It’s another normal day in Hollywood as Mattel announces a Bob the Builder movie in collaboration with Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions.
Via The Hollywood Reporter, the official synopsis for the animated feature reads as follows: “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.” Anthony Ramos (In the Heights, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) will voice the titular character.
Perhaps the coolest bit of the news is that animation studio ShadowMachine, which worked on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio as well as BoJack Horseman, will produce, “alongside Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, and Benny Medina for Nuyorican.” Ramos, who’s leading the yet-to-be-fully-assembled cast, will also produce. ShadowMachine’s involvement might suggest a return to the original series’ stop-motion style.
Bob the Builder has seen a handful of substantial creative revamps over the years, with the latest happening after Mattel’s acquisition of the IP in 2011, which spawned a new animated series, so this is just another walk around the neighborhood for the charming character.
After Greta Gerwig’s Barbie earned over $1.4 billion at the global box office and gathered eight Oscar nominations (including Best Picture), Mattel has been aggressively pursuing movie pitches which take advantage of its more famous properties. Among the many tentative projects, we can find the Ken spinoff the public is clamoring for and a Barney movie led by Daniel Kaluuya.
