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The bumbling leading man of The Naked Gun series of films is blazing a trail as the crime-fighting superhero Zeroman in a new Teletoon animated series this fall.
The brainchild of Ottawa's Sheldon Wiseman, Zeroman is a spoof on the crime-fighting superhero. It will begin broadcasting in September.
By day, Zeroman is a thick-headed and mild-mannered postman. That is, until he puts on his costume, which transforms him into a snow-haired Nielsen clone with a bizarre array of powers he has trouble controlling.
"He plays a bumbling authority character who always manages to save the day, thanks to some incredible super powers," explains Wiseman from the Somerset St. offices of Amberwood Entertainment.
Two of Zeroman's stranger powers are the ability to walk really fast and, thanks to a highly charged lactose intolerance, produce enough gas to fly.
"It's a natural generation from Frank Drebbin," Nielsen says over the phone from his home in Arizona, referring to his Naked Gun character. "He's fundamentally dumb and stupid, but the wonderful thing about him is that he doesn't know it, but I do."
DOUBLE ENTENDRES
Doing the voice of Zeroman is a perfect fit for Nielsen's southern lifestyle, because he can record the show in Arizona. He's also committed to doing the series "as long as it's successful," he says.
"If it goes one year, it'll be disappointing. Two, it'll be disappointing. Three ...
"It's extremely well-written and produced by Sheldon and his son Jonathan. The concept of a cartoon that appeals to children and adults is daring. If you get the double entendres you'll enjoy the humour and if you don't you're too young to know anyway."
Produced for $6 million, the 13-week series also stars Alanis Morissette's boyfriend Ryan Reynolds of Van Wilder fame as Nielsen's brilliant sidekick Tycheese, and Kids in the Hall alumnus Kevin MacDonald as the evil Rusty Woodenwater.
"Like The Naked Gun, our show's tailored to appeal to kids and adults," says Wiseman. "Leslie was very enthused about the concept and has been part of the creative process. He loves it. He's very comfortable having his own cartoon character."
Doing the series brings back happy memories for Nielsen, 77, who has no future plans for his movie career.
MORE NAKED GUN
"I wish we were still doing more The Naked Gun series because it was too good to stop at three," he laments. "We should have done several more films. The humour is too good and original to have buried the series as early as it was."
Playing dumb isn't for everybody but for Nielsen it's become a whole new lease on his career that started in 1956 with Forbidden Planet.
After appearing in 1980's pop-cult phenomenon Airplane, Nielsen's basically played the same lovable doofus in almost every movie since,.
"The way I look, I look like I know what I'm talking about. Many times I don't. If I come in with a golf club, people assume I play scratch golf and I don't. People's expectations are hard to live up to, so I disappoint a lot of people."