Handy Manny

Handy Manny is a Disney show for young children about a local repairman named Manny, in the made up town of Sheetrock Hills. Manny is a bilingual man, who speaks both English and Spanish and the show is designed to help teach the beginnings of Spanish and promote acceptance of Spanish speaking cultures. It has become very successful, and to date has completed three seasons of about 25 episodes each.

The story concentrates on Manny as he takes calls and goes around town with his set of talking tools to fix things in need of repair at the other stores in town. As is the norm for children's shows the plot of each episode is easy to follow, repetitive, and virtually the same every episode. He generally gets a call, then he leaves to go fix whatever was broken at another shop. Manny can never repair the problem right away, and winds up needing to go to Kelly's Hardware Store. Kelly, who seemingly likes Manny, always has just what he needs to finish the job. He then returns to the other store to finish his job, then returns to his repair shop at the end of the episode. During all of this, the man who owns the candy store across the street, Mr. Lopart, usually can't fix something as well, but he is too stubborn to accept help from Manny and winds up making things worse. The show boasts themes like recycling and buying hybrid cars (they in fact put an environmentally friendly electric motor in someones car once) to try and raise awareness about these things amongst children.

Although shows aimed at young children usually don't attract star actors, Handy Manny does actually have a few stars in its cast. Manny is played by Wilmer Valderrama, more commonly known as Fez from That 70's Show, and Mr. Lopart is voiced by Tom Kenny, who also voices SpongeBob Squarepants. The show has also attracted guest stars like Snoop Dogg, Lance Bass, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Henry Winkler.

Disney has created a wonderful product which they hope will impact younger generations in a positive way, and it seems to be growing steadily. Handy Manny costumes and toys are extremely popular among younger children. Parents can rest easy knowing that what their children have on has a good set of values at its core and that it is an entertaining show as well. So parents get your talking tools ready because Handy Manny will more than likely be around for years to come.