Disney found even more treasure in the 3D well this holiday three-day weekend with the long-delayed theatrical re-release of “Beauty and the Beast” in 3D.
Updated Monday, Jan. 16: The 21 year-old animated classic generated $23.5 million Friday – Monday Jan. 13-16, 97% of which came from 3D showings, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
That was good enough for second place on the weekend, a very impressive showing, especially since the Blu-ray 3D was already released more than three months ago on Oct. 4. And it bodes well for several more Disney and Pixar movies coming to theaters in 3D versions this year and next, as well as soon-to-be-released 3D versions of “Star Wars Episode 4: The Phantom Menace” and “Titanic.”

“Beauty and the Beast” is perhaps even more stunning in 3D than “The Lion King,” which surprised the industry with a whopping $94 mil. at theaters last fall initially intended as a brief run to promote the Blu-ray 3D debut.
The 1991 “Beauty,” which has grossed $350 million worldwide since then, was one of the first animated films to use some digital animation. That helped greatly in the 3D conversion. Among the most notable new attributes:

- Belle’s opening number walking across bridge and into village is filled with so many shots showcasing 3D that it looks to have been originally designed that way.
- Extravagant “Be Our Guest” number does not disappoint with obvious 3D benefits of dancing plates
- Signature “Beauty and the Beast” ballroom dance even begins with dazzling display 0f 3D from bottom and top of staircase.

Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which had an exclusive five-day window at IMAX theaters last month, picked up another $14.2 mil. this weekend, increasing total domestic box-office to close to $190 million, surpassing the original movie in the series.

Another 3D movie, “The Adventures of Tintin,” picked up another  $4.4 million, bring the domestic gross total-to-date to $68.9 million.

– By Scott Hettrick

Thankfully, two of the finest demonstrations of 3D this year come to theaters this Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 23, 2011) in “Arthur Christmas” and “Hugo”:

* “Arthur Christmas“ is easily the more broadly enjoyable of the two. It’s hard to imagine anyone not finding this clever twist on Santa Claus charming and delightful.
The computer-animated family film from British production company Aardman, traditionally known for stop-motion films such as “Wallace and Gromit” and “Chicken Run,” has delivered an unexpected holiday gift for Sony Pictures Animation.

The story follows three generations of the Claus family trying to come to grips with the transition of leadership to the next in succession. With the current Santa (Jim Broadbent) of retirement age and showing signs of slipping, the likely next-in-line is eldest son Steve (Hugh Laurie), who has been preparing for the day for years with his high-tech mechanization and military style management of the entire North Pole process, including a super-sonic sleigh. But the even older GrandSanta (Bill Nighy) favors the traditions of his day and the passion of his younger unassuming and nerd-ish grandson Arthur (James McAvoy).
It all leads to a slightly predictable but nonetheless amusing scenario in which young Arthur finds himself trying to save the day using his Grandsanta’s dilapidated sleigh led by the few surviving reindeer to reach the chimney of a young girl who was inadvertently bypassed by Steve’s digital distribution.

Director and co-writer Sarah Smith, with the assistance of Sony Pictures Imageworks, uses the 3D to good effect in almost every shot. While it seldom pushes off the screen very much, the depth and space between objects close and far is palpable throughout, especially in scenes depicting the factory command center full of tiered rows of elves, and the aerial shots from the perspective of the sleighs.

* “Hugo“ is full of heart and a loving tribute to one of the original pioneers of cinema, Georges Méliès of turn-of-the-century France. The film, set in a train station in 1930s Paris, takes awhile to build up a head of steam and feels more like a period European film for its long-ish running time of more than two hours.
But the sweetness and sentimentality of the story about an orphaned young boy trying to complete the dream of his father while secretly keeping the giant station clock tower properly wound up, is sincerely conveyed by director Martin Scorsese and the cast of Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, and Chloë Grace Moretz.

Even more impressive is Scorsese’s use of 3D, which greatly enhances the impact of the story, subliminally drawing the audience in visually, as it should. He also uses 3D to create more obvious dynamic effect, starting with the first scene in which the camera moves at a fast pace through the station, past the trains, and between the crowds to immediately establish the setting and the feeling of the hustle and bustle far more effectively than could be done in traditional 2D.
Likewise, 3D provides a far more dramatic visualization of the enormous vertical scale and scope of the station clock tower to initially enhance the sense of detachment of Hugo from the swarms below, and later to emphasize the scope of his view of the Paris skyline, and finally to create a heightened sense of fear and suspense during a chase to the top of the staircase.
Even Méliès’ iconic film “A Trip to the Moon” gets a tantalizing 3D makeover, as well as impressive colorization.

– By Scott Hettrick

“The Lion King” in 3D successfully and impressively completes the circle of cinematic life for the classic Disney film.
After a couple of DVD premiere sequels and a Broadway musical adaptation, the stunning new 3D version brings even more depth and emotional impact than ever to the 1994 original.

From the opening pre-title sequence soaring over the plains of Africa and running with the indigenous herds of animals, producer Don Hahn and stereoscopic supervisor Robert Neuman, the latter of whom did 3D so well on Disney’s “Tangled,” imbue the movie with a clear distinction of depth between the images in the foreground and those on multiple background planes without injecting any sense of gimmickry. The triumphant moment when Rafiki presents the young Simba up in the air atop Pride Rock is much more powerful; sequences amidst the bones in the animal graveyard and deep inside the dense overgrowth are far more intense.
The audience is drawn much closer during tender moments when young Simba curls up under the paw of his dead father and when Nala leans in to affectionately rub her head against Simba’s neck upon finding him alive. Simba’s reflection in the water feels tangible.

(l-r) Producer Don Hahn, stereographer Robert Neuman, directors Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers

An enthusiastic D23 Expo audience in Anaheim last night (Aug. 20) was treated to the first public screening of the new 3D edition of the 17-year-old movie that will have a limited theatrical run next month before being released on Blu-ray Oct. 2 along with a long-delayed 3D version of “Beauty and the Beast.” Hahn, Neuman, and directors Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers discussed the movie on stage Saturday night before the screening began.

About four-minutes of clips from the Blu-ray 3D version of “Lion King” and a teaser from “Beauty and the Beast” have been playing in the Exhibit Hall at D23 since Friday on Panasonic equipment. The home version and the big-screen version both look equally impressive.

Disney introduced the studio’s first attempt at converting movies to 3D – “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” –  at the first D23 Expo in 2009 with far less dynamic results.
Hakuna Matata – this time Disney got the 3D conversion right on “The Lion King.”

– By Scott Hettrick