Pamela Anderson’s Anime Alter Ego: ‘Stripperella’
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Former “Baywatch” beauty Pamela Anderson is making her animation debut as a superhero who dances in a strip club, but she demanded and received a no-nudity clause for her cartoon alter ego.
As a result, the upcoming cable series “Stripperella” features lots of cartoon cleavage and sexual innuendo — she is after all “Secret Agent 69” — but Anderson insists the show could be rated PG.
“It’s harmless. It’s only a cartoon,” the actress told Reuters in a recent interview to promote the series, created by Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee, the man who beefed up the Hulk and had Spider-Man climbing walls.
“We came up with a concept, and we just kind of made it really, really silly, and we both can’t believe it’s going to be on the air.”
The series is due to premiere June 26 on TNN, the Viacom Inc.-owned cable channel planning — despite a legal challenge — to relaunch itself this month as Spike TV, with a new slate of programming tailored to men.
The show’s concept is pretty simple. It centers on buxom exotic dancer Erotica Jones, an Anderson-esque character voiced by the actress who leads a double life as the masked superhero Stripperella. She’s a stripper by night, a crime fighter by later at night and the cartoon character even has the same tatoos as the real-life Anderson.
BUXOM CRIME FIGHTER
Using her sex appeal to cloud the minds of male crooks, she comes equipped with special gadgets, such as her lipstick laser and wall-climbing stiletto heels. Her breasts are natural lie detectors and her legs are powerful weapons she wraps around the heads of her foes in a move she calls the “scissor-ella.”
“I’m very proud of Stripperella,” Anderson says. “She’s my alter ego — strong, smart and sexy and, let’s face it, a bit of a slut.”
In the premiere episode, Stripperella battles the evil plastic surgeon Dr. Cesarian, who is deliberately ruining the figures of supermodels and has “booby-trapped” his latest victim with an exploding breast implant.
Still, Anderson said the series is far from pornographic and at her insistence contains no nudity — employing cartoon pixilation and other devices to keep the body parts blurred and the animation tasteful.
For example, “I do a dance in a martini glass, and the bubbles are strategically placed,” she said.
A number of celebrities lend their voices to some of the recurring characters, including Mark Hamill of “Star Wars” fame and Anderson’s “boyfriend” Kid Rock, who also wrote and performs the theme song.
Canadian-born Anderson, 35, sprang to world fame as lifeguard CJ Parker on the TV series “Baywatch” and went on to produce and star in the syndicated TV series “V.I.P.,” playing a beautiful celebrity bodyguard.
LICENSING IMAGE
This week, she signed a partnership agreement with United Licensing Group to develop brand merchandise such as lingerie, jewelry, swimsuits and jeans that will carry a Pamela Anderson designer label, according to her manager, Hedda Moye.
Moye said the licensing deal and a new Web site are part of Anderson’s plan to develop business ventures that allow her to cash in on her celebrity while spending more time at home with her two young sons, Brandon, 7, and Dylan, 5.
†
Anderson said her kids have seen early clips from her cartoon series but take it all in stride, with Brandon comparing her unfavorably to “Rugrats” character Angelica Pickles. “He said, ‘Angelica is a very good actor, a very good character, and she’s much more famous than you, Mom,”‘ Anderson recalled with a laugh.
Categories