The love kids have for building and construction play transcends both time and space. But their love of real-life celebrity builders? That’s a more modern construct.

Tapping into both is Builder Brothers’ Dream Factory (pictured above), a new CG-animated series featuring super-celeb design and reno twins Drew and Jonathan Scott. Produced by Toronto-based prodcos Scott Brothers Entertainment and Sinking Ship Entertainment, the show focuses on the powerhouse duo as eight-year-olds using high-tech tools to build everything from machines to tiny houses in order to help their neighborhood friends.

Dream Factory premiered in Canada on Corus Entertainment’s Treehouse channel in March, and made its international debut May 1 on Discovery Kids Latin America. (Norway’s NRK and Hop! in Israel have also recently acquired the show.) It’s a perfect one-two strategy: Corus is a longtime supporter—its W Network launched the brothers’ TV careers—but Discovery has grown into one of their brand’s most  important markets.

The Property Brothers franchise is very popular in Latin America. Its namesake series is consistently a top-rated program there, according to Josie Crimi, EVP of production and development at Scott Brothers Entertainment. And the show attracts nearly 100 million viewers every year in the US, Canada and LatAm combined.

The brothers’ success in the region can be largely attributed to their multi-generational appeal, says Jessica Bishop, Warner Bros. Discovery Kids & Family’s LatAm director of acquisitions and co-productions. “[Property Brothers] is already an important co-view-ing show for us, so having a series designed specifically for kids, and one that speaks directly to them, is a very smart move,” she says. “We are sure that parents are going to love this show as much as they do the live-action series.”

Property Brothers (Hermanos a la obra)—which features the Scott brothers helping families find, buy and renovate their dream homes—premiered in LatAm on Discovery Home & Health in 2011. And since then, Discovery has picked up a raft of other Brothers content, including Brother vs Brother (Hermanos a la Obra: Desafío), Buying and Selling (Vender para comprar) and Property Brothers at Home (Hermanos a la obra en casa).

The brothers’ positive focus on family and family dynamics is important for Latin American audiences, says Bishop, adding that “Property Brothers‘ down-to-earth and humble approach to what can traditionally be a stressful process inspires people to believe they can do it.”

Builder Brothers’ Dream Factory “builds” on that family focus by highlighting the relationship between the two brothers, who are empathetic and supportive toward one another, explains Carla de Jong, head of production at Sinking Ship Entertainment. “The show also emphasizes the value of service to others and teamwork, and shows the characters as real kids who are vulnerable and unafraid to show how much they love each other.”

She’s not worried about whether or not kids know who the brothers are in real life because their natural appeal and enthusiasm translates well into animation.

Builder Brothers is the first CG-animated production for Sinking Ship, which is best known for live-action series like Dino Dana and Endlings. It’s also the first kids project from Scott Brothers Entertainment (SBE), which launched a kids division in July 2022 and appointed long-time consultant Amory Millard as its VP.

Builder Brothers was the perfect vehicle to launch the SBE kids division, says Millard. “Drew and Jonathan wanted to share the same encouraging messages that their parents instilled during their childhood—think big, be creative, and try, try again.”

In tune with its overall business model, SBE has big ambitions for consumer products and other franchise opportunities based on the series. It’s an area of business that the company excels at on the adult side, selling more than 10,000 SKUs of Property Brothers housewares through major US and Canadian retailers such as The Home Depot, Wayfair, Amazon and Macy’s. Sales for this licensing program have reached almost US$2 billion in less than 10 years, according to SBE.

The positioning of the kids series is naturally suited to consumer products, given that it focuses on STEAM experiences and activities that spark kids’ imaginations, encourage creative construction, and foster collaboration, Millard explains.

Mellany Welsh, head of Nelvana Enterprises, is also bullish on the merch potential of Builder Brothers. She says the series’ core values of transformation, innovation and resilience, and its roots in the maker movement, “encourage kids to pursue their dreams and tap into their creative minds to think outside the box.” Welsh is currently seeking licensing partners in all categories, including toys.

Since kids’ love of building is evergreen and universal, WBD’s Bishop is confident that the new series has the building blocks it needs to go global in a big way.

“The idea of constructing, building and creating is a key part of a child’s life and development…kids love to see the process and the teamwork that goes into [it],” she says. “Seeing the tangible result of hard work is very rewarding to a child, and [it’s an experience] they will then emulate at home with their family, building towers, rockets and LEGO houses.”

REWIND! Bob, the original builder

Animated stars based on real-life renovators may be hot with today’s kids, but they are predated by the original animated hero with a hard hat: Bob.

Bob the Builder (pictured above) was created in 1984 by kids TV super-creator Keith Chapman (PAW Patrol), who was inspired by a construction machine digging outside his home in London. Calling it a “eureka moment,” he immediately sketched an old-school excavator with big eyes, gave it the personality of a mischievous kid, and added some construction-machine buddies. “They needed a father figure, so I created Bob,” Chapman explains. “I knew it was a big idea with great scope for unlimited storylines.”

In 1996, he showed his concept to UK prodco HIT Entertainment, which sold the BBC on commissioning it. Bob the Builder premiered in stop-motion animation in 1999 and went on to become a worldwide hit. Since then, Bob has kept on building. CBeebies spun o Bob the Builder: Project Build in 2005, followed by Bob the Builder: Ready, Steady, Build! in 2010. And in 2014, Mattel rebooted the series in CG animation.

As Bob turns 24 this year, his appeal remains strong, and his blueprint for success is simple—children’s love for building things is timeless and instinctive, says Chapman. Building is a great activity that kids can enjoy alone or with others, and they find it almost as pleasurable to watch someone else build.

For that reason, he sees Bob evolving in the future to reflect new tech: “He could be building garages for flying cars, or accommodation for astronauts on other planets.”

This story originally appeared in Kidscreen‘s June/July 2023 magazine.