Handy Manny

Disney has given us more evidence that it is truly taking over the world. They have taken two of NickJr's most popular shows, "Bob the Builder," and "Dora the Explorer," and morphed it into one show, creating "Handy Manny." We have watched several episodes and we really like it. The children are too young to see obvious similarities to the aforementioned shows. My husband and I, though turned off by the obvious ripoff, are impressed that they took the best elements of each of the Nick Jr. shows and incorporated them into "Handy Manny." "Handy Manny" has a great catch song that is sung in every episode, and that the kids can sing along to, just like Dora. The animation is lively. The cute little tools are friendly, just like Bob's friends, but are portable and fit into Manny's tool box, and are not as annoying as Dora's friends. The plots are simple, but teach good lessons, unlike Dora, which makes little sense to me at times. And, as is the case with almost every new cartoon, it is ethnically diverse. The tools are cleverly named: Pat the Hammer, Felipe the Phillips head screwdriver, Turner the flathead screwdriver, Dusty the Saw, Rusty the wrench, Stretch the tape measure, and Squeeze the pliers. I like Manny's lady friend, Kelly, the hardware store lady. There seems to be something going on between these two, but it is certainly subtle. Or have I just been watching soap operas for too long? Anyway, another cool thing is that Wilmer Valderrama of "That 70's Show" fame is the voice for Manny. That just cracks me up. I mean, I don't think I want Fez anywhere near my kids, would you?

The one thing I do not like is the portrayal of next door neighbor. He is a white gentleman with a bad combover who is frequently turning Manny down when Manny offers his assistance with "handyman stuff." It makes the white guy look foolish and proud, and I don't like that they do that. And I don't like that the kids are given an obvious target to dislike and poke fun of. That's just not nice.

Overall, I like this show. I don't have much respect for Disney for outright copying other cartoons, but hey, this is business, isn't it? A group of Disney's best and brightest studied Nick Jr's shows, took the best elements of each, and created a new and improved product to sell for themselves. That seems to be what Disney does best. I wouldn't do it myself, but there are much worse things for my kids to be watching.