'Mermaid,' 'Nemo' will soon swim into 3-D

Will "Little Mermaid" Ariel's tail thwack the screen? Can the cloud of bobbing jellyfish that sting "Finding Nemo's" Dory float out into the audience? Will the "Beast" as in "Beauty and the..." look even more terrifying in another dimension?

Come on, moviegoers ? once 1994's "The Lion King" roared its way past decades-newer films at the box office, we knew that Disney wasn't going to let that cash cow go unmilked.

The studio announced Tuesday that four more films will be reissued in movie theaters in 3-D. Kids and adults alike can look forward to seeing "Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid," "Finding Nemo" and "Monsters Inc."

"Lion King" has made more than $80 million since it was turned loose on theaters Sept. 16. Not bad for a film that's old enough to have graduated from high school.

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Slideshow: A mom's look at recent kid flicks (on this page)

"Beauty and the Beast" will start the parade on Jan. 13, 2012, when Belle and pals take their provincial life back into theaters. "Nemo" will swim after them on Sept. 14, with "Monsters Inc." coming on Jan. 18, 2013, and "Mermaid" diving in on Sept. 13, 2013.

And if the cash continues to flow in an extra dimension, your kids had better get used to the feel of those funny glasses, parents. Disney has a whole vault full of movies that could be jumping out at you soon.

As a parent of a preschooler, I'm of a mixed mind about this deal. My daughter loves these films and even though she's seen them umpteen times on DVD in her own home, would probably be thrilled to get a movie-theater outing, complete with pal and popcorn, to watch Ariel in giant-size.

The extra dimension, well, that's of less interest to her, and to me. A film that's not made for 3-D and gets translated into it later is never as engaging as those that are created for the extra dimension. Sure, they'll add in some cool splashy and floaty effects (the two water-set films should do especially well, which is no doubt part of why they were chosen). But my preschooler is no fan of keeping those glasses on for an hour and a half, and you know that the ticket price will be higher with the 3-D tagged on. To be honest, I wish they'd drop the money grab and just release the original films without the added dimension or need for glasses.

But given a choice between theaters offering no decent kid movies, a new flop like "Last Airbender" or "Mars Needs Moms," or one of these classics? Go ahead, HR. Just direct-deposit my paycheck into Disney's coffers, please.

What do you think about these animated classics coming to 3-D and the big screen? Will you take the little ones in your life? Or do you wish they'd drop the 3-D money grab and just release them in their original format? Discuss with us on Facebook.

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is TODAY.com's movies editor.

? 2011 MSNBC Interactive.? Reprints

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44776561/ns/today-entertainment/

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