Well, that didn’t take long. Hot on the heels of The Lion King’s huge box office success with its 3D re-release, Disney is moving forward with plans to shove more of its big catalogue titles back out on to screens. In the next couple of years, then, expect Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc, The Little Mermaid and** Beauty and the Beas****t** all to arrive with some 3D re-tooling.
The two Pixar pics are, like the first two Toy Story outings, obviously easier to convert since they already have plenty of 3D data available, what with being produced that way. But Beauty and the Beast also had some 3D elements involved in its creation (it was groundbreaking back in 1991) and will actually be first out of the gate in January 2012. Comic-Con attendees in 2009 already saw a few scenes from that effort.
Next up will be Finding Nemo in September 2012, followed by Monsters, Inc in January 2013 and finally The Little Mermaid in September of the same year. It’s no surprise to see Sulley and Mike returning the same year that their prequel, Monsters University, will also hit our screens (July 19, date fans.)
“Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we’re fortunate to have a treasure trove of both. We’re thrilled to give audiences of all ages the chance to experience these beloved tales in an exciting new way with 3-D – and in the case of younger generations, for the first time on the big screen,” said the Mouse House’s Alan Bergman in a statement.” Presumably without adding, “We’re hoping this will this will give us a fresh chance to swim in cash like Scrooge McDuck.”
One caution for UK readers: those dates are for the US, so we’d expect the movies a month or so later over here.