''Hammerman'' is a

Saturday morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a br ...

, starring

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur. He is known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit" ...

, which aired for thirteen episodes on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in the fall of 1991. It was produced by DIC Animation City and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

company Reteitalia S.p.A., in association with

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

network

Telecinco Telecinco is a Spanish free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset España. The channel was previously known as Tele 5, because it had first begun its experimental transmissions on 10 March 1989, and a year later, it was officially launc ...

Synopsis

Youth center worker Stanley Burrell (Hammer's real name) owns a pair of magical dancing shoes (which are alive and can speak), which when worn cause Burrell to transform into the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

Hammerman. He frequently gets advice from his "Gramps", who was a former owner of the shoes and was known as Soulman. While in the guise of Hammerman, Burrell was dressed in MC Hammer's signature purple Hammer pants and myriad golden chains. The show was hosted by the real

, who also sang the show's theme song, telling about the origin of Hammerman. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Gramps (Robert Nameson) was the superhero Soulman, but as he grew older, he grew weaker and was forced to retire. Gramps and his granddaughter Jodie traveled to find the next new superhero. Their search was over when they met Stanley and he put on the shoes. Each episode, Hammerman faced various social issues; at the end of each episode, MC Hammer would speak to the audience and provide methods to address these issues themselves.

Cast

- Hammerman/Stanley Burrell (live action) *

Neil Crone Neil Crone (born May 29, 1960) is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer and motivational speaker. He is known for portraying Fred Tupper in ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'', Jerry Whitehall in '' Cube 2: Hypercube'' and the voices of Gordon, Diesel ...

- Ludwig *

Clark Johnson Clark Johnson (born September 10, 1954), is an American-Canadian actor and director who has worked in both television and film. He is best known for his roles as David Jefferson in ''Night Heat'' (1985–1988), Clark Roberts in ''E.N.G.'' (1989� ...

- Hammerman (cartoon) * Jeff Jones * Miguel Lee * Joe Matheson *

Susan Roman Susan Roman (born April 17) is a Canadian voice actress and voice director, best known for voice acting the role of Lita/Sailor Jupiter in the Canada DiC (and later Cloverway/CWi) dub of the anime, ''Sailor Moon''. She is one of the few voice ...

- Hammerman's Would-Be Girlfriend * Ron Rubin - Righty * Carmen Twillie - Fly Girls * Louise Vallance - Jodie *

Maurice Dean Wint Maurice Dean Wint is a British-born Canadian actor who has starred in several films and television shows. Life and career Wint was born in Leicestershire, England, and moved to Canada in 1967 with his family. He began to act in Toronto on stag ...

- Showbiz

Additional voices

Philip Akin Philip Akin (born April 18, 1950) is a Canadian actor. Akin has had roles in major American films such as '' The Sum of All Fears'', ''S.W.A.T.'', and '' Get Rich or Die Tryin. He has also done much voice work, including voicing the character ...

* Réal Andrews * Jason Burke *

George Buza George Buza is an American-born Canadian actor who is best known for voicing Beast in the '' X-Men Animated Series''. Personal life Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he moved to Toronto, Ontario, as a young man and became a Canadian citizen in 1998. C ...

Len Carlson Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 – January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who has voiced various characters on many animated television series from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman dur ...

* Rob Cowan * Michelyn Emelle *

Dan Hennessey Dan Hennessey (born August 25)https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Dan-Hennessey/ is a Canadian voice director and voice actor who, early on in his career, performed with a children's comedy troupe The Zoo Factory (with John Stocker, Bruce Gord ...

- Boss Grindenheimer *

Marc Marut Marc Marut (born April 11, 1979) is a Canadian actor best known for playing the mentally deranged Johnny McFarley in the 1994 horror film '' The Paperboy'' when he was 14 years old. He has acted and appeared in various television series and film ...

* Greg Morton *

Jackie Richardson Jackie Richardson (born January 4, 1947) is a Canadian singer and actress. Richardson is known for her screen roles in '' Turning to Stone'', ''The Gospel According to the Blues'', ''The Doodlebops'', and '' Sins of the Father''. She is also kno ...

Judith Scott Judith Scott may refer to: * Judith Scott (artist) (1943 – 2005), American fiber artist * Judith Scott (American actress) (born 1965), American television actress * Judith Scott (British actress) Judi Scott (1957–2018) was a British the ...

* Errol Slue *

Michael Stark Michael Stark (born April 6, 1955, New Westminster, British Columbia) is a Canadian voice actor. He was born Michael Williams and now works under the name of Michael Williams-Stark. He has worked as a voice talent for DIC Entertainment which in ...

* John Stocker - Defacely Marmeister * Marlow Vella *

Richard Yearwood Richard Yearwood is a British-Canadian actor, television host, director and producer, who is best known for providing the voice of Donkey Kong in ''Donkey Kong Country''. Career Yearwood began his acting career in 1980, in the television serie ...

Episodes

While the airdates and order of most episodes is unknown, "Defeated Graffiti", the first episode (as confirmed by MC Hammer's comments at the beginning of the episode), aired on September 7, 1991. The cartoon aired on Saturday mornings at 10 AM on ABC.

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' journalist Dalton Ross listed ''Hammerman'' at the top of his list "Top 5 Most Ridiculous Things to Be Turned Into a Saturday Morning Cartoon", and called the show as "idiotic".

Home media

In 1994, 3 of the 13 episodes were released on VHS by

Buena Vista Home Video Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the Home video, home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films ...

. There are currently no plans for a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

release.

References

External links

* * {{Children's programming in the American Broadcasting Company in the 1990s MC Hammer American Broadcasting Company original programming 1990s American animated television series 1990s American black cartoons 1991 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings 1991 Italian television series debuts 1991 Italian television series endings Animation based on real people Television series based on singers and musicians Television series by DIC Entertainment Parody superheroes American children's animated superhero television series American television series with live action and animation Italian children's animated superhero television series Cultural depictions of American men Cultural depictions of hip hop musicians Black people in art