‘D’ as in Disagreement : Cartoon Character Atop Landmark Sign Sets Off Protests

As a plane with a protest banner buzzed overhead and picketers shouted their complaints, a helicopter Monday pulled a cover from Paramount Pictures’ latest publicity stunt, a 75-foot-high Kim Basinger look-alike perched coyly atop the “D” in the Hollywood sign.

“Paramount Not A Good Neighbor,” read the banner, ordered up by homeowners who, in a suit against the city of Los Angeles, are seeking a ban on all commercial use of the sign.

The voluptuous image, which will be in place till Friday, will create traffic hazards and attract unwanted visitors to their narrow, winding streets in the Hollywood hills, the protesters contend.

“They say it’s a one-time thing for this studio, but who’s it going to be next time? This shouldn’t be used as an advertising sign,” said Chuck Welch, president of the Hollywoodland Homeowners Assn.

The Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women also lambasted the installation of “a 75-foot caricature of a scantily clad woman on city property.”

In a letter to the city’s Recreation and Park Board on Monday, commission officials said they were “appalled” at the board’s approval of the cartoon figure. “We would like you to know that the action your board has taken is offensive to Los Angeles women and is not within your role as custodian and guardian of the Hollywood sign. The fact that Paramount Pictures donated a mere $27,000 to Rebuild L.A. should not be a passport to exploit women in Los Angeles.”

But a Paramount spokesman said the studio had done nothing wrong. It contributed $27,000 to the city and another $27,000 to the Rebuild L.A. campaign, said Harry Anderson, the studio’s vice president for communications.

“This is, shall we say, a cost-effective method of gaining publicity,” he said.

At the center of the storm is Holli Would, a cartoon character who seeks to cross over from animation to live action in the movie “Cool World,” which is scheduled to open Friday.

Basinger, who plays the live version of the character, was not present when her cartoon likeness, in a skimpy white mini-dress and matching high heels, was unveiled dangling shapely legs over the sign’s final letter.

As the song “Hooray for Hollywood” boomed out on a sound system, Paramount executives and guests applauded from a park about half a mile away and a dozen picketers booed, waved signs and honked noisemakers.

Emcee Johnny Grant declared the event to be part of “the Hollywood tradition of doing the unusual.” The sign itself was a commercial gimmick, he noted, built to draw attention to the Hollywoodland real estate development in 1923.

The Hollywood sign has been altered in recent years to promote a soft drink and the launching of the Fox television network, but Grant, the honorary mayor of Hollywood, said he does not expect the city of Los Angeles to allow it to be changed again.

“Originally we denied Paramount’s request,” said Recreation and Parks Department official Linda Barth. “We shared the concerns of the homeowners.”

But Paramount made a persuasive case before the department’s board of commissioners, which overruled the staff because of the movie company’s position as an old-time studio and major employer whose glamour would be enhanced by the promotion, she said.

“These were special circumstances,” Barth said. “We weren’t trying to set the position that anybody with $27,000 can come up and do what they want with the sign.”