There’s no denying the strength of this little guy’s pull. Millions and millions of bucks pour into his housing contracts every year and he never appears on A Current Affair being manipulated by Ray Martin into exposing shonky dealings. But I think that’s because Bob could outwit Ray on national television and that wouldn’t do at all…
Here Bob and his merry pit crew get asked to rebuild a dilapidated castle. In so doing they assign themselves nice knightly titles like Sir Lift-a-Lot, Sir Roll-A-Lot and so on. Except for the one unfortunate tip truck that calls himself Sir Dump-A-Lot, which does sound sorta entendre. Also, I was disappointed they couldn’t have Sir Mix-A-Lot in there singing his exceptional booty classic Baby Got Back. That’s a true classic if I know anything about music.
Working alongside Bob this time around is his father, Bob the Builder Senior, who manages to get a little bit in the way with his older ideals until Bob and Wendy must confront him about it (and all very nicely too). Between Bob Sr., an overgrown hedge maze and a concealed dungeon, there’s plenty to do and the animated tradesmen, tradeswomen and tradesequipment all do their part to ensure everything comes together on budget and on time.
So we know they’re not based in reality.
The animation here is extremely clean and well executed, and there’s no budgetary expense that seems to have been spared in bringing this stop motion animation to colourful life. Sets are vast and there is some computer enhancement of effects like fire and flying birds, though there is also the old-school method of things on strings. The picture quality is sharp in its 4:3 ratio and there is also some exquisite camera work. This is much harder for stop motion than for real life in that the camera is essentially being animated as well, moving one step each time when something like a sweeping pan or a angled crane boom shot is required.
Dialogue is, of course, well spoken and clear and aimed at a younger market. There isn’t any real lip synch as such, as the characters have pretty much open and shut mouths, but there’s never a problem understanding them. Music is fun and used for comical effect, well placed and written for the show by Paul K. Joyce. Naturally, this TV series is only shot in Dolby Digital stereo and that’s more than adequate here.
As to extras, there are a couple of text pages essentially in Meet Bob’s Parents, who each get a small paragraph about them each and a DVD-ROM Link if you stick this in your computer. There’s also a photo gallery holding 32 pics taken from the shoot, although some appear to have been deliberately staged for promotional purposes.
Although there are no real extras, there’s no doubt the kids will love this as they love the rest of Bob’s adventures. The show is well made with excellent production values and while not appearing to be all that great value-wise, the re-watchability factor must be taken into account.
Now if I could just get Bob to return my calls about those council plans…
