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 be The Lion King, which the studio is working to convert to 3D. Along with news on that, we've got updates on the Roger Rabbit sequel and bad news about The Snow Queen, the Hans Christian Anderson adaptation once thought to be an upcoming hand-drawn animated film.

Empire talked to producer Don Hahn as he hit the UK to check out pre-production on Tim Burton's Frankenweenie and promote the Beauty and the Beast blu-ray. The mag learned from Hahn that a 3D conversion of The Lion King is being prepped. The producer says,

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 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 of The Nightmare Before Christmas is 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 the sequel to Who 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 on The 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 like Beauty and the Beast were 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 make The Snow Queen work, but apparently the latest ones have also come to naught. It isn't difficult to guess that Hahn and Disney will try again to make The Snow Queen, but for now don't expect to see it in the next couple years.