The Great Donate
Manny and the tools head to the library to install a bench in the children’s reading room; while there, they end up noticing how old and falling-apart the library’s books are, and resolve to do something about this.
Tropes in “The Great Donate” include:
- Comically Missing the Point: At the beginning of the episode, Manny brings a large cardboard box into the shop. The tools are guessing what could be inside… and Pat says that he thinks it's a racecar.
- Continuity Nod:
- One of the books Manny donates to the library is the storybook he got from Abuelito in “Abuelito’s Yard Sale”.
- The steps for the book drop can be seen outside the library.
- Two of the library’s books (the one with a cover depicting a dog on a train and the one about a saw with a broken tooth) were previously seen in Mr. Diller’s variety store.
- At the end of the episode, a Mighty Little Toolbox book can be seen… in the hands of Susanna Alvarez, who wanted to borrow it in “Book Drop”.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: One happens after Rusty is scared by the pirate book again.
- Fictional Document:
- A few books are contained in the box of things from Manny’s childhood- specifically, there’s that storybook Abuelito gave to him in “Abuelito’s Yard Sale”, a book with a dinosaur on the cover, a book about pirates, and a book about a handyman who saved a town from flooding by fixing a leak in a dike.
- The library is naturally loaded with these, including a book with a dog train conductor, a book with what look like nail versions of Wing and Nut on the cover, a book about a saw with a broken tooth, and, of course, the Mighty Little Toolbox storybook.
- Hidden Depths:
- Apparently, Pat has always wanted to drive a racecar.
- Inexplicably, Manny reveals that he had a pony as a kid.
- Library Episode: Manny and the tools go to the library to install a bench in the children’s reading room, but end up noticing the poor state of many of the library’s books and getting a decent amount of people to donate more books to replace them.
- Malaproper: When Manny and the tools show up with books to give to the library, Pat says that they would like to “donut” (donate) the books.
- Once Upon a Time: The storybook about pirates Manny has begins this way.
- Rhyming Title: The episode has one.
- Running Gag: Rusty being scared by the idea of pirates, courtesy of a pirate storybook.
- Shout-Out: One of Manny’s childhood books appears to be a handyman-based version of “The Boy Who Put His Finger In The Dike”.
- Silence in the Library: The tools and Manny all try to whisper in the library; this is lampshaded at one point when Marion goes off and tells the tools to “just give a whisper if [they] need anything”.
- Sticky Situation: Mr. Lopart attempts to make taffy bracelets, and ends up getting two of them stuck to his wrist.
- Wasn't That Fun?: This happens when Pat zooms around the shop imitating a racecar (It Makes Sense in Context) before jumping, bring carried around by Fixit, then being launched into the air when Fixit suddenly stops, getting caught on the ceiling fan and spun around, before being flung off and launched onto Manny’s chair.Pat: Wow, that was fun! Can we do it again?
Abuelito In A Fix
Manny gives Abuelito a tortilla maker as a belated birthday gift; no less than ten minutes later, Abuelito accidentally breaks it. Not wanting to admit to Manny that he broke the gift, he tries to fix it himself, but… well, repairing it is a difficult job, and Abuelito isn’t exactly cut out for the task…
”Abuelito In A Fix” provides examples of:
- Birthday Episode: Downplayed; the tortilla maker is supposedly a birthday gift for Abuelito, but no other signs of it being his birthday are seen. Presumably, it’s a few days after Abuelito’s birthday, and Manny just couldn’t give it to him until now.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Abuelito tells Felipe that the tortilla maker is broken:Felipe: There aren’t any tortillas?
Pat: Oh! Who ate all the tortillas? - Continuity Nod: Mr. Lopart is seen wearing the jogging suit he had in “Gopher Help”.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: When Mr. Lopart is outside his shop with a treadmill.Mr. Lopart: A simple press of this button, and Legs Lopart is off and runnin’.
(He presses the button, and nothing happens) - I've Heard of That — What Is It?:Pat: Ah, a tortilla maker. (beat) What’s a tortilla? And how do you make one?”
- Offscreen Crash: One happens when Mr. Lopart is shot backwards by a treadmill; the audience then sees Mr. Lopart dangling from his belt by a nearby tree.
- Pun-Based Title: When someone is “in a fix” they’re in a tough situation; Abuelito is “in a fix” because he accidentally broke a tortilla maker Manny just gave him, and tries to get out of his “fix” by fixing the tortilla maker.
- Treadmill Trauma: This happens to Mr. Lopart after Fluffy unexpectedly activates a treadmill he was standing on.
