Tina Fey realizes her inner cartoon

Things are coating up for Tina Fey.

She's the acclaimed, Emmy-winning creator, writer and co-star of 30 Rock; earned rave reviews from fans and critics alike as the hugely popular Sarah Palin twin on Saturday Night Live; and this past spring, co-starred with Steve Carell in the romantic comedy, Date Night. Fey, 40, is trying something different, mostly designed to please her five-year-old daughter Alice. Mom is one of the star voices in the 3-D animated movie, Megamind, which releases Nov. 5.

In the spoofing superhero cartoon, Fey offers the voice for Roxanne Ritchi, a TV reporter and the quasi-love interest in the Lois Lane tradition of the Superman yarn. But unlike Lois Lane, Ritchi doesn't necessarily swoon for just one superhero. After all, in Megamind, there are two aliens from one more planet living in Metro City: Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Metro Man (Brad Pitt).

As luck and the plot would have it, Ferrell's Megamind is the nemesis to Pitt's Metro Man, since Metro Man ends up being a well-liked celebrity offense fighter in sharp contrast to the genius outcast, Megamind. Fed up with being rejected, Megamind uses his intellect for evil, and most probably defeats Metro Man, leaving Megamind lonely, and Metro City vulnerable, after the emergence of the Megamind's dastardly creation, Titan (Jonah Hill).

Ironic heroes and villains are everywhere. That's another reason Fey determined to make room for the project. "And I found the recording conference freeing, because you can really try different things," says Fey. She could also relate to the reporter role in Megamind, having played the droll newscaster on the popular Weekend Update sections of Saturday Night Live. "I am one of America's best known fake reporters," she says. "I'm going to have a fake show on CNN."

Joking aside, Fey did have a hand in making over the passive Lois Lane archetype, giving Roxanne Ritchi a more skeptical outlook. She was also pleased with her cartoon character's look, though the short haircut, she be firm, makes her character come across like a younger version of TV personality Sharon Osbourne.