娱乐英语新闻:Disney to re-release "Beauty and the Beast," "Nemo," "Monsters," "Little Mermaid" in

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Buoyed by the unexpected box office success of "The Lion King 3-D," the Walt Disney Studios announced on Tuesday that it will follow the suit by re-releasing more iconic animated films including "Beauty and the Beast," "Nemo, " "Monsters" and "Little Mermaid" in 3-D over the next two years.

This is the first time the four classical cartoons would hit the screen in the extra dimension, but the move is widely expected. "The Lion King 3-D," a classic which made its debut in 1994 and has been in showing for three weekends since it was re-release on Sept. 16, is approaching an additional 100 million U.S. dollars at the North America market.

"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. "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."

According to the studios, the four flicks will be shown in limited theatrical releases, with "Beauty and the Beast" and " Finding Nemo" hit screen on Jan. 13 and Sept. 14, 2012, respectively. They will be followed by the releases of "Monster, Inc." (Jan. 18, 2013) and "The Little Mermaid" (Sept. 13, 2013.)