While we’re still waiting for the long promised 3D version of Beauty and the Beast, it seems Disney aren’t waiting to see whether that’s a success before they start converting other hand-drawn films into three dimensions.
Empire recently spoke to producer Don Hahn, who’s worked on the likes of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, and he told them that Im actually trying to work out a 3D conversion of The Lion King. Ill be doing that when I go back to the States in a couple of weeks. Its 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.
The Lion King is still the highest grossing traditionally animated movie ever, so it’s little wonder Disney wants to try and make a little more cash out of it, although there are still concerns that turning hand-drawn animation three-dimensional is going to look odd, and will purely result in lots of flat characters on artificial depth planes. However we’ll have to wait for Beauty and the Beast to see whether that’s true.
And while Hahn could say much about many of the other projects he’s working on, he did mention about the mooted Who Framed Roger Rabbit sequel that Robert Zemeckis is working on, Yeah, I couldnt possibly comment. I deny completely, but yeah if youre a fan, pretty soon youre going to be very, very, very happy. We are fans, so we’re looking forward to being happy.
Finally, Hahn has long been involved with The Snow Queen, which has long been mooted as Disney’s next hand-drawn effort, however it seems that won’t happen. The producer says, Its actually been tabled right now. Its on the low shelf we cant reach it! But seriously, we dont have the story. Its 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 weve had a lot of trouble with and Ive spent years on it. I love it and I think its one of the last great fairy tales. Its kind of crappy that its just sitting there right now.