Handy Manny


Handy Manny is an animated preschool children's television series that premiered on September 16, 2006, originally as part of Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney block, and aired until February 14, 2013. Created by Roger Bollen and Marilyn Sadler and developed for TV by Rick Gitelson, its animation was produced by Canada-based studio Nelvana Limited. It features the voices 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.

Plot and format

Set in the fictional city of Sheetrock Hills, California, the titular character, Manny, is a handyman who owns a workshop where he works with his anthropomorphic talking tools. Most episodes are thirty minutes long and contain two 15-minute long segments. They typically begin with Manny and the tools in Manny's workshop. While there, someone, usually needing something repaired or assembled, calls Manny, who answers, "Hola, Handy Manny's Repair Shop. You break it...", before the tools shout "We fix it!" After learning who needs help and where, they sing "Hop Up, Jump In" while the tools hop into his toolbox. With the exception of "Uncle Manny", the only episode in which Mr. Lopart does not appear, when Manny and the tools leave for the repair, they see Mr. Lopart with his pet cat Fluffy at his candy store. Mr. Lopart tries to build something on his own with no prior experience and refuses Manny's offer of help; after they leave, the item he was building malfunctions and causes a mess, usually caused by Fluffy. Once Manny and the tools arrive at the repair site, they work together to find the best way to fix the item. Manny then goes to Kelly's hardware store, where she almost always has the item that they need. Once they have the items needed for the repair, they return to the repair site and sing "We Work Together" as they make the repairs.

Episodes

Characters

Manny and the Tools

  • Manny is a handyman who lives in Sheetrock Hills and owns a workshop, working with the town's residents to help them with repairs and solve problems.
  • Felipe is a yellow Phillips-head screwdriver who tends to be self-centered and overconfident. His ideas sometimes make problems much worse, which annoys Turner.
  • Turner is a blue flat-head screwdriver who is very sarcastic and bossy to Felipe, usually going against Felipe's overconfidence, but does care for him.
  • Pat is a sky blue claw hammer who is very talkative, fun-loving, idealistic, and unintelligent. He sometimes struggles to control his strength, as he has to conceal his true strength.
  • Dusty is a red hand saw who is intelligent and gives advice. She acts as the big sister of the group and is very good at solving mysteries.
  • Squeeze is a green pair of pliers who is childlike and likes to help out a lot, but she can be a bit impatient to fix things.
  • Stretch is a pink tape measure who speaks with a lisp and can use his tape as an extendable hand. He is good at measuring and mathematics and has a good memory.
  • Rusty is an orange monkey wrench and the second-oldest tool. He is cowardly and easily scared, often needing reassurance from his fellow tools and Manny.
  • Flicker is an orange and blue flashlight and the youngest of the tools. He flashes his light whenever he is excited.
  • Zip is a power socket and a member of the Automotive Team, who is knowledgeable and very hardworking.
  • Sneeze is an aquamarine and orange vacuum cleaner and a member of the Automotive Team, who sneezes saw dust and other things.
  • Ticks and Totts are socket wrenches and twin brothers who are members of the Automotive Team. They are bilingual, as they speak English and Spanish.
  • Roland is a toolbox who carries the members of the Automotive Team.
  • Lefty, Lily, and Junior are combination wrenches and members of the Automotive Team, who are a happy family and support each other.
  • Beamer is a laser level who Carmella later takes in as her own tool.
  • Spinner is a power tool who is considered the fastest power drill in Concrete Falls and is best friends with Jack.
  • Jack is a jackhammer and one of the power tools.
  • Pinzas is a purple pair of needle nose pliers.
  • Fix-It is a robotic dog who lives in Manny's workshop.

    Residents of Sheetrock Hills

  • Kelly is a hardware store owner who almost always has the materials that Manny and his tools need for their projects.
  • Mr. Lopart is a very clumsy middle-aged man who is Mrs. Lopart's son and the owner of a candy store next to Manny's workshop. He often tries to fix objects on his own, initially declining Manny's offers of help before accepting after realizing that he cannot do it alone.
  • Mrs. Lopart is Mr. Lopart's mother, who likes knitting, baking cookies, and bowling.
  • Mrs. Portillo is the owner of a bakery shop and Manny's neighbor, who has two grandsons, Alex and Quinn. She becomes Manny's paternal step-grandmother after marrying Abuelito in "Wedding Day", which reveals that her full name is Pilar Vargas Portillo and that Manny's full name was passed down from Abuelito. She has a Chihuahua named Carlos, who was a gift from her sister.
  • Mr. Kumar is Manny's friend.
  • Jackie Greenway works at the local park and is a good friend of Manny and his tools.
  • Jasmine Chung is a reporter who works for Sheetrock Hills.
  • Mrs. Thompson owns a laundromat and is a teacher at the local preschool.
  • Abuelito is Manny's grandfather, who is retired. He enjoys fishing and is knowledgeable about Aztec history.
  • Chico Garcia is Manny's youngest nephew, who is very playful and curious.
  • Mayor Rosa is the mayor of Sheetrock Hills and a good friend of Manny and the tools. She enlists Manny's help with the community park.
  • Carmela is an old friend of Manny, who likes painting and sculpting.
  • Gabriela is a young friend of Manny, who loves playing soccer.
  • Julieta Sánchez is Señor Sánchez's granddaughter, who likes flowers, ballet, and soccer and has a pet cat named Patches. When she and Señor Sánchez moved to a new home, she is afraid as she believes that there is a monster in the closet, but overcomes her fear after learning it was her toy bear.
  • Paulette likes to make pizza. She enlists Manny's help in repairing her dough rolling machine.
  • Tanya is the vendor of an ice cream stand. She enlists Manny's help in repairing her freezer.
  • Susanna Alvarez is a young girl who likes dolls and has a baby sister named Isabella. She was worried about having a sister, as she thought that her parents would not love her anymore, but Manny and the tools help her overcome her fear.
  • Mrs. Hillary is the music teacher at Sheetrock Hills Elementary School.
  • Señor López is a science teacher and meteorologist.
  • Marcelo Ayala is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ayala, who moved with them from Argentina to Sheetrock Hills. He likes to play soccer.
  • Ginny is the director of Snow White and the Seven Tools and the owner of Sheetrock Hills Playhouse Theatre.
  • Dr. Ortega is a marine biologist.

    Guest stars

Guest stars in the series include:

Dubbed versions

The series not only aired Spanish-dubbed versions of its episodes on the "Disney Junior en Univision" sub-block on Univision's Planeta U block, but also aired Russian-Dubbed versions of its episode on Disney Channel Russia's Recognition Disney block, and also Hebrew-dubbed versions of its episodes on Hop! Channel, all alongside Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Disney Junior. When the series was released on Disney+, several dubbed versions were made available. Languages of these dubs include Spanish, European and Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, French, Dutch, Danish and Swedish. TV5 aired the series dubbed in Tagalog as part of its "Disney Clubhouse/Disney Club" line-up.

Home media

Ten DVD compilations have been released.