Race to the Finish

Race to the Finish (released in the US as Race to the Finish: The Movie) is a 2008 Bob the Builder special. It was the last special in the series to be produced in stop-motion and to be animated by HOT Animation.

Plot

It's the first ever Sunflower Valley Games and Bob and the team have a big job to do: building a huge sports stadium!

For such a big project, Bob brings in some very special help from the big city - two new machines called Gripper and Grabber. But with Wendy off training as Sunflower Valley's star athlete and Gripper and Grabber exploring the valley instead of working, the stadium is in jeopardy - until a nerve-wracking mountain-top crisis pulls the team together!

Characters

• Bob
• Wendy
• Scoop
• Muck
• Dizzy
• Roley
• Lofty
• Scrambler
• Packer
• Mr. Bentley
• Mr. Beasley
• Angelo Sabatini (final appearance)
• Sunny
• Saffron
• Carlo and Cassia Sabatini
• Meg MacDonald (final appearance)
• David Dixon
• The Pickers (final appearance)
• Spud
• Robert
• Mrs. Bentley (final appearance)
• Annie
• Farmer Pickles (cameo)
• Marjorie (cameo, final appearance)
• Max (cameo)
• Pablo Sabatini (cameo)
• J.J. (cameo, final appearance)

Characters Introduced

• Gripper and Grabber
• Competing Machines (do not speak)
• Daley Jogger (does not speak)

Voice Cast

United Kingdom & Australia

• Neil Morrissey as Bob, Roley, Lofty, Angelo Sabatini, David Dixon & Micky Picker
• Rob Rackstraw as Scoop, Muck, Spud, Mr. Bernard Bentley, Mr. Beasley, Packer, Ricky Picker & Grabber
• Kate Harbour as Wendy, Dizzy, Mrs. Barbara Bentley, Vicky Picker, Annie Pickles & Meg
• Rupert Degas as Scrambler, Sunny, Carlo Sabatini & Gripper
• Richard Briers as Robert
• Emma Tate as Cassia Sabatini & Saffron

North America

• Marc Silk as Bob & Mr. Beasley
• Lorelei King as Wendy, Roley, Mrs. Barbara Bentley, Packer & Vicky Picker
• Alan Marriott as Scoop, David Dixon & Micky Picker
• Lachele Carl as Muck
• Emma Tate as Dizzy, Lofty, Saffron & Cassia Sabatini
• Vincent Marzello as Robert & Angelo Sabatini
• Rob Rackstraw as Spud, Mr. Bernard Bentley & Grabber
• Rupert Degas as Scrambler, Sunny, Ricky Picker, Carlo Sabatini & Gripper (Uncredited)
• Kate Harbour as Meg (uncredited)

Sweden

• Magnus Ehrner as Bob and Robert
• Eva Gröndahl as Wendy
• Claire Wikholm as Scoop
• Björn Gedda as Muck
• Nick Atkinson as Lofty, Sunny and Carlo Sabatini
• Tuvalisa Rangström as Dizzy, Mrs. Barbara Bentley, Annie, Saffron and Cassia Sabatini
• Anneli Martini as Roley
• Steve Kratz as Spud, Mr. Bentley, Mr. Beasley, Packer and David Dixon
• Cornelia Dahlgren as Scrambler
• Jakob Stadell as Gripper
• Claes Ljungmark as Grabber

Trivia

• This is the last special for a few things:
  • The last special to be part of the Project: Build It era.
  • The last special to be animated in stop-motion and produced by HOT Animation.
  • The final special to have the late Richard Briers as part of the voice cast, prior to his death in 2013.
  • The final cameo appearance of J.J. to date.
  • The final appearance of Robert until the Bob the Builder Reboot Series.
• This marked the first appearance of Gripper and Grabber.
• The possibility of an arena/sports stadium was foreshadowed in Go, Mr. Bentley, Go (Series 15).
• This used the most unknown machines in the whole stop-motion series.
• This special takes place sometime during the sixteenth series.
• This special features Gripper, Grabber, Bob, Wendy, Scoop and Lofty as the main characters.
• According to Wendy, the Bobland Bay Sports stadium is indeed the biggest structure they ever built, which is true as it took the whole team three days to build.
• This special is based off the Olympics. Thomas & Friends would eventually adapt this idea in a special in 2016 called The Great Race.
• The fairy tree topper from A Christmas To Remember makes a re-appearance in Spud's bedroom. Spud's skateboard from Skateboard Spud (Series 5), the dragon head from Spud the Dragon (Series 5), JJ's airplane and the remote for the airplane from Spud the Pilot (Series 7), the cork hat from Snowed Under: The Bobblesberg Winter Games and Spud's helmet from The Knights of Can-A-Lot can also be seen in Spud's bedroom.
• This special marks David Dixon's first appearance since Wendy's Party Plan (Series 10) and currently his final appearance in the franchise to date.
• This is the second special that does not have a Japanese dub.
• This is the second special to have a scene in which the machines recieve medals. The first one being Snowed Under: The Bobblesberg Winter Games.
• This is the only time Packer appears in a Project: Build It special.
• Wendy's training montage is an obvious parody of the Rocky movies.
• In the Swedish Dub David Dixon is Refered to Mr. Dixon Since Both Character are Voiced by Steve Kratz in that dub.
• "Pomp and Circumstance" plays as Mr. Bentley says, "Ah, to where the Sunflower Logo, the Yellow Badge of Glory. Yes, you. You could be our sporting hero!".
• In the US dub, Mr. Bentley's audio dialogues are "A heptathlon, Roley, is a series of seven different kinds of sports." and "Bob, tell us where the games are going to be!", and he mouths "A heptathlon, Roley, is a series of seven sporting challenges." and "Bob, tell us where the games are to be held!".

Goofs

• Kate Harbour and Rupert Degas are not mentioned in the US credits.
• On the US release, when Gripper imitates Mr. Beasley when explaining him to Grabber, the subtitles incorrectly say he's imitating Mr. Bentley.

In Other Languages

Trailers and Featurettes

Bob the Builder- Race to the Finish - DVD Advert (UK)

UK DVD Advertisement