A Very Handy Holiday
It’s Christmas Eve in Sheet Rock Hills, and Manny is all set to attend a party at Kelly’s house. But then the phone rings with a last-minute light repair for Mayor Rosa, and after that’s done his attempts to make it to Kelly’s find themselves being repeatedly halted in their tracks when he stops to help various people with problems they’ve encountered- until it’s too late, and Kelly’s party has ended. Manny and the tools then head back to their shop dejectedly, prepared to spend Christmas Eve alone, but a Christmas miracle just might make it so that’s not so…
Tropes include:
- Batman Gambit: This is how Manny gets Mr. Lopart to, for the first time in the series, allow Manny and the tools to help him with something he’d been struggling with (in this case, hanging up Christmas lights). Manny gives Mr. Lopart a Christmas present he’d made for him, knowing that Mr. Lopart will want to give him a present in return but doesn’t have their present prepared (because he’d been struggling with said Christmas lights all afternoon). Mr. Lopart tells Manny this, and Manny responds that saying that allowing him and the tools to help hang the Christmas lights would be the “best gift of all”.
- Christmas Carolers: The children of Sheet Rock Hills are apparently going around town doing this- they’re first seen singing “O Christmas Tree” in front of the Christmas tree in the park, and later stop outside Manny’s workshop and sing “Deck The Halls”.
- Christmas Episode: Mainly revolves around Manny trying to attend Kelly’s Christmas party but being constantly delayed by various repair jobs, although for diversity’s sake other winter holidays like Hanukkah, Les Posadas, and Kwanzaa are briefly mentioned.
- Christmas Light Chaos:
- The tools end up having to search through the Christmas tree in the town park for the one broken bulb that’s making the entire string of lights go out.
- Mr. Lopart is seen trying to hang Christmas lights outside his shop, but has problems with both the lights being tangled and the lights constantly falling down after he hangs them. Eventually, Manny convinces Mr. Lopart to let him help, and the lights are finally properly hung,
- Christmas Miracle:
- Manny says that it would take one of these in order for Mr. Lopart to let them help him with his lights. In practice, however, all it takes is a Batman Gambit.
- An actual (if non-magical) one occurs when Manny finds that, after he missed the Christmas party at her house, Kelly’s decided to bring said party to his repair shop, since she couldn’t bear the thought of him not being able to enjoy it.
- Dreaming of a White Christmas: It’s the Christmas Episode, and also the only time snow is seen in the entire first season of Handy Manny.
- Everyone Hates Fruitcakes: Unexpectedly for a childrens’ cartoon, this is averted, as both Felipe and Pat mention looking forward to eating fruitcake at the Christmas party.
- Extra-Long Episode: A single 22-minute story, while most episodes are Two Shorts.
- Family of Choice: While talking about how holidays are about spending time with friends and family members, Manny refers to himself and the tools as being a family.
- Good Samaritan: This actually becomes a problem for Manny, as while trying to get to Kelly’s Christmas party he encounters various people who he stops and helps- Mrs. Portillo, who’s accidentally locked herself out of her bakery, and Sherman, whose car is stuck in a snowdrift- but stopping and helping them ends up taking so long that he runs out of time to reach her party.
- Informed Judaism: Sherman is shown to celebrate Hanukkah, which is the only indication given in the entire series that he’s Jewish.
- I've Heard of That — What Is It?:Pat: You’re right, we need a miracle! (beat) What’s a miracle?
- Luck-Based Search Technique: Pat manages to find that one burnt-out bulb that makes the whole strand go out by falling off the top of the tree and happening to land next to it.
- Miniscule Rocking: Both "Which One?" and "When We Work As One" are under a minute long.
- Mondegreen Gag: Pat mishears Mrs. Portillo saying she’s making chicken tamales for Los Posadas as her saying she’s making them for someone named “Lez Piñatas”.
- Multilingual Song: The versions of “O Christmas Tree” and “Deck The Halls” the children of Sheet Rock Hills sing while caroling have half of the lyrics in Spanish.
- Musical Chores: In addition to the show’s usual “We Work Together” song, Manny’s tools sing “Which One?” while searching in a tree for the broken bulb that’s making the whole string of lights go out, and “When We Work As One” while preparing presents for some of their friends.
- Musical Episode: Includes two original songs: “Which One?”, “When We Work As One”
- Myopic Architecture: The lock on Mrs. Portillo’s door apparently has the screws that keep it attached to said door exposed for anyone to unscrew.
- "Pan Up to the Sky" Ending: Ends with a pan up to a star-filled Christmas Eve night sky.
- True Meaning of Christmas: The episode kind of waffles a bit about whether the true meaning of Christmas is “helping those around you” or whether it’s “spending time with friends and family”.
