Lee Roy Mercer® ∞ A Whoop-Ass Movie!

LEE ROY MERCER has been Whoopin' Ass with his phone pranks for over 15 years.
Now Mercer and his dysfunctional Redneck family are goin' to Whoop your Ass right in the comfort of your own home with an animated feature film for TV. For LEE ROY MERCER fans, there are no freakin' sweeter words than "Never Before Seen." A triumphant homecoming for the Bell South Bomber, LEE ROY MERCER -- A Whoop Ass Movie is not so much a movie as it is a not-yet-aired animated three-episodearc enhanced with a home-DVD-exclusive "red carpet premiere" prologue and an epilogue (capped, of course, with a few prank calls.) MERCER'S Whoop-Ass Movie is a television show white trash masterpiece and its creator has rewarded the faithful by pickin' up some all new phone pranks made on today's top name NASCAR Drivers, offending any and all sensibilities (recasting the King of Rock-n-Roll as Lee Roy's next door neighbor and guru of advice John Burrows.) The Mercer Family generally take potshots at anyone on their enemies list in redneck fashion. (Lee Roy fights his long hated enemy "Rojo" who's a one eyed fighting cock that's a Kung Fu Master and also has a bit of a sweet tooth for Lee Roy's divorced hairdresser/stripper girlfriend Karen.) A Whoop-Ass Movie is a star vehicle for breakout characters Snake and Skinny, Mercer's two boys. The two backwoods brothers use a redneck's famous last words, "Watch This" as they are always tryin' to out do one another in death defyin' stunts around the farm, (and disturbin' Vietnam flashback encounters with Lee Roy.) And more life-altering, Lee Roy discovers a way to connect with Karen's racially challenged son Zack who's a tragically white Hip-Hop gangster wannabe (the outcome is truly shocking!) As go the gags so goes LEE ROY MERCER and there are more than enough good ones in this installment to keep you in stitches from beginnin' to end. For LEE ROY MERCER fans these will be some of the greatest stories ever told.

Jon Holtz, Director/Producer/Creator explains the premise:
I first pitched the idea to my entertainment attorney Seth Lichtenstein who asked, "What's this thing all about?" I told him, "It's an animated reality show." After a moment of uncomfortable silence I explained how Lee Roy's next door neighbor John Burrows was really Elvis living in the country incognito and I would depict Burrows somewhat like Tim Allen's Tool Time neighbor Wilson, being that his face is always somewhat obscured in every shot. That got a huge laugh and set the stage for the rest of the pitch. "An animated reality show?" Seth asked. "Yes, that pretty much sums it up in a nutshell" I explained. The premise of the show revolves around real life stories of people I knew in my childhood days and a few sidesplitting ones told to me by my Grandfather before he passed away. When I think of some of the crazy things we did growing up it's a wonder any of us survived to tell of our adventures. Like the time we visited our Grandparents farm for the summer and my brother and cousin got the bright idea to jump the pig pen with an old motor bike. They both worked for the better part of the day just to get that piece of junk running so my brother could damn near break his stupid neck. Needless to say, the pig pen got busted, pigs went running everywhere and what was left of my freshly covered-in-pig-manure brother was taken care of with a Hickory by my Grandmother. As I recall my cousin and I got a few licks for being guilty by association.

The original idea was to do the movie in traditional 2D cell animation as my friend and colleague Lionel Baker II and I had worked out the original character designs as far back as late 1993. With the advent of today's technological advancements in 3D Computer Animation it was Baker that urged me to push the project into the 21st Century. Two weeks after I made the announcement that the new Mercer Movie would be done entirely in 3D animation, PIXAR announced that they were doing away with all of their 2D animation departments. I'm not trying to compare us to PIXAR, I'm simply saying it soon became obvious that we had made the right decision regarding the new creative direction that the movie would take. At an early age I was obsessed with cartoons and people like Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Charles Schultz and Walt Disney. I read everything I could get my hands on about those guys and I was intent on watching their cartoons. People didn't understand my obsession in those days, but now they get it and acknowledged these cartoons as great works of post-war American art.

Product Description:
In this exclusive 74 minute TV premiere featuring brand new, never before seen content, (Skeeter,) a bloodsucking mosquito narrates the film Waylon Jennings' style from the proverbial "fly on the wall" perspective. Mercer is distracted from his plans to Whoop the local Veterinarian's Ass for not coming to put Rojo down for good when he sees an ad on television asking people to come to Hollywood for the casting of the new Lee Roy Mercer film. After some very intense psychotherapy from his friend and next door neighbor John Burrows, Lee Roy becomes convinced that he's the man for the job. (After all, who could possibly play the role better than the Master of Whoop-Ass himself?) Lee Roy sets off on a cross-country road trip to find fame and fortune with his girlfriend Karen, her son Zack and Max the family dog, but Lee Roy's incredible journey leads him to discoveries far more than he had ever bargained for.

Monique Bailey - Media Relations

Stills from LEE ROY MERCER® - A Whoop-Ass Movie