for the back story if nothing else.
Are you a fan of Bob the Builder? If so tell me why?
I am on the fence about Bob…I think some of the themes and messages can be positive and I like the look of the characters. However, we bought a DVD of Bob for our son to watch on car trips and cannot get him to watch it. He whines and wants it turned off. I am not sure if the voices annoy him or if he is just frightened by the pumpkin-head character (he seems to become upset when he sees that character). Granted he is 20 months old, but he watches several other very popular shows on DVD on car trips very happily. So not to bash Bob…I know a friend whose two sons LOVE Bob and can’t get enough of him. I just think the Pumpkin head character is odd and a bit scary….maybe he needs to go? Just my thoughts.