Mattel is Shaking Up Bob the Builder in Its Newest Movie

Thanks to the success of Barbie, Mattel is going full steam ahead on its slate of toy-based movies. With Hot Wheels and American Girl movies already in the works, Mattel has announced its latest film: Bob the Builder, in collaboration with Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions.

But is the Bob the Builder movie just going to be a soulless rehash of the original stop-motion kid’s show? It doesn’t look like it. In fact, it looks like the film will take Bob in an interesting new direction.

Here’s what we know!

The plot of Bob the Builder will focus on issues affecting Puerto Rico

In the original Bob the Builder show, Bob lives in England, where he takes on various construction projects and has adventures with his anthropomorphized construction vehicles Scoop, Muck, Dizzy, Roley, and Lofty. Bob the Builder originally aired on CBBC from 1999 to 2011, before Mattel bought the franchise and rebooted it with a computer animated version.

The Bob the Builder film, though, is shaking up the story’s premise, with fantasy writer and director Felipe Vargas (Lotería) penning the script. Here’s the synopsis, via The Hollywood Reporter:

When Roberto “Bob” travels to the enchanting island of Puerto Rico for a major construction job, he takes on issues affecting the island and digs deeper into what it means to build. Bob’s journey will celebrate the vibrant and colorful textures of the Caribbean Latin nations and their people.

That actually sounds … pretty good? Could a Bob the Builder movie get into issues like colonialism and sovereignty? Could Mattel pull off another Barbie?

There’s one more significant detail about Bob the Builder: true to the show’s roots, the movie will be animated, with animation studio Shadowmachine (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, BoJack Horseman) at the helm.

Who’s in the cast of Bob the Builder?

So far, only one cast member has been announced: Anthony Ramos (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Ironheart) as Bob. No word yet on who will voice his stalwart team of eccentric construction vehicles.

Release window: When will Bob the Builder come out?

At this point, with the film so early in development, it’s impossible to say when it’ll hit theaters. Stay tuned for details, though! We’ll post them as we get them.

(featured image: CBBC)