Hammerman

Animated television series

Hammerman

Title card

Created by| MC Hammer
Directed by| Michael Maliani
Starring| MC Hammer
Voices of| Neil Crone
Clark Johnson
Jeff Jones
Miguel Lee
Joe Matheson
Susan Roman
Ron Rubin
Carmen Twillie
Louise Vallance
Maurice Dean Wint
Composers| The Music Team
Mark Simon
(additional music)
Country of origin| United States
Canada
Italy
No. of seasons| 1
No. of episodes| 13[1]
Production
Executive producers| Andy Heyward
Louis Burrell
Producer| Kevin O'Donnell
Editors| Mark A. McNally
Susan Odjakjian
Running time| 23 minutes
Production companies| DIC Animation City
Bustin' Productions, Inc.
Reteitalia
Original release
Network| ABC
Release| September 7, 1991 (1991-09-07) –
1992 (1992)

Hammerman was a Saturday morning cartoon, starring rapper MC Hammer, which aired for thirteen episodes on ABC in the fall of 1991. It was produced by DIC Animation City and Italian company Reteitalia S.p.A., in association with Spanish network Telecinco.[2]

## Synopsis[edit]

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 Hammerman.[3] 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 MC Hammer, 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[edit]

* MC Hammer \- Hammerman/Stanley Burrell (live action)
* Neil Crone \- Ludwig
* Clark Johnson \- Hammerman (cartoon)
* Jeff Jones
* Miguel Lee
* Joe Matheson
* Susan Roman \- Hammerman's Would-Be Girlfriend
* Ron Rubin \- Righty
* Carmen Twillie \- Fly Girls
* Louise Vallance \- Jodie
* Maurice Dean Wint \- Showbiz

### Additional voices[edit]

* Philip Akin
* Réal Andrews
* Jason Burke
* George Buza
* Len Carlson
* Rob Cowan
* Michelyn Emelle
* Dan Hennessey \- Boss Grindenheimer
* Marc Marut
* Greg Morton
* Jackie Richardson
* Judith Scott
* Errol Slue
* Michael Stark
* John Stocker \- Defacely Marmeister
* Marlow Vella
* Richard Yearwood

## Episodes[edit]

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.

No.| Title| Written by| Original air date

|
|
|

1| "Defeated Graffiti"| Reed Shelly and Bruce Shelly| September 7, 1991 (1991-09-07)

It's time for Hammerman, the super hero with super cool dancin' shoes! In 'Defeated Graffiti', Hammerman and the Oaktown Rec Center Kids confront an ugly crime wave that's messin' up the neighborhood.

If anyone can save Oaktown... Hammerman can!
2| "Winnie's Winner"| Martha Moran| October 19, 1991 (1991-10-19)
3| "Rapoleon"| Bob Forward and Eve Forward| November 16, 1991 (1991-11-16)
4| "If the Shoe Fits"| Steven Weiss & Paul Dell| November 30, 1991 (1991-11-30)
5| "Nobody's Perfect"| Robert Askin| December 7, 1991 (1991-12-07)
6| "Dropping Out"| Robert Askin| 1992 (1992)
7| "Lights, Camera, Hammer!"| Robert Askin| 1991 (1991)
8| "Blast From the Past"| Robert Askin| 1991 (1991)
9| "Who's Who"| Bob Forward and Eve Forward| 1991 (1991)
10| "Work This!"| Darin Scott| 1991 (1991)
11| "Cupid's Sting"| TBD| 1991 (1991)
12| "Real Friends, the Musical"| TBD| 1991 (1991)
13| "Stanley's Big Break"| TBD| 1991 (1991)

## Critical reception[edit]

Entertainment Weekly 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 described the show as "idiotic", but praised the moment when Gramps opened up the bag and took out the magical shoes, as it helped with the overall world building. [4]

## Home media[edit]

In 1994, 3 of the 13 episodes were released on VHS by Buena Vista Home Video. There are currently no plans for a DVD release.[citation needed]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Shows A - L". Dicentertainment.com. Archived from the original on 2003-04-02. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
2. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 263–264. ISBN 978-1538103739.
3. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 393\. ISBN 978-1476665993.
4. ^ Ross, Dalton (September 16, 2006). "Giving Him Paws". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 8, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2013.

## External links[edit]

* Hammerman at IMDb
* Hammerman at The Big Cartoon DataBase

* v
* t
* e

MC Hammer

Studio albums|

* Feel My Power (1987)
* Let's Get It Started (1988)
* Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em (1990)
* Too Legit to Quit (1991)
* The Funky Headhunter (1994)
* Inside Out (1995)
* Active Duty (2001)
* Full Blast (2004)
* Look Look Look (2006)
* DanceJamtheMusic (2009)

Compilations|

* Greatest Hits (1996)
* Back 2 Back Hits (1997)
* The Hits (2000)
* Platinum MC Hammer (2008)

Singles|

* "Let's Get It Started" (1988)
* "U Can't Touch This" (1990)
* "Have You Seen Her" (1990)
* "Pray" (1990)
* "Here Comes the Hammer" (1990)
* "For the Love of You (1990)
* "2 Legit 2 Quit" (1991)
* "Addams Groove" (1991)
* "Do Not Pass Me By" (1991)
* "This Is the Way We Roll" (1992)
* "Straight to My Feet" (1994)
* "Pumps and a Bump" (1994)
* "Unconditional Love" (1998)
* "Full Blast" (2004)

Television|

* Hammerman
* Hammertime
* The Surreal Life

Related articles|

* Discography

* v
* t
* e

Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1990s

First-run animated series|

* A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988–91)
* Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1989–90)
* The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988–1991)
* Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters (1986–91)
* Beetlejuice (1989–92)
* The Wizard of Oz (1990–91)
* Little Rosey (1990–91)
* New Kids on the Block (1990–91)
* Darkwing Duck (1991–93)
* Hammerman (1991–92)
* The Pirates of Dark Water (1991–92)
* Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa (1992–94)
* Goof Troop (1992–93)
* The Addams Family (1992–95)
* Cro (1993–95)
* Tales from the Cryptkeeper (1993–95)
* Sonic the Hedgehog (1993–95)
* Free Willy (1994–95)
* ReBoot (1994–96)
* Bump in the Night (1994–96)
* The New Adventures of Madeline (1995)
* Dumb and Dumber (1995–96)
* What-a-Mess (1995–96)
* Brand Spanking New Doug (1996–2001)
* Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series (1996–97)
* The Oz Kids (1996)
* Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles (1996–97)
* Jungle Cubs (1996–97)
* Nightmare Ned (1997)
* 101 Dalmatians: The Series (1997–98)
* Recess (1997–2004)
* Pepper Ann (1997–2000)
* Science Court (1997–2000)
* Hercules (1998–99)
* Mickey Mouse Works (1999–2001)
* Sabrina: The Animated Series (1999–2001)

First-run live-action series|

* Animal Crack-Ups (1987–90)
* ABC Weekend Special (1977–97)
* Land of the Lost (1991–92)
* CityKids (1993–94)
* Fudge (1995)
* Hypernauts (1996)
* Bone Chillers (1996–97)
* Flash Forward (1996–97)

Rebroadcasts|

* The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (1985–2000)
* DuckTales (1997)

Related programming and topics|

* Disney's One Saturday Morning
* Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990)
* Modern animation in the United States

*[No.]: Number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template