All Rise...

Judge David Johnson's handsaw talks to him, but only in his dreams.

Editor's Note

Our reviews of Handy Manny: Big Race (published April 30th, 2010), Handy Manny: Fixing It Right (published February 20th, 2008), Handy Manny: Manny's Green Team (published April 9th, 2009), Handy Manny's Motorcycle Adventure (published December 9th, 2009), and Handy Manny: Tooling Around (published August 21st, 2007) are also available.

The Charge

"Everyone just loves my giant spinning pretzel!'

The Case

Handy Manny is back for seven episodes worth of animal high jinks.

• "Lyle and Leland Lopart"
Manny and his talking tools are putting together a soapbox racecar for Manny's nephew. Mr. Lopart shows up with his twin nephews Lyle and Leland, oblivious to fact that their shoddily-built car sucks. Meanwhile, the tools interrogate the kids about what it's like being twins. A moral conundrum presents itself when the Loparts' @#$%-box falls apart and Manny is faced with the decision to either help them rebuild or keep hacking away at his nephew's car.

LESSON LEARNED: Helping out your bitter soapbox derby rival will possibly earn you entrance into Heaven.

• "Blackout on the Block"
When the entire city suffers from a blackout, Manny and the tools decide to circulate through the terrifying night to help out. Rusty the wrench voices his cowardice, but eventually succumbs to the pressure of his peers to pitch in. Their biggest challenge: keeping chickens in a pet shop warm.

LESSON LEARNED: No one will mess with you if you're carrying a hammer and saw in the dead of night.

• "Squeeze Makes a Promise"
Squeeze, the pliers, agrees to take care of a pet chameleon named Maurice, and promises to take care of him and keep the cover on his tank. But when Maurice escapes, Manny and the tools brace for all Hell to break loose. Squeeze sucks it up and confesses to her mistake and the chameleon is eventually found.

LESSON LEARNED: Anthropomorphic hand tools may not make the best pet-sitters.

• "Pet Problem"
After a botched repair job on a rabbit cage in Cassie's pet store, the bunnies escape and run amok, leaving Manny and his tools desperate to corral the little animals. One of the tools realizes that rabbits like food, so the team baits the cages and tricks the bunnies back into their confines.

LESSON LEARNED: If it weren't for the tools, there's an excellent chance Manny would be a ward of the state.

• "Kitty Sitting"
Manny and the crew go to work on a dysfunctional doorbell at the Sanchez residence. While they go off to get parts, they leave a stray kitty they found with Mr. Sanchez. Upon returning, they realize that the cat likes Mr. Sanchez a lot and the tools decide to let him adopt her.

LESSON LEARNED: Mange-ridden street kittens will bring joy to a lonely Spanish man's miserable life.

• "Gopher Help"
Manny is called to the park to catch a rogue gopher that has chewed through the metal sprinkler system. Using a banana and some Handy Manny ingenuity, they catch the gopher and give him over to the park ranger.

LESSON LEARNED: Gophers that can chew through metal are terrifying and should be avoided at all cost.

• "Renaldo's Pretzel Castle"
The gang is summoned to a pretzel shop to fix a giant spinning pretzel. Turns out the birds are chewing it to pieces. The tools' genius idea: hang bird feeders! That should keep the birds away!

LESSON LEARNED: Birds are stupid and hungry enough to eat a fake pretzel. They deserve all the harm that will befall them.

Typical Handy Manny action and adventure: He and the tools are called to help out one of the town's many helpless citizens, they bump into an impasse, they talk out a solution, implement it, sing a song, and then…I don't know…retire for an evening of relaxing WD-40 lubrication. The animation is clean and attractive and the storytelling simple, but easy-on-the-brain and values-ridden. You can do worse for your kiddo, especially if you're angling to get the kids speaking some rudimentary Spanish.

The disc: Full frame, 2.0 stereo, an interactive game, and way too many Disney previews.

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