Howls in Hollywood

The landmark Hollywood sign could be breaking out in giant black spots soon.

Don’t suspect fungus or graffiti on the 45-foot-high letters. Instead, anticipate a proposed marketing stunt for the Nov. 27 opening of a movie about a big bunch of two-toned canines.

And expect a snarly dogfight over the possible use of Los Angeles’ Historic Cultural Monument No. 111 to promote the live-action remake of “101 Dalmatians.”

Those ever-eager marketeers for the Walt Disney Co. hope to decorate the world-famous white sign with vinyl or magnetic metal blotches for five days in connection with the film’s premiere at the El Capitan Theatrejust down the hill.

While Hollywood-area business leaders are cheering, nearby homeowners and some city parks managers are reacting as if the evil Cruella DeVil had nabbed their puppies.

“It is simply unreasonable to use the sign for commercial purposes to promote movies or anything else. One would hope Los Angeles would finally get a little bit of class and protect its historic monuments,” Edward Cohan, vice president of the Hollywoodland Homeowners Assn., declared in a letter this week to city officials.

The sign, Cohan asserted, has as much symbolism for Los Angeles “as the Eiffel Tower has for Paris and Big Ben for London.”

Disney representatives presented their plans Tuesday to the Hollywood Sign Trust, the nonprofit organization charged with protecting the 73-year-old sign in Griffith Park. The trust and the related Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which controls the sign’s copyright, will look kindly at the spots if the city’s Recreation and Parks Department does.

“It’s a great idea,” trust Chairman Chris Baumgart said. It matches, he suggested, the trust’s other goal of promoting Hollywood as a center of the motion picture industry.

City approval, however, is not a sure thing. And if the spots provoke too many howls, the Burbank-based entertainment company “is more than happy to walk away” from the proposal, stressed Terry Curtin, Disney’s senior vice president of publicity.

“We think it’s a lot of fun and it’s cute. But certainly our relationship with the Hollywood community is one we value,” Curtin said.

Besides, the sign spots would not be a crucial element in the massive advertising and merchandising campaign for the remake of the 1981 animated classic, she said. As retail tie-ins, everything from roller skates to luggage to pajamas will sprout spots.

In a formal letter being sent this week to the city Recreation and Parks Department, Disney is expected to pledge that the spots would not harm the metal sign, created to advertise an upscale real estate development known as Hollywoodland (The syllable “LAND” was removed from the sign in the ‘40s.) Disney promises to protect the neighborhood from lights, noise and security problems during the Thanksgiving weekend.

But that won’t mollify residents who say they enjoy the Beachwood Canyon neighborhood for its serenity and views.

In recent years, the sign has been altered repeatedly by unauthorized pranksters and occasionally by film firms with permits. Among the outlaw spellings that canyon residents have awakened to see were “HOLLYWEED,” “PEROTWOOD,” “CALTECH” and “GO NAVY.”

The loudest uproar came four years ago, when the city approved a Paramount Pictures stunt for the forgettable film “Cool World.” The sign’s letter “D” was topped for five days with a 75-foot-high cartoon character named “Holli Would.” In a resulting court battle, residents complained about fire dangers and the extra tourist traffic on the canyon’s narrow roads.

Instead of changing the sign again, put Dalmatian spots on City Hall, Hollywoodland activist Christine O’Brien half-jokingly suggested Wednesday. “Or have Mayor Riordan dress up like Cruella DeVil,” she said.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce receives and denies about two requests a month to alter the sign, according to chamber Executive Director Leron Gubler. Yet if the city allows the spots, the chamber probably would too, because Disney has been such a good citizen in restoring the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, Gubler explained.

Three months before the “Cool World” episode, the state settled a lawsuit it brought against the Hollywood Chamber over alleged financial mismanagement. All royalties for the copyright now must be used for the sign’s upkeep.

Disney has not determined how to attach the spots to the sheet metal letters, although magnets or appliques are being studied as the least harmful, Curtin said.

Unless the Disney spots are treated as an emergency issue, city Board of Recreation and Park commissioners are not likely to debate the matter until their Nov. 20 meeting, officials said. In the meantime, parks department staffers are joining the opposition.

“We all know it began as a commercial sign, but it has grown to something beyond that,” said Linda Barth, a senior management analyst for the department’s Griffith Park division.

“If we say yes to Disney, who else do you say yes to?” she asked. “It boggles the mind how to draw the line on who can or cannot put their message on the world’s most famous billboard.”