Handy Manny is obviously
Dora the Explorer meets
Bob the Builder... I mean, can it be more obvious? Not that it's a bad show, but it's pretty darn derivative. The episodes are teeny tiny, also. We've got five episodes on this collection for a grand total of 58 minutes. Yes, that's a little less than twelve minutes per episode. The brevity is actually a welcome change from shows that seem to stretch out painfully over 30 minutes or an hour, but you may be left wondering why they didn't just throw in a whole season of
Handy Manny since the shows are so short. There is a bonus game included,
Fix It With Handy Manny, that draws out the fun for kids somewhat, but this is probably only a sure-bet for kids that love-love-love this show. It's a shame that
Handy Manny: Fixing It Right isn't all it could be since the show is pretty cute. Much like
Bob the Builder,
Handy Manny has a cadre of talking helpers that happen to be anthropomorphic tools instead of heavy equipment and vehicles. Manny and Bob are both loved by their neighbors for that kindly spirit that leads them to lend a hand when things are broken or not working. Like
Dora the Explorer,
Handy Manny has a strong Hispanic flavor and features plenty of neighborhood characters that draw the viewer into Manny's world. For parents that want their kids to have fun with animation but also stay true to their Hispanic roots,
Handy Manny is a nice complement to Dora, and a bit more engaging for older kids.
In the five episodes here, we find that several tools gets their chance to shine (Pat's Big Idea, Rusty To The Rescue and Detective Dusty) and also learn some lessons (Felipe Strikes Out) while Manny (Manny To The Rescue) gets his chance to shine. The animation is good and the voices are excellent, with some great music. Each of the stories is compressed so much that if you blink, you'll miss something important. Exposition, development, and resolution are all completed within about ten minutes, plus some interstitial content that involves Manny talking on the phone or listening to one of his customers. The tools will often get more time than Manny to chat it up on screen, which is cool considering they are really the stars of the show. The Spanish spoken is often incidental, unlike the more teaching-focused style of Dora. The messages are all more subtle in Handy Manny, which speaks to the older age-range that the show is intended to reach. Younger kids will like the colorful animation and the simplified, talking tools. Older kids may not feel the show too deeply and parents will feel they've reached too deeply into their pocketbooks for a scanty hour of entertainment disguised as a DVD collection. Buy if you have a big Handy Manny fan at home, but save your dinero otherwise and hold out for a collection of the full Season One or Two.
