Handy Manny is a CGI animated children's television program. It first aired on September 16, 2006 as originally part of Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney daily block intended for preschoolers. The show's final episode aired on February 14, 2013 and reruns aired until 2016. On February 14, 2011, it was moved to the Disney Junior block, serving as Playhouse Disney's replacement. The show's title character is voiced by Wilmer Valderrama. Children aged 4â€"9 were usually the show's audience.
The show was created by Roger Bollen, Marilyn Sadler and Rick Gitelson. The animation is produced by Toronto-based Nelvana and features the voice performances of Wilmer Valderrama, Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kenny, Fred Stoller, Nika Futterman, Kath Soucie, Carlos Alazraqui, Grey DeLisle and Nancy Truman. The theme song is performed by Los Lobos.
Synopsis
Handy Manny (a play on the phrase "handy man") is set in the fictional town of Sheetrock Hills where the titular character, Manny, owns a repair shop along with his anthropomorphic talking tools. It is unknown exactly where this town is located, but there are a multitude of Spanish speaking residents within it and the town is surrounded by tropical ocean water (as seen in the introduction). Most 30-minute episodes contain two stories. They typically begin with Manny and the tools interacting in Manny's repair shop. While there, someone, usually needing something repaired or assembled, calls Manny, who answers, "Hola, Handy Manny's Repair Shop. You break it..." and then the Tools shout "We fix it!" After hearing who needs help where, Manny and the Tools sing "Hop Up, Jump In" while the Tools hop into his tool box. In most episodes when Manny and the Tools leave for the repair, they see Mr. Lopart with his pet cat Fluffy in front of his candy store. Mr. Lopart would try to do something on his own without any prior experience. Manny offers him to help but Mr. Lopart says that he doesn't need any help, after Manny and the Tools leave the item Mr. Lopart was building would malfunction and cause a mess. Once Manny and the tools arrive at the repair site, they collaborate on the best way to fix the broken item. Manny then goes to Kelly's hardware store where she always has the item that they need. Once they have the items needed for the repair, they go back to the work-site and sing "We Work Together" while performing the repairs.
Characters
- Manny (voiced by Wilmer Valderrama), full name Manuel Estevez Garcia III, is a repairman who lives in Sheet Rock Hills. He has brown eyes and brown hair, and carries a pencil behind his ear. He wears a red and white hat, a green shirt, blue jeans, worker boots, a yellow tool belt with a silver buckle. He is Abuelito's grandson and is the younger brother of Lola and Ruben.
- Kelly (voiced by Nancy Truman) is a hardware store owner. She lives in Sheet Rock Hills with her friends and family. Kelly has a teenage brother named Elliot. It was said in various episodes that Kelly loves keeping toys behind her desk for Manny and the tools to give to Chico and Pepe as gifts. Her family name is Crenshaw.
- Mr. Kumar (voiced by Brian George), is the Manny's friend. He has brown skin, black-blue hair and brown eyes. He also wears a white shirt and blue vest with yellow buttons, purple pants wearing brown shoes.
- Mr. Lopart (voiced by Tom Kenny), full name Leonard Francis Lopart, is the owner of a candy store next to Manny's workshop. He is a single middle-aged man who lives happily with his cat Fluffy (also voiced by Tom Kenny). His mother is Mrs. Lopart and he has twin nephews named Lyle and Leland.
Main tools
- Felipe (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) - is a yellow Phillips-head screwdriver (hence his name) who always considers himself a very important tool. He is always overconfident and popular about himself. He sometimes thinks of himself as a super hero. Sometimes, his ideas make a problem worse. He provides a lot of the Spanish language content in the show, translating for the other tools. He also loves to sing but is not very good at it. He usually gets under Turner's skin and his headache, sometimes purposely. He bonds with Flicker and tries to bond with Turner. He also bonds with Pat sometimes.
- Turner (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - is a purple flat-head screwdriver who appears to be sarcastic and is bossy to Felipe, usually going against Felipe's overconfidence. There are some cases where he shows a genuinely caring relationship with Felipe. In the season one episode "Supremoguy", Felipe needs rescuing and Turner is the first to say "I'll get ya". Also in the episode "Breakfast of Champions", when Felipe feels worn out, he shows genuine concern for him. He appears to have a secret soft spot for babies and animals (including birds, kittens, and butterflies) and for dancing, even crying in "Handy Manny & The 7 Tools", although he loudly denies it. In the episode "Tools for Toys", he is easily liked by Mr. Singh's daughter, Leela. In the same episode, she kisses him at the top of the head and he blushes. Turner loses his patience with Pat due to his lack of intelligence and with Rusty due to his fear of many things.
- Pat (voiced by Tom Kenny) - is a blue hammer who is talkative, extremely silly and dumb, an idealistic tool, clumsy and not so intelligent, though he does have flashes of cleverness from time to time. He sometimes finds it hard to control his strength. His catchphrase is "I'm a hammer". He is obsessed with nails. It is hinted that he is Rusty's best friend because he is usually the first to comfort him. His lack of intelligence annoys Turner.
