'Mister Ed' Moved to Another, Sadder Stable

Confident from having coaxed words out of rodents and Kevin Sorbo alike, the production company behind Alvin and the Chipmunks, Stuart Little, and Kull the Conqueror has announced plans to develop a feature film based on Mister Ed, that early '60s sitcom about a talking horse.

If this news sounds familiar, it's probably because Fox 2000 made the same announcement a year ago but seem to have since given up on the idea, as now Mister Ed is said to be in the hands of Waterman Entertainment--the moralistic company that also recently announced plans to do a CG/live-action remake of The Brave Little Toaster, all part of their broad plan to fill the next several generations of children's minds with computer-generated talking things that shouldn't be talking. As Waterman co-manager Cooper Waterman soullessly explained to Deadline:

"We are identifying properties that have had success with multiple generations of parents who feel comfortable and have excitement about reintroducing the characters and storylines to their own kids and grandkids. While each property remains independent of each other, they will share the commonality of addressing social values, morality lessons, and characteristics that are clearly identifiable for kids with comedic elements for all age groups."

And sometimes "addressing social values" and "morality lessons" mean a talking horse, you know? Other times, it means a chipmunk eating a turd.