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"Grease" has greased the way for a new sing-along rerelease from Disney, this time involving its animated musical feature "Beauty and the Beast."

The Burbank studio rang up more than $305,000 from a couple dozen "Grease Sing-a-long" runs in July and August. National CineMedia's Fathom alternative-programming unit is a partner in the latest plans, which will see an HD 2D restoration of "Beauty" unspool [sic] in sing-along form in a limited number of theaters Sept. 29 and Oct. 2.

Disney is expected to rerelease "Beauty" in 3D in 2012 after postponing the 3D rerelease from a previous 2011 slot.

The theatrical sing-alongs are products of the studio's home entertainment division. As with the earlier project, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will rerelease the sing-along "Beauty" once it has completed its brief theatrical excursion.

"This is a very exciting release for the company as one of America's most cherished animated musicals is diligently restored and rereleased to all new heights in high definition," WDSHE executive vp Lori MacPherson said.

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The good news is that it's in 2D. The bad news is that it's that digital HD Fathom crap instead of 35mm. Last I heard, that stuff was pretty much unwatchable. Anyone know if that still holds true?
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-17-2010, 12:56 AM:
 
We had a sing-a-long of Mama Mia. The regular movie did really well while probably less than 20 people came to the sing-a-long version for its entire duration at the theater.
 

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Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 09-17-2010, 02:37 AM:
 
We are getting the program on a hard drive, which is to be ingested in our Doremi server, to be played through our series 2 Barco.
 

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Posted by Peter Castle (Member # 1997) on 09-17-2010, 06:26 AM:
 
"Beauty and the Beast" is showing in 3D in Sydney, Australia at the moment only at Hoyts cinemas. So what's going on here?
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-17-2010, 10:48 AM:
 
I hate singalong movies for the same reason I hate karaoke. Most people are not good singers. Why would I want to go see one of my favorite movies with the risk that some out-of-tune bimbo behind me would be wailing along with the songs?
 

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Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 09-17-2010, 09:00 PM:
 
Because it's on the Big Screen!

I would definitely prefer that it wasn't a sing-a-long. Maybe if I go, I'll SHUSH anyone who doesn't sit there quietly during the movie.


 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-17-2010, 11:18 PM:
 
You'll still see giant texts flashed on the screen, which would be annoying with an annoying bouncing ball or flashing words.

It would be fun to go and then keep coming out and complaining to management that other members of the audience simply won't keep quiet.

Geoff Jones, you didn't happen to see Get Low recently, did you?
 

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Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 09-17-2010, 11:45 PM:
 
Nope. Should I?
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-17-2010, 11:51 PM:
 
Up to you. I just saw someone in the audience last Friday sitting as close to the screen as possible on the first show of the day even though there were only like 30 other people in the auditorium. I figured it had to be you or perhaps someone else. Either way, I was right.
 

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Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 09-17-2010, 11:54 PM:
 
lol
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 09-18-2010, 12:45 AM:
 
Oh, Jeez! Not Sing-Alongs again!

We played Sing-Along A Sound of Music, years ago.
Strangely enough, we packed them in for two shows. When it's a whole auditorium full of people singing, it doesn't sound terrible. All the voices just average out.

But it was like a weird version of Rocky Horror Picutre Show.
(As if RHPS isn't weird enough! )

The only thing that I thought was funny was when the Nazis were looking for the VonTrappes in the graveyard, shining their flashlights around. All the ushers shined their lights all around the auditorium.

The Sound of Music is good enough on its own. The sing along version just ruins it.
 

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Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 09-18-2010, 10:46 AM:
 
Time to re-release THE GREAT RACE with Natalie Wood's song:

Bouncing Ball: The Sweetheart Tree

Classic Bouncing Ball animation:

BB: It Ain't Gonna Rain No More
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-18-2010, 02:57 PM:
 
What kind of wood doesn't float?

Natalie Wood.
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 09-19-2010, 03:58 AM:
 
Any movie musical can be turned into a sing along and it doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg waiting for the studio to do it. All you need is a video projector, a computer, Powerpoint and someone who knows the songs well enuf that they can cue each line as the songs play. We did it to PURPLE RAIN and it was a huge success (about 5000 people). We ran the film and projected the lyrics underneath the picture, not in it. We used 1.66 lenses but with 1.85 plates, raised the image so that the black was at the bottom of the screen; we projected the video text in the black. This way it wasn't interfering with the film image and even more importantly, it didn't have to compete with the brighness of the film and get washed out in light scenes.

If I had my druthers -- not that I know what druthers are, but if I had them -- I certainly wouldn't have wasted all that effort on PURPLE RAIN, but then that's me -- those 5000 people who were dancing in the isles and on the grass and all the way back to the road certainly enjoyed it. What anyone sees in that squeeky little freak who can't decide what his name is, is beyond me.

BTW, we also did it two years before with THE SOUND OF MUSIC, but we hadn't gotten that sophistocated yet with projecting the text -- we just handed out the lyrics printed in extra large font size and had three volunteer singers who had very good voices up front on a mic leading the audience. Worked out fine. We got about 2000 for that show.

Trick is, not to run it as an normal engagement but do heavy promotion and treat it as an "event" and then you pull in your audience to only one or two shows, assuming you have a decent size theatre (or in our case, a park -- cap about 7000).
 

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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 09-19-2010, 05:00 AM:
 

quote: Joe Redifer

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What kind of wood doesn't float?

Natalie Wood.

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Posted by Manny Montes (Member # 5639) on 09-20-2010, 05:23 AM:
 
I think i'm going to check this out, have to enlist some friends to come with though, I rather not be portrayed as the creepy guy in a kids sing along. Beauty and The Beast does have to be my second favorite disney film (second to aladdin), and I'd like to see it on the "big screen"
 

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Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 10-02-2010, 03:36 PM:
 
Saw this today with my two girls (6 1/2 and just shy of 3) at the AMC Westminster Promenade 24. We had fun.

It was watchable. You could see a bit of pixelation if you really looked for it, but (knowing it was digital) we sat farther back than normal and it wasn't distracting. The worst thing was a sort of "swimming" whenever large blocks of the same color moved around. I wasn't sure if that was some sort of digital artifact, or just a crappy screen surface.

The sound was underwhelming. Since there were people singing in the audience, it should have been really booming.

The on-screen lyrics weren't too distracting... and I actually got a kick out of one line I had never notice before "Here we come, we're fifty strong, And fifty Frenchmen can't be wrong!"

The singing wasn't really distracting - most people who sang were pretty quiet about it. There were a couple of mentally handicapped kids in the audience adding their own loud commentary, but that's kinda hard to complain about... and they weren't too bad.

The pre-show videos were specially made - Disney Trivia and promos for upcoming home video releases, all set to classical music from Fantasia. I found this much more palatable than the normal pre-show crap (largely because there was no dialog).

All in all, not as good as a good 35mm show, but not terrible either. I guess that's the best you can hope for these days.
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-02-2010, 03:54 PM:
 
The real movie is coming to Blu-ray on Tuesday.
 

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Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 10-02-2010, 04:12 PM:
 
Yeah, I'm just trying to recapture the big moviegoing experience that I loved so much growing up.

They're doing the same thing again for Back to the Future on October 23rd and 25th. (not a sing-a-long obviously, but Fathom's digital projection). I'm trying to decide if it's worth it.
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-02-2010, 07:02 PM:
 
Certainly not at the AMC Westminister Promenade 24.
 

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