ENVIRONMENTAL NONVIOLENCE IN THE BBC YOUNG-CHILDREN ANIMATION BOB THE BUILDER: BOB’S BIG PLAN (2004)
ENVIRONMENTAL NONVIOLENCE IN THE BBC YOUNG-CHILDREN ANIMATION BOB THE BUILDER: BOB’S BIG PLAN (2004)

Summary/Abstract: This article is concerned with the pilot episode of Bob the Builder: Project Build It (2004-2009), one of the most popular BBC animation series for young children, with a view to discussing environmental nonviolence—the issue which in recent years has become an important subject of academic study within a number of disciplines. It will be argued that environmental nonviolence in its child-friendly BBC version is embodied in Bob’s designing and constructing the (utopian) settlement of Sunflower Valley. Based on the theoretical considerations of nonviolence put forward by Bryan Teixeira (1999), the article shows how the practice of nonviolence as depicted in the animation involves a set of shifts described by Teixera with regard to the empirical world. Among them is a shift from alienation to interconnectedness; from individualism to community; from low self-worth to high self-worth; from inhumane conflict to humane conflict; from inequity to equity; from exclusivity to inclusivity; from centralization to decentralization, etc. As a result, the animation combines entertainment with serious educational value, instilled in the young fans of the Bob the Builder series.

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