In the early 1990s Disney taught us that dreams really do come true, beauty is on the inside and two words that can solve any problem: “Hakuna matata.”
Recently, these movies have been coming back to the big screen in 3D.
The trend started for Disney after the re-release of “The Lion King” brought in around $80 million.
After that unforeseen success, the company decided to release four more: “Beauty and the Beast “in January 2012, “Finding Nemo” in September 2012, “Monsters Inc.” in January 2013 and “The Little Mermaid” in September 2013.
The $80 million may not seem like much money in the movie world, especially in comparison to Pixar’s “Up” which brought in $730 million, it is quite a bit of dough for a product of minimal investment that most people have already seen.
“Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we’re fortunate to have a treasure trove of both,” said Alan Bergman, president of The Walt Disney Studios, in a press release in 2011. “We’re thrilled 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.”
Disney, however, is not the only franchise up for a little extra pocket change.
“Titanic” was recently released in 3D, and George Lucas mentioned an interest in releasing his Star Wars series in 3D.
As college students, these four years, maybe, are a hidden test to see how well we budget. Our parents probably wake up every morning and check our bank accounts to make sure we still have a positive number in there. These companies are trying to sway us into spending money on their old product by pulling on our heart strings and offering an up close and personal view of the majestic ballroom in Beauty in the Beast. While price ranges may vary throughout the nation, the additional cost of a 3D ticket does not.
At Waco’s Starplex Cinemas – Waco Galaxy, the price of a 3D movie ticket is $2.50 more than a regular one.
Paying more money for a ticket to watch a movie we have already seen is absurd.
We are spending money to support an industry that is putting out old material.
Furthermore, the magic of the Disney classics comes from the timeless style the pictures bring.
For example, compare the pictures in “Cinderella” and “Tangled.”
Rapunzel has a more modern flair to her appearance while Cinderella is more of a classic.
Going into the movie to bring depth to the left and right eye to change the movie from 2D to 3D actually changes the appearance of the movie.
While often change can be a good thing, with the classics — and the way we remember them — it’s not.
Plus, you have to wear the uncomfortable glasses, which are more inconvenient if you already wear glasses.
After spending an hour and a half in the special glasses that play tricks on your eyes, leaving the movie can cause many people to have headaches.
Who wants to pay more money for a headache?
One way to get the classics out to the new generation is to release the movie on DVD and Blu-ray, like Disney just did with “Cinderella.”
Many families just have the classics on VHS and those players are not common anymore.
This allows a more credible way to get extra money by offering a product whose format is out of style and hard to work with.
Plus, if companies want their classic features to get some attention, they can air them on television.
Disney and ABC are the same company, and more recently, Disney classics have aired on the ABC Family channel.
The 3D theater release is a sign that creativity is lacking, not only is Disney but the entertainment industry as well.
They are trapping us in our nostalgia to go into a dark theater with the tempting aroma of overpriced popcorn and wear ridiculous glasses for at least an hour and a half with things either popping out of the screen like an alien attack or barely any 3D effects at all.
Bottom line, the fact of the matter is, companies are not producing brand new content but are still receiving money.
And we, remembering our childhood, are suckered into spending the extra cash to go watch it.
