Disney Converting The Lion King To 3D; Roger Rabbit Sequel Update; The Snow Queen Shelved For Now
Disney is a studio that knows how to mine its back catalog; no other company has been as adept at re-releasing films to an eager audience. Looks like the latest to be mined will beThe Lion King, which the studio is working to convert to 3D. Along with news on that, we’ve got updates on theRoger Rabbitsequel and bad news aboutThe Snow Queen, theHans Christian Andersonadaptationonce thoughtto be an upcoming hand-drawn animated film.
Empiretalked to producerDon Hahnas he hit the UK to check out pre-production on Tim Burton’sFrankenweenieand promote theBeauty and the Beastblu-ray. The mag learned from Hahn that a 3D conversion ofThe Lion Kingis being prepped. The producer says,
He says that won’t be hitting theaters soon, as Disney will take their time getting the conversion right. He does report that Tim Burton thinks the 3D version ofThe Nightmare Before Christmasis better than the original “because it allows you to walk onto the set.”
More interesting to some will be Hahn’s statment, light on detail but long on confirmation, that thesequeltoWho Framed Roger Rabbit?is really going forward.
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.
Finally, Hahn dropped a bomb onThe Snow Queen— he says the film is shelved for now, because they haven’t been able to crack the script. That doesn’t mean the movie is dead. As he points out, films likeBeauty and the Beastwere in development for a long time before the script came together.
It’s actually been tabled right now…we don’t have the story. It’s a bit like Beauty And The Beast, which sat there for years…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.
There have already been several attempts over the past few years to makeThe Snow Queenwork, but apparently the latest ones have also come to naught. It isn’t difficult to guess that Hahn and Disney will try again to makeThe Snow Queen, but for now don’t expect to see it in the next couple years.
