To get audiences ready for the third installment of “Toy Story” next summer, Disney and Pixar are re-releasing the first two movies back to theaters tomorrow.
But in order to lure audiences back in who may be familiar with the films from home video or cable showings, the two movies are being offered as a double-feature and being re-rendered into 3-D.
“What is most exciting is that a whole new generation of moviegoers can see both films in the way that they are meant to be seen, in a shared audience environment,” says Pixar co-founder John Lasseter, head of Disney animation and the director of both films.
It’s also the first time in several years that Disney has re-released an animated classic back onto the big screens. Before the advent of home theater, Disney’s animated features were re-released on a seven-year schedule.
And according to the team who re-rendered the films into 3-D, the new 3-D look is worth the price of admission.
“It’s like watching them through a View-Master,” says Pixar’s Lee Unkrich of seeing the 1995 original and the 1999 sequel with added depth.
Unkrich, the director of the upcoming sequel who also worked on its predecessors, says tests were done years ago to see how “Toy Story”, the first full-length feature created entirely on computers, would look in 3-D. Not that anyone could enjoy it. “The exhibition technology wasn’t there,” he explains. “But with the advent of digital cinema, it’s now possible.”
The entire process of converting the two titles took about a year, with an additional four months or so spent on tech updates to match today’s software. “If we have done our job right, you are going to feel like you are right inside Andy’s room,” says Bob Whitehill, Pixar’s stereographic supervisor, of the setting where such toys as Mr. Potato Head come to life.
And fans of the originals need not worry that Disney and Pixar have pulled a George Lucas or Steven Spielberg and significant altered the movies for re-release. They assures audiences that only minor fixes have been undertaken for the re-release.
“They are such beloved movies to begin with, we didn’t want to alter them significantly,” Whitehill says. “Maybe a foot won’t poke through a bedspread anymore.”
There will be a five- or 10-minute intermission between features, during which an exclusive peek at Toy Story 3 will be shown, as well as trivia and scenes of the characters talking.
If this Toy Story run proves to be a bonanza, can 3-D reissues of Pixar’s other eight hits be far behind? “There are no plans now,” Lasseter says, “but fingers are crossed.”
Leave a Reply