With the success of the Lion King 3-D, Disney is ramping up more 3-D conversations of popular animated titles.
Among those movies that will hit theaters again in 3-D are Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., and The Little Mermaid.
First out of the gate is Beauty and the Beast in 3D, which begins its limited theatrical run on Jan. 13, 2012. The animated film, grossing $377.4 million worldwide, was first released in 1991 and, like Lion King, spawned a long-running Broadway show, as well as regional tours.
Beauty and the Beast is followed on Sept. 14 by Pixar’s 3D update of Finding Nemo, first released in 2003 and grossing $868 million to date worldwide.
Pixar’s Monsters, Inc in 3D will debut on Jan. 18, 2013, six months before prequel Monsters University on June 21. Monsters, Inc. originally hit theaters in 2001, earning an estimated $524.5 million globally.
The Little Mermaid in 3D goes out on Sept. 13, 2013. It first hit theaters in 1989, and has grossed $211.3 million worldwide. It also was adapted into a musical stage show.
“Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we’re fortunate to have a treasure trove of both,” Walt Disney Studios president Alan Bergman said.
No Lilo and Stitch re-release? Hmph. 🙁
I haven’t seen The Lion King in 3D (although I had heard from some that it was pretty good), but I am a bit cautious about seeing converted movies. The only exception I would make to that are the PIXAR films because they still have all of that raw source material in computer memory that converting those shouldn’t be too difficult, not to mention looking good as I’ve yet to see a bad 3D PIXAR film.