# Cartoon characters and hammerspace **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427 "2005-09-26T02:45:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/21 "2005-09-27T01:16:44Z")
In live(OK, live-ish) action genres: Jim Carrey’s character in _The Mask_ conspicuously produces a number of items from hammerspace; Batman must also use it, but subtly - there’s just no other way he’d be able to store all those cables and devices; utility belt or no. Spiderman too, I guess - those web shooters must consume more than his bodyweight in materials in a typical aerial jaunt across town. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/22 "2005-09-27T01:17:23Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > A lot of hit toons would fit. ummm, that is to say a lot of _his_ toons would fit. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/23 "2005-09-27T02:43:48Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > In live(OK, live-ish) action genres: Jim Carrey’s character in _The Mask_ conspicuously produces a number of items from hammerspace; Batman must also use it, but subtly - there’s just no other way he’d be able to store all those cables and devices; utility belt or no. > Spiderman too, I guess - those web shooters must consume more than his bodyweight in materials in a typical aerial jaunt across town. With Batman I think it’s actually shrinking tech borrowed or bought from Ray Palmer. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/24 "2005-09-27T03:01:52Z")
> [@ggurl](#): > > I have it on authority that Misty from Pokemon is especially notorious for this and it even involves a hammer. [nerd mode]I’ve watched pretty much every episode of Pokemon and I’ve only seen Misty use a anime hammer once (third episode in which she is ennumerating her hates). She mostly used her fists to wail on Brock.[/nm] Fuu of Samuari Champloo apparently has a small rodent living in her kimono. ---
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/25 "2005-09-27T03:05:18Z")
Does Mary Poppins’ bag in _Die Har_- err, _Mary Poppins_ count? I seem to recall her pulling a hat-rack out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/26 "2005-09-27T03:34:21Z")
Silent Bob pulled a large grappling hook gun out of hammerspace in _Mallrats_. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/27 "2005-09-27T03:46:56Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > Fuu of Samuari Champloo apparently has a small rodent living in her kimono. Saying nothing. Saying absolutely nothing. Anyway, is there any noticeable connection between Hammerspace and the “skin pockets” seen on some characters? You know the ones—guys like Bugs Bunny or “Lumpy” from the Happy Tree Friends, who usually wear no clothing, but will occasionally _stick a hand into the side of their own abdomen, in full view of the camera_, as if they were reaching into a pants pocket? Most notable are the times where they fail to find anything (such as when they’re looking for money), and as an illustration of this, they \*pull the pockets inside out, leaving a “liner” dangling against their skin. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![davmilasav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@davmilasav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davmilasav)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/28 "2005-09-27T07:56:27Z")
As long as we’re mentioning live action, let’s not forget about all those Immortals in the Highlander universe. Where _did_ those swords come from? ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/29 "2005-09-27T11:19:39Z")
> [@Scott Plaid](#): > > Why is Ranma such an insensative jerk? (Of Ranma 1/2) > > Because Akane is too active with her use of the hammer. It isn’t good for the poor boy. Actually, the concept of Akane using hammerspace (or, indeed, a hammer) all of the time is more fanon than canon. She didn’t really do that all that much in the original manga and anime, but in the hands of the fanfic writers it became an overused cliche. (And it’s spelled _insensitive,_ by the way.) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/30 "2005-09-27T11:42:03Z")
One time I saw this in the X-Men cartoon. Rogue was sitting on the wing of an airplane, reading a book about some place she was heading to. (I forget where she was going. Maybe Muir Island?) After she was done reading, she put the book behind her back, and it disappeared. Classic hammerspace-type move. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/31 "2005-09-27T11:52:42Z")
Having watched a bunch of them recently, I’d argue that hammerspace reached its creative apex in Tex Avery cartoons, particularly in Magical Maestro, Billy Boy and Cellbound. In Avery’s characters tend to reach for things (hammers, explosives, mirrors, mallets) just out of view of the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/32 "2005-09-27T18:53:53Z")
Both Oscar the Grouch’s trashcan and Snoopy’s doghouse were portals to Hammerspace. Oscar had a basement and an elephant, and Snoopy owned a pool table and a Van Gogh. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/33 "2005-09-27T19:19:14Z")
> [@Max Carnage](#): > > Both Oscar the Grouch’s trashcan and Snoopy’s doghouse were portals to Hammerspace. Oscar had a basement and an elephant, and Snoopy owned a pool table and a Van Gogh. You reminded me of SHeldon, the chick who never hatched (other than his feet) from U.S. Acres, the “friends” portion of the ever-so-awesoem Garfield and Friends Saturday morning cartoon. He seemed to have all sorts iof stuf in there, though we never saw it. Maybe he made it up, but one time we did nsee a nail go throguh the shell as he hung up a picture. Hell, it could have been a real nail, but everything else was fake. He just pretended to have all that neat stuff so his friends would be jealous of his awesome shell. Or even worse, he _thinks_ he has all that stuff. He’s quite insane, and imagines his shell as a luxurious, 30 room mansion, complete with staff and pool. Man, one could right on essay on that guy. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/34 "2005-09-27T19:32:45Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Anyway, is there any noticeable connection between Hammerspace and the “skin pockets” seen on some characters? You know the ones—guys like Bugs Bunny or “Lumpy” from the Happy Tree Friends, who usually wear no clothing, but will occasionally _stick a hand into the side of their own abdomen, in full view of the camera_, as if they were reaching into a pants pocket? When I read this, all I could think of was the computer game _Hitman_. At one point, the hitman changes into swimming trunks. Of course, he has to dump all his clothes, equipment and weapons, but once he is in the trunks he can happily pick up guns, knives, piano wire, keys, business cards and whatnot and put them inside his left pectoral muscle. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/35 "2005-09-27T19:43:48Z")
> [@soulmurk](#): > > I don’t know his name, but one of the Harlem Globetrotters (best known for a guest appearance on Scooby Doo, but they did have their own show for a while) who could draw almost anything out of his hair. [Nate Wright does that with his school locker](http://www.comics.com/comics/bignate/archive/bignate-20050918.html). ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/36 "2005-09-27T19:49:23Z")
Optimus Prime, with his trailer…hell, most of the Transformers… ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/37 "2005-09-27T19:55:19Z")
> [@caveman](#): > > Optimus Prime, with his trailer…hell, most of the Transformers… I remember this one issue of the comic book where Megatron is falling from a great height and transforms into a handgun in the hope that a smaller _and lighter_ form would handle the impact better. Even my 10-year-old self could spot the flaw in that one. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/38 "2005-09-27T20:12:14Z")
Where did this term come from? I’ve been watching cartoons, playing video games, and reading comic books for over two decades, and I’ve never once heard it. Sounds “made-up,” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Sweetums](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Sweetums](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweetums)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/39 "2005-09-27T20:30:11Z")
In the highlander series (not a cartoon, I know), all of the immortals seemed to have access to hammerspace for their swords. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427/40 "2005-09-27T20:50:59Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Where did this term come from? I’ve been watching cartoons, playing video games, and reading comic books for over two decades, and I’ve never once heard it. Sounds “made-up,” to me. Aren’t all words made up, when you get right down to it? But this one wasn’t made up by me, which you seem to be implying. Check the wikipedia link in my OP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-characters-and-hammerspace/323427.md?page=3)