"We're all going on a Cowboy Holiday,
    No more building for a week or two!"
 

    In this fourth feature-length special, Bob the Builder and his pals saddle
    up for a holiday in the Wild West. The gang make tracks for The Double
    R Ranch, home to Rio Rogers, her horse dollar and her trusty Pick-up
    truck Jackeroo. They've come to learn some good old-fashioned cowboy
    skills, but inevitably, events lead them down more constructive avenues.

    The constructions in question belong to Cactus Creek, a prospector town
    founded by Rio's Great Great Granddaddy Rusty Rogers. Alas, the place
    is a mere ghost town nowadays, having been abandonned when the gold
    ran out. Rio has her heart set on fixing it up, and there's even a rumour of
    a stash of gold hidden somewhere near town - though she's not set eyes
    on it. Why, it's probably just another Tall Story to sit alongside the ones
    she just loves to tell her visitors. And she also loves a singsong. Which is
    great for Bob, Wendy and the machines, because they all get on down
    to a spot of line-dancing at every oppurtunity...

    But back on our trail again, it's poor hapless Muck the Bulldozer who
    kickstarts the construction work, when he inadvertently collapses much
    of Cactus Creek. The gang simply can't leave the place in such a state,
    so they swap their stetsuns for hard hats and set about the place.

    Meanwhile, there's Muck. He's been dreaming of a Western adventure,
    but all he's done is destroy the town. And now he's destroyed a rickety
    old bridge too, and it's all going wrong. Bob sends him away to clear
    out an old barn. Only this barn contains a secret; a tunnel leading to a
    mine shaft and a hair-raising rollecrcoaster ride on a mine cart down,
    down, down to Rusty Rogers' treasure!

        

    Yee-ha! - "Built to be Wild" is a cracking little film that's impossible not
    to like. Rowdy Rio Rogers is voiced with real gusto by pop legend Suzi
    Quatro. She throws her all into the songs and those taller-than-tall tales,
    and hearthrob Donny Osmond is equally-sparky as Jackeroo.

    Okay, so the plot doesn't go anywhere new, but the widescreen Western
    action incorporates an array of incidental details and events to make you
    smile. Look at the way high-falutin' Rio slaps her thigh when she's excited,
    and how she casually tunes her guitar before she sings for the gang. Look
    at the dust trails that are kicked up around the town, whenever a critter
    gallops through frame. There are dune bugs, vultures and rattlesnakes poking
    around the canyons and buttes. And that fantastic, helter-skeltering mine
    sequence is worth the price of admission on its own...

    Woah, woah. Hold up. What's all this talk about admission fees?
    That's because "Built to be Wild" broke new ground by premiering in
    UK cinemas, on July 8th 2006. It played as part of a "Family Bonanza"
    film tour from HIT Entertainment, alongside Angelina Ballerina's film
    "Angelina Sets Sail" and some Pingu shorts. The package was an
    Odeon chain exclusive and it toured around the UK through to
    August 6th. The UK DVD release didn't follow until November.


    » The film opens with Muck having a cinemascope dream in which he's
        become Mucky Muck of the West. That's similar to the opening of the
        previous film, "Snowed Under", in which Scoop's the one dreaming.
        Will a fifth film begin with Rolly, or Lofty or Dizzy in a daydream...?

    » Listen out for the song "Cowboy Builders", in which Bob and the gang
        rouse us with a tune about their work in the West, rather than their
        reputation in the industry!

    » And look out, too, for a moonlit continuity error. You see, the moon is
        full and round when the gang settle down to a supper with Rio. But later
        that same evening, as they bed down for the night, it's mysteriously
        reduced to a crescent - Ow-ooo!

    » Oh, and that title takes its cue from the classic Steppenwolf
        song "Born to be Wild"...

 

     See also

       Tv Series:
       Bob the Builder
       Bob the Builder: Project Build-It
    
       Specials:  
       Bob the Builder: Bob's Big Plan
       Bob the Builder: A Christmas to Remember
       Bob the Builder: Knights of Can-a-lot
       Bob the Builder: Scrambler to the Rescue
       Bob the Builder: Snowed Under
       Bob the Builder: When Bob Became a Builder

 

     Built to be Wild on DVD

       Bob the Builder: Built to Be Wild
                 Region 2 / HIT Entertainment / November 2006

       Bob the Builder: Built to Be Wild
                 Region 1 / Lyons/HIT Ent / September 2006

 

    a HOT Animation Production
    for HIT Entertainment Ltd

 

      On the web


       Bob the Builder
       Bob's home on the web, suitably bright and busy for kids...

       HIT Entertainment 
       The parent site for Bob's owners with corporate info on all of their
       many and varied characters....