REVIEW: Handy Manny’s Motorcycle Adventure

By Sarah Matheny on October 8th, 2009

I fondly remember Sunday nights growing up, when my family would eat dinner together and then huddle together around the TV to watch “The Wonderful World of Disney”, featuring a great family Disney movie that we could all enjoy.

To my delight, I got to relive a similar scene with my daughters this Sunday as we sat down and watched a full length special episode of Handy Manny together on the Disney Channel: ” Handy Manny’s Motorcycle Adventure.”

We aren’t regular viewers of Handy Manny in my house, but the girls were familiar with the show, and I knew that Wilder Valderrama of “That ’70s Show” fame voiced the lead character. The plot of the movie had Manny preparing to attend a family reunion, that is, once he is able to get his motorcycle fixed. When Manny’s tools ask him about the reunion, Manny tries to explain the importance of family. Pat the Hammer is especially struck (no pun intended) by the fact that he has NO family. He then sets off on a mini-quest to find a family of hammers to call his own. Through the mishaps along the way, Manny and his tools realize that the definition of family is different for everyone, and that they in fact are a family themselves.

While I’m not certain that more than an hour of Handy Manny would capture either my or my kids’ attention, this was a fun story that was wrapped up in less than an hour and featured the vocal stylings of Donny Osmond, Kris Kristofferson and Los Lobos. The movie also captured 2.9 million viewers the night it aired, which is a series record.

If you missed “Handy Manny’s Motorcycle Adventure,” you can watch the movie online for a limited time here. Hopefully Disney sees that the viewers are there, and brings back family entertainment to Sunday nights. If they do, I know my family will definitely be tuning in.