LOS ANGELES — Joseph Ashton and wheels seem to be made for each other. The 15-year-old who voices the lead character in "Rocket Power," the popular cartoon series about California skateboarders, got his first big break by rolling along. "It was kind of an accident," he says. "I happened to be in the waiting room for one of my brother's auditions, and this lady came out and said, 'I want you!' It was a McDonald's Baby Olympics commercial, I was 1 year old and they were pulling me on a tricycle. It was pretty cool." Fourteen years, a couple of movies and several TV appearances later, another Olympics is in full swing and Ashton is still tight with wheels. Only this time it's his alter ego, the outspoken, often arrogant Otto Rocket, who will be taking to the slopes in the first movie to be spun off from the popular children's TV series. "Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand" premieres tonight, followed by a live-action competition from New Zealand and preceded by a two-hour block of cartoons with an action theme. It's the Nickelodeon cable network's way of competing with that ratings behemoth, the 2002 Winter Olympics. And, if a group of 8-year-old sports enthusiasts hanging out at a Southern California school yard one day this week is an indication, it's a smart move. "I don't know who's going to win or anything like that, but I can't wait to see it. We're going to watch the whole marathon," Amofa Brobbey, speaking for himself among a group of friends, says excitedly. The 8-year-old skater and cycling enthusiast, also known as one of his Arcadia, Calif., school's best third-grade basketball players, counts Otto Rocket among his heroes. "He's a regular kid," Ashton says of Otto, "and even though he's arrogant, there's a whole personality behind him and how he reacts with other people that's very much like the way real kids are." What's more, it doesn't hurt that "Rocket Power," unlike most children's cartoon shows, is not voiced by adults trying to talk like children, says Ashton, a star soccer player whose father is a California Highway Patrol officer. "The voices are done by real kids, so all of their expressions are real. Other kids can relate to that," the personable high school sophomore says. "And those sports situations. Kids have been in those kinds of situations and they know what they're going through." Indeed, "Race Across New Zealand" is more than just a race. It's also a sibling rivalry. As it begins, the gang — Otto, his sister Reggie, their pal Twister, and Sammy, the group's resident nerd — have just spent a year slaving away at The Shore Shack, the boardwalk greasy spoon in their hometown of Ocean Shores, Calif. As a result, they have finally earned enough money to enter the New Zealand Junior Waikikamukau Games, an extreme sports competition that includes wind-surfing, skating, dirt biking and snowboarding. Arrogant Otto sees the Waikikamukau medal as his for the taking, of course, while aspiring feminist Reggie views it as her chance to show girls can compete with boys. It's the kind of situation Shayna Fox, the 17-year-old actress who plays Reggie, says she faces all of the time at her high school in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. "Yeah, definitely I'm very female rights," says Fox, one of the top-rated high school tennis players in Los Angeles and someone who says she isn't afraid to stand up to the boys when they begin putting the girls down. "I'm a lot like Reggie, in that we're both always motivated and determined and we hate losing," she adds with a chuckle. "If I had a brother like Otto, we'd fight all the time." In the TV show, Otto generally gets the glory, leaving fans to wonder if it will be Reggie's turn this time. Of course, no one wants to give the ending away. "The 'Rocket Power' fans are going to love this one, though," says Ashton, sounding momentarily like Otto. "It's got drama, mystery, adventure ... The same old 'Rocket Power' stuff but twice as good." "Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand" airs at 8 p.m. on Nickelodeon.

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