HiT Entertainment and 20th Century-Fox have released Bob the Builder: Ultimate Adventure Collection, a three-disc boxed set containing 12 episodes from the popular stop-motion animated children's series. With only a few very minor extras included (two of the episodes have never aired before), you'll have to be a big Bob the Builder fan to purchase this somewhat pricey collection.

Developed back in mid-90s by Keith Chapman, Bob the Builder is one of those children's shows that, backed by a comprehensive marketing and manufacturing effort, becomes an instant "reality," permeating your kid's consciousness because the character is suddenly everywhere. The TV show is on all the time, and no matter what store you go into, there's some kind of tie-in merchandize to further burn the brand into your child's brain.

As for that process, although it's crass and calculating, on a basic level I don't have a problem with it at all. In numerous reviews about such fare, I've always come down on the side of, "if the property is entertaining, who cares if it's created solely to make money?" Unfortunately, I can't get too worked up about the Bob the Builder: Ultimate Adventure Collection precisely for that reason: it didn't entertain me (and quite frankly, my youngest boy found it a non-event, as well).

Telling the story of Bob the Builder, the series focuses on this local handyman and his efforts to get various building projects done, with the help of his anthropomorphized equipment. And that's pretty much all there is to Bob the Builder. Of course, since the show originates from the post-"entertainment for entertainment's sake" period of childhood programming, Bob the Builder puts educating its viewer first, before entertaining them. So the messages of socialization and problem-solving are front and center the concerns of the show - anything "fun" is left for catch-as-catch can.

Unfortunately, there's not much "fun" in Bob the Builder. Perhaps part of the flavor of the original Bob the Builder (it originates from England) is gone, because it's dubbed with American actors. But I doubt a change in accent and slang would prop up Bob the Builder's fairly mediocre stories and rather chintzy production. I'm pretty sure I never saw the show before (although I've seen some of the toys around the house), so watching this collection was my first real exposure to the series. And quite honestly, I wasn't impressed. The stop-motion animation was fairly limited (with cheap surroundings - perhaps intentionally - not adding any visual bonus), and the stories were repetitive and quite dull. The various mechanized friends of Bob, such as Dizzy the concrete mixer, Lofty the crane, and Roley the steamroller, never made much of an impact character-wise, and seemed designed strictly to expand the toy selection at your local department stores.

But as I've written before, for these kinds of specialized children's programming (because it's the rare new children's program that appeals equally to adults and the intended target audience), you have to get a kid's perspective to accurately gauge the material. My three-year-old boy seemed like the perfect viewer for this kind of show; as far as I know he's not a regular viewer of the series. Putting in the first disc, he showed a lot of initial enthusiasm, but after only two short episodes (which run a little under nine minutes), he was done with it. Granted, attention spans are pretty short at that age, but he can get through an hour of SpongeBob without moving. Waiting a few days, I tried again, but when I asked if he wanted to watch the show, he said no. I showed him the hardcase, and asked him if he remembered the show, and he said yes, but he wasn't interested. I watched a disc myself, hoping that he'd sit and watch it, too, but he passed through my office several times, glancing at the TV, and kept right on walking. Now obviously, there are a lot of kids out there who like the show (or at least we assume they do - maybe it's just "on" and there's a certain percentage of kids who'll watch "anything" if it's on). But combined with my own middling response to Bob the Builder, his decided disinterest sealed the deal for me.

Here are three titles and their episodes included in the Bob the Builder: Ultimate Adventure Collection, as described on their hardcases:

DIZZY'S FAVORITE ADVENTURES

Scarecrow Dizzy
Bob's crew is running in circles building a shed for Farmer Pickles and whitewashing his farmhouse. Dizzy is busy keeping the farm animals off the wet cement and mixing paint. But shouldn't the farmhouse be white instead of pink?

