Forgive me if I'm confusing Tom and Jerry with Itchy and Scratchy, but weren't their cartoons a little thin on plot? They ran around, they chased each other, they fought, end of story? But it turns out no plot is too thin for Hollywood to sell it to kids, so Tom and Jerry will be back with their own CG-animated franchise.

Variety reported this morning that they want to make a family franchise out of the warring cat and mouse, kind of like when Alvin and the Chipmunks somehow turned into the latest kid craze. Eric Gravning, who has a number of projects in development, will write the script as an origin story, about how the pair met and became mortal enemies before getting lost in Chicago and being forced to work together to make it back home.

What can you say about something like this beyond hoping your fond childhood memories won't be destroyed? It seems only Pixar bothers making shorts any more, and every other animation studio stretches whatever idea they can into feature-length, figuring anything with animated characters and a G-rating will get $10 from weary parents regardless. The sad thing is, they're right. Damn those studios for having us pegged.