Kid's Animation 'Handy Manny' Up for Third Season

Announced recently was the extension of key multi-cultural children's series, Handy Manny. Airing on the Playhouse Disney programming block locally and on Disney-owned networks worldwide, Handy Manny hopes to blend the importance of daily reflections on teamwork and personal responsibility with various social interactions. Manny, his tools, and his neighborhood friends always seem to pitch in when the time is right, one of a variety of lessons the early education animated television series has been working toward for several months now.

Having earned a reliable position on Playhouse Disney as perhaps a more functional, work-with-your-hands type of program, Handy Manny sports one young man, his talking tools, and a multi-lingual work environment. Recently ordered for a third season from Disney Channel, the kid's cartoon will now be working double-time come the new year, with returning voice actors meant to tackle new adventures for Manny and his crew.

The third season of Handy Manny will include 35 new episodes. With fellow Playhouse Disney program Mickey Mouse Clubhouse still an enduring partner on the block, even if after the cancellation of adventure-mystery series My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Disney's Handy Manny's audience remains in tact.

Returning voice-over artists for the television animation include: Wilmer Valderrama ("Manny Garcia"), Lance Bass ("Elliot"), Shelley Morrison ("Mrs. Portillo"), and Jim Belushi ("Sal"). Rick Gitelson is executive producer and story editor. Susan Blu is the voice director and Charles E. Bastien is the director.

Whether teaching its young viewers the value of recycling in an environmentally conscious society or simply learning how to get along with a diverse array of friends with an equally diverse array of contributing skills, Handy Manny is a preschool animated television series whose main goal is getting people to work together.

Handy Manny airs on the weekdays at 9:00am (ET) and during weekends at 10:30am (ET) on Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney programming block for early education audiences and their parents and/or caretakers. The third season of Handy Manny, a production of Nelvana Limited in association with Disney Channel, will feature Manny's family reunion, Manny and the tools helping a marine biologist, and even an earthquake hitting Sheet Rock Hills.

on Playhouse Disney: Playhouse Disney, seen in a daily programming block on Disney Channel U.S. and on 12 Playhouse Disney channels around the world, encourages preschoolers to imagine and learn through original series, short-form and acquired programming that includes song, movement and entertainment. Guided by an established curriculum, Playhouse Disney supports childhood development through physical, emotional, social and cognitive; thinking and creative skills.