Manny to the Rescue/Handy Hut

     First part of the episode described an episode of Manny and the tools helping the firehouse chief Eduardo. The chief called in Handy Manny shop to repair his broken lights on the fire trucks. When Manny and the tool were fixing his lights, the dispatcher called for the chief to help Senor Sanchez to rescue his cat. The cat could not come down from the tree. When the chief, Manny and the tools arrived at the site, Senor Sanchez and Adrienta greeted them. Using the ladder, the chief rescued the cat. In order to prevent this incident to happen, Manny and the tools came up with an idea. They have built a set of steps along the tree trunk for the cat to step up and down from the tree.
     In this particular episode, the episode portrayed mainly Latino characters: Manny, the tools, Senor Sanchez, the Chief Eduardo, and Adrienta. The brief appearance of Kelly and Mr. Lopart were the only portrayals of non- Latino characters in this episode. Within the episode, the show illuminated positive images of Latino characters. The chief Eduardo was described as a respected fire chief in the community. Unlike the stereotypical depiction of Latinos, he was a competent authority in the community. In terms of his accent, he carried an accent when speaking in English. Senor Sanchez seemed like a well off elder in the town. He owned a house and was appreciative of Manny and the chief's services. He also had an accent. However, Adrienta, a young girl, did not have an accent when she spoke in English. This might have represented younger generations of Latino Americans and their adaptation or bilingual characteristics in the U.S.
     Following this episode, the Handy Hut episode followed. Worrying that Manny might be working too hard, Mrs. Portillo and the neighbors planned a scheme to let Manny and the tools have a day off. They all cancelled their appointments with Manny. Manny and the tools came to believe they were losing their business to the new repair shop. Yet when they arrived at the shop, they were welcomed by their neighbors. The neighbors threw a party for Manny and the tools to show their appreciations for their work.
     During this episode, I did not notice anything significant besides its representations of Latinos' celebratory characteristics. The episode described the party/ fiesta Mrs. Portillo hosted for Manny and the tools. This could be a stereotypical depiction of Latino/as for being festive; however, I did not necessarily think this was a stereotypical representation of Latino/as. The emphasis was on the neighbors' appreciations of Manny and the tools' hard work not the party itself. The party was shown for a brief segment at the end; the story mainly described Manny and the tools coming back to the shop because all of their works have been cancelled.
Manny to the Rescue/ Handy Hut