Once a staple of weekday morning kids shows, Woody Woodpecker has all but disappeared from the American memory.

… so it makes perfect sense that someone is exploring the possibility of doing a new movie based on the character.

The Hollywood Reporter is saying that Universal’s animation house, Illumination Entertainment, is looking into a new Woody Woodpecker project.  This would be the first time the character created in the 1940′s would hit a movie screen in decades, and he has even been absent from television for many years.  While people are certain to remember the character, it is doubtful that anyone even cares about him any more.

Universal bought the rights to the character and all of his shorts in 1985, so why they are suddenly anxious to do something 26 years later is beyond me.  We’ve seen how washed up characters do in films over the past few years (the Marmaduke and Underdog movies come to mind), but apparently having a standout success such as Alvin and the Chipmunks makes everyone think they can bring old characters back for a few dollars more.

I’m telling you right now, this movie is doomed to failure.  Illumination does not turn in cheap productions, (Despicable Me had a $69 million budget, but it did turn a profit) and this is almost a sure fire flop at the sort of numbers they would be talking.

Hollywood continues to show us daily that they are out of ideas, but this one is really getting down to the bottom of the barrel.

[thanks to Steven for the tip]