Bob the Builder: The Three Musketrucks (DVD)

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Kids are easily amused, but (go figure) they're also the most easily bored creatures on the face of the Earth. So it's saying something when a children's television show runs nine seasons, as "Bob the Builder" has. Yes, this one might appeal to girls as well, but it's a safe bet that the primary viewers for this series are little boys in the 2-5 age range--ones who'd sooner push a car, truck, or tractor along an imaginary highway than they would take a trip backward in time with plastic dinosaurs.

Like any show targeted for pre-schoolers, "Bob the Builder" features bright colors and simple plot lines. But you won't find too much talking-down to kids, or dumbing down the way you get with babyish characters in shows like "Teletubbies" or "Barney." Bob is a contractor who, with friends and a garage full of anthropomorphic, brightly colored construction vehicles tackles a building or renewal project of some sort in almost every episode. "Can we do it?" Bob asks, like a general trying to rouse his troops. "YES, we can!" comes the group response.

And you have to give plenty of bonus points to a show that offers such a positive outlook. No matter how big the job, Bob and his gang always seem to be positive and upbeat, and their adventures together teach youngsters lessons about sharing, turn-taking, working together, patience, perseverance, commitment, and what it means to be part of a family or circle of friends.

If you've never seen the show, Bob and the rest are 3-D clay figures animated with stop-motion photography. Bob has a special friend named Wendy (in an attempt to bring in a few girls into the audience), a cat named Pilchard, a bunch of neighbors (including Farmer Pickles and his talking scarecrow), and a ton of construction vehicles. Among them are Scoop, the yellow backhoe; Muck, the red bulldozer; Lofty, a blue crane; Dizzy, an orange concrete mixer; and Roley, a green steamroller. Like Bob, all of the humanized machines have catchphrases (Roley's, for example, is "Rock 'n' Roll!"), and they function really on the same level as the human characters.

These are new episodes, and as always the new trucks and vehicles blend in engagingly with the rest of the gang and they provide a change of scenery.

Dodger the Milk Truck is built around a mix-up. Meg wants her new house finished so she and everyone else can give her new milk truck, Dodger, a big warm welcome. But when Dodger comes to town, there's no one to be seen, because Meg got the wrong day.

The Three Musketrucks is, of course, the Bob the Builder version of the Dumas novel, dumbed down considerably. Scrambler, Packer, and Dodger become the Three Musketrucks who vow always to deliver the goods. Little boys will like this one because of a brief moment of peril aboard a ferry.

Dodger's Dairy Disaster finds Bob and his Can-Do Crew building a new creamery for Meg and Piper so they can make cheeses using local flavors. This episode deals with self-image. Dodger tries to make people laugh because he's insecure about ever being as well-liked as Packer, but he's so worried about what people think that he ends up getting the wrong ingredients for the new cheeses. As with all Bob the Builder episodes, though, all's well that ends well.