Serena Williams will go down as one of the best players in the history of professional tennis with 29 Grand Slam titles under her belt, 16 in singles and 13 in doubles alongside her sister (and fellow tennis powerhouse) Venus Williams. Having accomplished all that she can in the world of professional tennis and then some, it’s now time for Serena to branch out in the world of animated motion pictures.
Heat Vision reports that Williams will be teaming up with Exodus Film Group (the group behind 2008’s animated feature Igor featuring the voice of John Cusack) for a tennis-themed cartoon called, erm, WimbleToad. The movie, based on an idea from Exodus Film Group’s John Eraklis, will tell the story of an orphaned toad named Henry Stokes who enters the WimbleToad tournament in order to win his freedom and stop a seedy businessman from taking it over. Williams will voice Lily, fellow orphan and Henry’s best friend, who also enters the tournament and is also executive-producing (getting a 2nd check for half the work, in other words). Script duties are being handled by Steve Bevilaqua.
WimbleToad sounds ridiculous and more likely than not will end up inane, but being a closeted tennis junkie part of me is excited to see it. It makes perfect sense that Serena Williams would make her first foray into the world of movies with something related to the profession she’s known for and because of that I’m sure she’ll do a fine job (also I’m afraid she’ll beat me up if I say otherwise). Maybe the next Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras (I’d even settle for Andy Roddick) watches it and gets inspired to become a professional tennis player, thus ensuring that the U.S. once again reigns supreme in the tennis world! A man can dream, right? Also seriously stop rolling your eyes, tennis is awesome and shut up.
What do you think of WimbleToad? Do you think Serena Williams will successfully find her way in the world of movies?