Disney bringing back 'Nemo,' 'Mermaid,' and more in 3D

Hot on the heels of a stellar box office run for The Lion King's re-release in 3D, Disney has announced its plans to do the exact same thing with Finding Nemo, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Monsters, Inc., releasing them over the next two years.

Rich Ross, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, says that:

Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we're fortunate to have a treasure trove of both. We are thrilled to be able to give audiences of all ages the chance to experience these beloved tales in an exciting new way with 3D - and in the case of younger generations, for the first time on the big screen.

Although you know how I feel about 3D, I'm very excited to see these four films in the theater once more. I saw Lion King twice and loved every single giant-screened, surround-sounded, vibrant-colored, popcorn-eating second of it.

But, then again, I saw the 2D version.

Regardless of your opinion on 3D, this is exciting news. It's apparent that Disney's chief goal here is to make money and not necessarily satisfy us diehard fans, but you can't rally blame them. After Simba roared in at $80 million almost two decades after he first bowed at the theater, you can't help but think about the potential there is in the re-release market.

Let the countdown to reliving the fond films of yesteryear begin!

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'Lion King' royally kicks box office's butt

The first of two weekends that The Lion King is seeing the big screen again, it made a killing at the box office. The most popular film of the weekend by far, it made almost $30 million at 2,330 theaters, beating out Contagion which didn't even make half that much.

This may seem surprising, until you realize that The Lion King is the highest-grossing hand-drawn animated film of all time, with a $600 million gross (after ticket inflation).

If you went and saw it this weekend, I commend you. If you didn't, go and see it. You only have one week left!

And, heck, if you already saw it, go ahead and see it again. You know you want to.

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Simba coming at you in Three Dimensions!

/Film and The Hollywood Reporter both report that The Lion King, one of the most beloved Disney films of all-time, will be re-released theatrically . . . in 3D. The rumor mill is a-buzzing that the re-release will be on September 6 of this year to prep the world for the 3D Blu-ray release of the film on October 4.

You can find the 3D Blu-ray trailer at Yahoo! here. The four-disc Diamond Edition can be pre-ordered from Amazon right here.

This is both wonderful and goosebump-enducing. I grew up loving The Lion King--it is one of the defining films of my childhood. For that reason, I am absolutely ecstatic that I am going to get to see "Hakuna Matata" performed on the big screen!

However, the fact that it is going to be in 3D is not only unfortunate, but stupid and lame. I mean, seriously, guys. It's a 2D film, and it should stay that way. When I read a Boston Globe article the other day discussing how 3D films were ruining 2D films due to the misuse of 3D lenses in theaters, I should have remembered that it could be a lot worse. They could turn 2D movies into 3D movies in the convoluted post-conversion process. To me, it doesn't even make sense. But all of my loyal readers out there will know where I stand in the whole "3D opinion spectrum."

Why can't they just re-release great films to theaters, untouched, so we can enjoy them? Why must they muss it all up with their multiple dimensions?

Developing . . .

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