- Dusty (voiced by Kath Soucie) - is a red hand saw who is very smart and gives good advice. She acts as the big sister of the group and is very good with detective work by solving mysteries. She also bonds with almost all the other tools. Ironically, Dusty doesn't have eyelashes despite the fact she is a female tool except Dusty appears to have eyelashes when she dresses as a ballerina; which consists of a bow and a tutu. Her talent is ballet.
- Squeeze (voiced by Nika Futterman) - is a green pair of pliers. She loves to lend a helping hand, and is sometimes impatient to fix something (usually repairs that involve bolts). She also appears to be giggly, girly, and preppy. Her childlike cuteness makes her a very loveable tool. Before Flicker was introduced, she was considered the baby among the tools.
- Stretch (voiced by Nika Futterman) - is a pink tape measure who loves to measure things. He can speak out accurate measurements, has a very mathematical mind, has a good memory, ~He knows everything especially for numbers and measurements and can use his tape as an extendable hand. He bonds with almost every tool. He speaks with a lisp.
- Rusty (voiced by Fred Stoller) - is an orange monkey wrench who is not very brave and is a worrier and frightned of everything, generally being frightened of pretty much anything. Most of the time he needs reassurance from his fellow tools and Manny. It is hinted that Pat is his best friend because he is usually the first to comfort him. Sometimes his fear of stuff allows the others to lose patience with him, mainly Turner. He bonds with Pat, Dusty, and Squeeze. He is the second oldest tool but his intense fear of stuff makes him seem younger than he really is. In "Firefighter Manny", Rusty knows how to be not scared to be a firefighter tool.
- Flicker (voiced by Grey DeLisle) - Manny's youngest tool (first appearing in season 2) is a golden yellow flashlight who speaks Spanish and is still learning English (In Tagalog version, it speaks English and learning Tagalog), slowly picking up more of the language throughout season 3. He flashes his light whenever he feels excited. In Handy Manny's School for Tools, he seems to be fully bilingual. He is shown to love food. He has freckles and Felipe has to translate what he says sometimes.
Recurring tools
- Zip (voiced by Eddie Deezen) Zip is one of the automobic team in "The Tools New Team". He first met Stretch and Felipe. He talks fast, knows it all and works super fast as Spinner and Felipe. Zip is a power socket tool.
- Sneeze (voiced by Tom Kenny) Sneeze is a vacuum cleaner and one of the automobic team. He sneezes saw dust and other things. In The Tools New Team, Manny meets Sneeze hiding in one of the boxes. He has a long nose as an elephant and his dream is to become an actor in "Handy Manny & The 7 Tools". He is also friends with Elliot. His first appearance is "The Tools New Team".
- Ticks and Totts (voiced by Jesse Corti and Cristobal Parson) Ticks and Totts are socket wrench twin brothers. They each speak English and Spanish. They both meet Dusty and Flicker as they overheard them. They each has six sides like fixing Marcelo's bike. They are one of the automobic team.
- Roland (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke) Roland is the biggest, giant, rolling toolbox. He can be clumsy like Pat and he forgets all the time. His snoring is so loud. He also carries the automobic team. His drawers are often seen opened with the automobic team inside the drawers. He is shown to be gluttonous as shown when he ate the chips when serving food and beverages on the plane in "Hank's Birthday". Roland meets Pat and Squeeze. He is one of the automobic team.
- Lefty, Lily, & Junior (voiced by Mark Decarlo, Grey DeLisle and Kath Soucie) Lefty, Lily, & Junior are combination wrenches and a happy family. Lefty is orange and he is a father. Lily is yellow and she is a mother. And Junior is their son and he is light blue. They all met Turner and Rusty. Lily can be emotional at times. Lily is overprotective to Junior. Junior can be shy sometimes. Lefty knows that Junior can do his best. He is also shown to have a close father-son relationship with Junior as well. Junior is as cheerful as Squeeze. They are part of the automobic team.
- Beamer (voiced by Steve Moreno) Beamer is a wobbly laser level. He first appeared in "Art Show" at Kelly's hardware store. Beamer knows how to straighten things out. Beamer later got adopted by Carmella as her own tool.
- Spinner (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) One of Manny's power tools. He considered a fastest power drill in Concrete Falls. He is best friends with Jack. Also appears in Big Construction Job.
- Jack (voiced by Daran Norris) He is a jackhammer and one of Manny's power tools. He can go fast too just like Spinner. Also appears in Big Construction Job.
- Pinzas A needle nose pliers who shares his character with Squeeze. Also appears in Big Construction Job.
Special guest stars in the series have included Lance Bass, Kurtwood Smith, Shelley Morrison, Fred Willard, Penn Jillette, Jane Lynch, Jon Polito, Ashley Parker Angel, Brian George, Shannon Durig, Marion Ross, Chris Rock, James Belushi, Ice-T, Henry Winkler, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Freddy Rodriguez, Ed O'Neil, Denzel Whitaker, Zachary Gordon, Lauren Tom, Rosario Dawson, and Bob Glouberman.
DVD releases
Seven DVD compilations have been released and one upcoming:
References
- Book references
- Terrace, Vincent (2008). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2d ed.). McFarland. ISBNÂ 9780786486410.Â
External links
- Official website
- Handy Manny at TV.com
- episode "Valentine's Day Party" New Handy Manny episode "Valentine's Day Party"
