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By Helen Bushbycultural reporter
bbcJennifer Lopez plans to take children’s television favorite Bob the Builder to Puerto Rico as “Roberto” in a film that the singer and actress will co-produce.
The announcement comes on the heels of the box office success of another Mattel character, Barbie.
Roberto/Bob, whose catchphrase is “Can we fix it? Yes, we can!”, will be voiced by Hamilton star Anthony Ramos.
The film will “delve deeper into what it means to build” and celebrate the Latin nations of the Caribbean, Mattel said.
Bob the Builder launched on BBC TV in 1999 and ran for 12 series.
Voiced by Men Behaving Badly and Line of Duty star Neil Morrissey, the cheerful construction worker has also been on global channels including Nick Jr and PBS Kids.
Our Zoo actor Lee Ingleby has voiced Bob in the UK since 2015, as part of a Channel 5 makeover that saw computer-generated animation replace stop-motion.
at the showBob, his colleague Wendy, and their friends “work together to get the job done.”
Ramos, who is also a co-producer, said he was “proud” to add elements of life “inspired by mine.”
He said it would be “a film about friends working together, a celebration of a beautiful home they share and how love can help overcome any obstacle in the way.”
Toys reinvented in the cinema
Bob the Builder is just one of the children’s characters being developed for big-screen reinventions following the critical and commercial success of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
It was the highest-grossing film of 2023 and earned eight Oscar nominations, five Bafta nominations and two Golden Globes.
Toy movies now in the works include Polly Pocket, directed by Lena Dunham and starring Lily Collins. Barney the Dinosaur, produced by Daniel Kaluuya, is reported to be “adult” and “will lean toward millennial angst”.
Other Mattel films in the works include Hot Wheels, produced by Star Wars: The Force Awakens director JJ Abramsas well as Masters of the Universe, Matchbox and Thomas & Friends.