With its successful re-release of The Lion King in the three dimensional (3D) format (it’s near the $80 million mark in U.S. box office receipts, according to the Walt Disney Studios), Disney announced today that the Burbank, Calif.-based company will release limited theatrical engagements for four of its classic films for the first time in 3D.
In a press statement, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios said they will distribute Beauty and the Beast (January 13, 2012), Finding Nemo (September 14, 2012), Monsters, Inc. (January 18, 2013) and my personal favorite Disney picture, The Little Mermaid (September 13, 2013). “Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we’re fortunate to have a treasure trove of both,” said Disney Studios President Alan Bergman.
Beauty and the Beast (1991), the first animated film nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Picture, earning $380 million in international box office, follows the adventures of Belle, a bright young woman held against her will by a village monster. Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo, a father-son story of a lost fish, was the second highest-grossing film of 2003, and Monsters, Inc. (2001) featured a scary monsters in the closet tale involving a little girl meeting good and and bad monsters in a factory in Monstropolis. It grossed $527 million worldwide. The Little Mermaid is the story of a rebellious mermaid who worships man and wants to become a human in defiance of her harsh, insensitive father. The 1989 motion picture was a box office smash and restored the studio to its original animation arts glory. The Walt Disney Studios is owned by The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), which also controls Marvel Studios.