Ever since Handy Manny first debuted on Playhouse Disney, my kindergartner has been a huge fan. Now his younger brother and sister are following in his footsteps. My oldest was especially excited to watch Handy Manny: Motorcycle Adventure on DVD because he had seen clips from it on the Disney Channel, but has never caught the movie in its entirety.
This 46-minute DVD actually hits store shelves today (Dec. 1st) and features the song "Rolling Down the Highway" by the Latin band Los Lobos. Since it includes a bonus episode "A Very Handy Holiday", this DVD would make a very suitable holiday gift.
What my family and I thought about this Handy Manny DVD:
1) The series Handy Manny has always been entertaining to my family, children and adults alike. In fact, my husband was talking to the television, saying things like "Use a magnet!" and "Turn it sideways!"
2) Handy Manny is one of the most down-to-earth animated characters on television. Some aspects of this movie that reinforced that feeling were seeing Manny as a child in his relative's home movies and watching Manny make a human error, such as forgetting to fill the tank in his motorcycle with gas before he left for his family reunion.
3) It was interesting to see Manny, who is always ready to lend a helping hand, needing to accept help himself during his motorcycle adventure.
4) The underlying theme of "Motorcycle Adventure" was to teach the viewer that people (and hammers) do not need to look alike to be a true family.
5) This DVD contains a special feature titled "A Very Handy Holiday", which you may have seen on the Disney Channel in the past. Well, this DVD offers something you cannot get on television, which is 3 different ways to watch this bonus feature. You can choose to watch it in Fast Play Mode, Adventure Play Mode 1 (your child answers questions about colors, shapes, and sizes with the TV remote), and Adventure Play Mode 2 (your child answers more difficult questions targeted at children ages 4 to 5).
Normally, I would say that 46 minutes seems short for a movie, but Disney packs so much adventure into those 46 minutes, that I was left very satisfied by the time the movie ended.
You should be able to find Handy Manny: Motorcycle Adventure at the Disney Store, Amazon.com, and other places where children's DVDs are sold.
Thank you to Click-Communication for providing us with a review product free of charge.
