Don Hahn, producer of classics such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Beauty And The Beast has revealed to Empire that Disney favorite The Lion King will be returning to the big screen in 3D.
Hahn, who was also the producer for The Lion King, was recently in London to visit pre-production on Tim Burton’s next movie, Frankenweenie, set to shoot soon at Three Mill Studios. It was there that he spoke of the expected return of The Lion King:
“I’m actually trying to work out a 3D conversion of The Lion King. I’ll be doing that when I go back to the States in a couple of weeks,” he said, explaining that we shouldn’t expect to see it for a while yet, since the Disney boffins are taking their time in making Simba, Zazu et al pop out of the screen. “It’s going to be spectacular – we will do a good job for ya! The technology is tremendous. We did A Nightmare Before Christmas a few years ago and Tim thought it was better than the original because it allows you to walk onto the set.”
With Beauty and the Beast already being converted into 3D, along with every other movie that could possibly be squeezed of its last drops of monetary honey, it comes as no surprise that Disney would want to add The Lion King to the 3D bandwagon. Hopefully they can work some magic to create a more spectacular 3D out of this wonderful classic film, rather than just a weak holographic effect that adds nothing to the experience except an annoying pair of glasses on your face.
In related news, Hahn confirmed that the long-awaited sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit is still in the works: “Yeah, I couldn’t possibly comment. I deny completely, but yeah… if you’re a fan, pretty soon you’re going to be very, very, very happy.”
Sadly, Hahn also revealed that The Snow Queen, an adaptation of a classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that was rumoured to be Disney’s next hand-drawn animation won’t be developed in the foreseeable future:
“It’s actually been tabled right now,” explains Hahn. “It’s on the low shelf – we can’t reach it! But seriously, we don’t have the story. It’s a bit like Beauty And The Beast, which sat there for years. We cracked Beauty finally by putting in the objects and creating more plot. The Snow Queen we’ve had a lot of trouble with and I’ve spent years on it. I love it and I think it’s one of the last great fairy tales. It’s kind of crappy that it’s just sitting there right now.”
For now, the next Disney film to come out will be Tangled, the updated version of Rapunzel, which will hit cinemas this year on November 24.
What do you think of The Lion King returning to the cinemas in 3D?