I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali was an animated series featuring heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali. The short-lived series was broadcast Saturday mornings on NBC, starting on September 10, 1977. The series was cancelled after 13 episodes, by January 1978.
I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali was the fourth positive Black cast Saturday morning cartoon series and the second Saturday morning cartoon series featuring a Black athlete, following the Globetrotters. Muhammad Ali and his public relations agent, Frank Bannister, voiced their own characters. The series placed Muhammad Ali in his own adventures, some of which dealt with unexpected or unexplained mysteries. Ali solved crimes with his entourage, which consisted of his niece Nicky and nephew Damon (voiced by real-life siblings Patrice and Casey Carmichael).The 40th anniversary of this cartoon series is September 10, 2017.
The Episodes:
- The Great Alligator / 1977-09-10
- The Air Fair Affair / 1977-09-17
- The Littlest Runner / 1977-09-24
- Ali’s African Adventure / 1977-10-01
- Superstar / 1977-10-08
- The Haunted Park / 1977-10-15
- Caught in the Wild / 1977-10-22
- Volcano Island / 1977-10-29
- Oasis of the Moon / 1977-11-05
- The Great Bluegrass Mountain Race / 1977-11-12
- The Werewolf of Devil’s Creek / 1977-11-19
- Sissy’s Climb / 1977-11-26
- Terror in the Deep / 1977-12-03
The Original Production Cel and Drawing from the Muhammad Ali cartoon are a part of The Museum Of UnCut Funk Black Animation collection.
I Am The Greatest © 2017 Farmhouse Films
2 Comments
I worked on this show back in the seventies along with Leo Sullivan and Wallace Sides. To the best of my knowledge we were the only black animators on the show. We even attended recording sessions with Muhammad Ali in Hollywood on occasion. It was a fascinating fun filled experience totally unlike my career at the Walt Disney Studios.
Hello,
Do you know why the cartoon was cancelled after only one season?