Mecha Builders

''Mecha Builders'' (also known as ''Sesame Street: Mecha Builders'') is an animated children's television series and a spin-off of ''Sesame Street'' that began production in May 2020. The series is produced by Sesame Workshop and animated by Guru Studio.

The project was announced in October 2019. Visual development was started remotely, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series intended to add 80 staff as it entered production.

The first of the two stories comprising the first episode was released on April 26, 2022, on the Sesame Street YouTube channel. The series premiered on May 9, 2022, on Cartoon Network, within its Cartoonito pre-school block. The series was later available on the streaming service Max.
The series later became a recurring series of shorts during Sesame Street's 55th season.

Premise

The series focuses on "mecha" versions of three legacy characters: Mecha Abby Cadabby, Mecha Elmo, and Mecha Cookie Monster, all reimagined as mechanical beings with the power to enlarge to giant size in addition to unique built-in tools and gadgets. The trio usually solve a problem using a three-step formula: plan, test, and solve. Later episodes would add a fourth main cast member in the form of Elmo's pet dog Tango.

Characters

Main

* Mecha Abby Cadabby (voiced by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph) is one of the three Mecha Builders. Mecha Abby is the sole female of the main trio, and acts as the group's leader. Her gadgets include jet boosters in her wings, a flying hologram generator used to outline their plans, and she has the ability to stretch her arms to great lengths in order to reach faraway objects. She represents the planning aspect of the show's problem-solving formula.
* Mecha Elmo (voiced by Ryan Dillon) is one of the three Mecha Builders. Mecha Elmo has high technical powers and is able to assemble many of the devices the team needs (often with some help). His gadgets include wheels in his feet, a safety helmet and visor, and his forearms have the ability to morph his hands into any tool needed for the job, though he typically has to try more than once to get the correct tool. He represents the testing aspect of the show's problem-solving formula.
* Mecha Cookie Monster (voiced by David Rudman) is one of the three Mecha Builders. Mecha Cookie Monster is typically excited when it comes to food and while good-hearted tends to be both dimwitted and skeptical. His gadgets include springs in his feet, the ability to see things to identify, search, or scope out a situation (dubbed the "Goggly Vision"), and his right hand can morph into a large hammerhead (dubbed the "Handy Hammer Hand"), though both hands can also merge into a large rolling drum. He represents the solving aspect of the show's problem-solving formula. After a Mecha Builder shrinks (going "Mecha Tiny") or enlarges (going "Mecha Giant"), Mecha Cookie Monster's chest badge also displays the Cookie Clock, a timer that shows how much time the team has left before they return to normal size.
* Mecha Tango (voiced by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph) is a fourth Mecha Builder, and Mecha Elmo's pet dog. Energetic and unable to communicate outside of dog noises, her abilities include "super-hearing", "super-sniffing" and her "Turbo Tail", in which her tail spins rapidly to allow her to fly.

Additional voices include Alan Aisenberg, Dave Droxler, Krystina Alabado, Jaba Keh, Kaitlin Becker, Ezra Knight, Chris Cafero, Martin P. Robinson, Lilli Cooper, Chanel Umoh, Jorge Cordova, and Matt Vogel.

Episodes

Broadcast

The series debuted in Canada on Treehouse TV.

On January 10, 2023, Channel 5 acquired the UK broadcast rights to the series for their Milkshake! strand, within a Spring 2023 window. The UK broadcasts redub the secondary characters with British voice actors as part of an effort by Milkshake! to tell stories aimed at a British preschool audience.

The series aired in the United States on the PBS Kids channel from May 13, 2024, until April 30, 2025.

Home media

All 26 episodes were released on DVD on April 9, 2024 by Shout! Factory.

References

{{Guru Studio

2020s American animated comedy television series
2020s American children's comedy television series
2020s American superhero comedy television series
2020s preschool education television series
2022 American animated television series debuts
2023 American television series endings
American animated television spinoffs
American children's animated adventure television series
American children's animated comic science fiction television series
American children's animated superhero television series
American computer-animated television series
American English-language television shows
American preschool education television series
Animated preschool education television series
Animated television series about children
Animated television series about robots
Television series by Guru Studio
Television series by Sesame Workshop
Cartoonito original programming
Sesame Street
PBS Kids shows