Bob the Photographer (unaired episode)
Bob plans to enter a photography contest until he loses his camera. Unknown to him, Spud has been taking pictures with the missing camera. But guess who wins first and second prizes when the photos turn up at the competition!

Dizzy's Statues
Dizzy and Muck learn new skills when they help Bob and Mrs. Potts by erecting statues in her garden and putting bollards around Town Hall. When the statues and bollards get mixed up, can Bob sort things out?

Dizzy Goes Camping
Dizzy is thrilled about camping out at Farmer Pickles' new campsite, as Muck and Spud join her singing around the campfire. But when they accidentally leave the sheep gate open, the camping trip turns into a sheep round-up instead.

LOFTY'S FAVORITE ADVENTURES

Lofty to the Rescue
Lofty's fear of heights and crossing the new bridge makes him the object of Spud's teasing. But when Spud falls off the bridge, can Lofty conquer his fear and rescue him? Or will he leave Spud hanging?

Lofty's Jungle Fun (unaired episode)
Lofty and Skip are excited about the jungle scene being painted on the playground. But when it looks like a real elephant is making tracks in the paint, they chase after the elephant and discover things aren't what they seem.

Bob's Big Surprise
While Wendy is out of the office for the day, Bob and the crew plan to surprise her by working in her garden. But keeping the office running and working in the garden is not as easy as it seems!

Magnetic Lofty
Lofty's magnet comes in handy when clearing an old railway track to make a bike path. Will it come in just as handy when Mr. Bentley loses his favorite pen at Bob's construction site?

ROLEY'S FAVORITE ADVENTURES

Roley to the Rescue
A stormy night leaves Bob, Roley and the team with lots of work to do. But they're not too busy to help some baby birds whose nest was blown away by the wind. Nothing can stop Roley and his friends from coming to the rescue!

Mr. Beasley's Noisy Pipes
Things get pretty noisy when Bob and his crew are called in to replace Mr. Beasley's banging pipes and boiler. With Bob working on the boiler upstairs and Mr. Beasley working downstairs, they finally manage to sort through the confusion and noise to get the job done!

Roley's Tortoise
Roley is excited about his new friend, Timmy the tortoise, and the building yard seems to be the safest place to keep Timmy while they search for his owner. But when Timmy turns up missing, it's Farmer Pickles who finds him in an unlikely place.

Runaway Roley
Roley, the hardworking steamroller, becomes a runaway "sleep roller" when he rolls out of the building yard while still asleep! Fortunately, his best friend, Bird, flies in search of help. Can Bob and the crew find a way to rescue Roley before he flattens the town?

The DVD:

The Video:
I was surprised at the amount of jagging in the full frame, 1.33:1 video image for Bob the Builder: Ultimate Adventure Collection, considering it's only about 35 minutes worth of material per disc (could PAL transfer issues be the cause?). Colors are fine, but the picture is soft.

The Audio:
There are English and Spanish mono tracks available for all the episodes in the Bob the Builder: Ultimate Adventure Collection. All dialogue is clear.

The Extras:
On Dizzy's Favorite Adventures, two music videos are included: I Can't Get Down and Where's That Cat?. On Lofty's Favorite Adventures, two additional music videos are included: Bob's Brass Band and An Apple a Day. And on Roley's Favorite Adventures, Bob's Birthday Read-Along is included.

Final Thoughts:
I can't say I was too impressed with the dull, chintzy Bob the Builder: Ultimate Adventure Collection - and neither was my young son. Repetitive stories and a limited concept didn't help, nor did the sub-par stop-motion animation and cheap backgrounds. But a lot of people out there like the show, so.... If you're a huge fan of Bob the Builder, I would imagine the Bob the Builder: Ultimate Adventure Collection would be a perfect gift idea this coming Christmas. But if you're only a casual viewer, or new to the series, I'd question that high retail price (working out to about $2.50 per 8-minute episode), especially when you can see the show for free on TV every day. A rental is as high as I go with Bob the Builder: Ultimate Adventure Collection.