Lyle And Leland Lopart
It’s the day of the soapbox derby, and Manny is building Pepe a car for it. Then he sees Lyle and Leland, Mr. Lopart’s nephews, struggling with the disaster of a car Mr. Lopart made for them, and feels like he should help them. But what about Pepe?
Tropes in “Lyle And Leland Lopart”
- Alliterative Title: Well, that’s what happens when you combine a Character Title with Alliterative Names.
- Always Identical Twins: Lyle and Leland are identical twins; fraternal twins have yet to appear at any point in Handy Manny thus far.
- Audible Gleam: Pepe’s soapbox car emits one when Manny finishes building it.
- The Big Race: Manny’s nephew Pepe and Mr. Lopart’s nephews Lyle and Leland are both taking part in a soapbox derby race; however, the main conflict of the episode isn’t about them racing, but rather about the extreme lack of structural integrity in Lyle and Leland’s car.
- Character Title: Named after Mr. Lopart’s twin nephews, Lyle and Leland.
- Duct Tape for Everything: Duct tape is apparently a major structural component of the car Mr. Lopart built for his nephews; Manny ends up rectifying this problem when he rebuilds their car with proper building materials.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Somehow, a not-very funny exchange that happens after Lyle and Leland offer Pepe their trophy as thanks for helping them with their car is able to cause one.Pepe: But I can’t take your trophy.
Leland: It’s okay. (produces second trophy) We got two.
Mr. Lopart: After all, they’re twins.
(Everyone laughs) - Free Wheel: Lyle and Leland’s soapbox car produces multiple of these when it falls apart during their test-ride.
- Good Samaritan: Manny and Pepe both agree to help put Lyle and Leland’s soapbox car back together after it falls apart during a test-drive, at the expense of time they really need to build their own car. Fortunately, Lyle and Leland return the favor, and with their help Manny is able to finish Pepe’s car just before the race starts.
- Hereditary Twinhood: Apparently, twins run in the Lopart family, although Mr. Lopart himself wasn’t a twin, a fact that he laments.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: Lyle wears a green shirt, blue shorts, and blue glasses, while Leland has a blue shirt, green shorts, and green glasses. Confused yet?
- Literal-Minded: When Manny talks about making Pepe’s “soapbox car”.Pat: Well, I got bad news for you, Manny. There’s nothing here that looks like a box of soap.
- Ridiculously Fast Construction: Somehow, Manny and the tools are able to finish building Pepe’s soapbox car in the 5 minutes between when they fixed Lyle and Leland’s car and when the race started. Supposedly, they were only able to work that fast because Pepe, Lyle, and Leland were helping them, but that raises more questions than it answers.
Blackout On The Block
One night, the power goes out; this creates a pressing problem for Cassie in her pet store, as she has some just-hatched baby chicks which need to be kept under a heat lamp, and with no power, obviously, she can’t run her heat lamp…
”Blackout On The Block” provides examples of:
- Alliterative Title: Blackout On The Block.
- Brick Joke: Early in the episode, the tools are looking for Fixit’s ball; this is quickly forgotten once the power goes out, but, at the end of the episode, Pat finds it by tripping over it in the dark.
- The Bus Came Back: After having been absent since “Pet Problem” except for a few background cameos, Cassie the pet store owner finally returns and has a major role in this episode.
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: When Rusty goes into Manny’s dark closet to look for Fixit’s ball, only his eyes are visible.
- Continuity Nod: The scene where Rusty goes into Manny’s closet and By the Lights of Their Eyes ensues is eerily similar to a scene from “Gopher Help”.
- Covered in Gunge: Mr. Lopart and Fluffy end up covered in fudge after Fluffy jumps on Mr. Lopart and sends him falling onto his fudge-making machine.
- Furry Confusion: Manny’s old flashlight is… will be… has been… argh, what tense do you use for something that has already happened in a series but which hasn’t happened yet in an episode due to
Out of Order scheduling… an example. - Green Aesop: One is shoved into a single line at the end, after the tools (who had been enjoying relaxing next to some camping lanterns) are disappointed when the power comes on and ask Manny to turn the lights back off.Manny: Just because the blackout is over, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think about saving electricity.
- Hollywood Darkness: When the power goes out, it’s dark enough that the characters all have to use flashlights, yet the audience can see everything perfectly fine.
- Improvisational Ingenuity: Needing to keep some baby chicks warm when a power outage means that Cassie can’t keep them under a heat lamp, Manny eventually hits upon the solution of using camping lanterns- which, with the amount of warmth they pump out, are basically non-electric heat lamps.
- I've Heard of That — What Is It?:Pat: Yup, sure looks like a blackout. (beat) What’s a blackout?
- Luck-Based Search Technique: At the end of the episode, Pat manages to find Fixit’s lost ball by stumbling over it in the dark.
- Power Outage Plot: One night in Sheet Rock Hills, the power goes out; during the blackout, Manny decides to go check up on how his neighbors are doing, and discovers that Cassie needs to keep some baby chicks warm but can’t do so if her heat lamp doesn’t have power.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Two of Cassie’s baby chicks have eyelashes, marking them as female.
