If the idea of an animated Terminator movie filled you with fear, you weren't alone: Pacificor, the company that owns the rights to the Terminator franchise, aren't too happy about the idea, either.

Deadline Hollywood reports that Pacificor has sent Hannover House, the company behind the announced Terminator 3000 animated project, a cease-and-desist letter, and even has the letter itself, which reads in part:

We recently became aware through various online media reports that Hannover House, purportedly a division of Target Development Group, Inc. (“TDGI”), entered into a purported feature film development venture with a Vancouver based entity, Red Bear Entertainment, for “Teminator 3000” an animated feature film based upon the characters introduced in the original Terminator movie.

This knowledge came as a surprise to Pacificor. It did not license or authorize any such development or film. Indeed, it has not been contacted by Hannover House, TDGI, Red Bear Entertainment or anyone else seeking such a license or approval.

While some of the reports we have seen mention that Pacificor “retains approval and licencing authority...” over the proposed project, a reasonable inference drawn from the reports is that such approval has been obtained. Otherwise, why would the “development deal” have been entered into in the first place and why would the reports mention a proposed January 2011 start date for production?

In response, Hannover House's Eric Peterson is behaving very calmly about the situation, telling the site,

We've arranged a meeting, we'll show them our money and if the rational brain prevails, they'll take the deal. If not, I can't do it without them. You'll have a followup next week that we are either holding hands, or not doing the film. At least we now have our meeting.

Will rational brains prevail? And, if they do, what side of rationality will they fall on: Artistic or financial?