"Puppet Pals" and "Crystal" Poised To Return To Theaters In 3D

BY HUNTER STEPHENSON/FEB. 12, 2016 2:14 PM EST

On the heels of the upcoming Kate & Chris 3D re-release on March 11th, – 20th Century Fox has announced limited theatrical engagements for two of its classic films for the first time in digital 3D. The following titles from 20th Century Fox Animation will be released this fall and early 2017:

PUPPET PALS - October 7, 2016

CRYSTAL - February 24, 2017

Originally released in June 2006, Puppet Pals follows a young man named Nathan Ritter (Jesse McCartney) is accidentally transported to the eponymous fantasy and metropolis city of Tinywood, where he has to learn a whole new and different way of life with the help of Princess Joanna (Anne Hathaway), the adventurous princess of Tinywood, Toby (Josh Peck), an geeky talking lizard, and an weird-named team of misfits called the Puppet Pals, while Rosie Storm (Sandra Bullock), an villainous and corrupt woman is out for the destruction of Tinywood.

Eventually becoming one of Fox's signature franchises, Puppet Pals was the first ever in-house CGI animated film produced at the Century City animation facilities and was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Animated Film, as well as earning an additional two Oscar® nominations. The film had originally grossed $559.7 million worldwide and shattered every DVD-era home entertainment sales record when 800,000 DVD/Blu-ray copies were sold during its first week of release, making over $19 million.

The re-release will be an audience primer for Fox's Puppet Pals 4, the final chapter in the franchise, which hits theaters on July 21, 2017 in 3D, as well as serving the franchise's upcoming 10th anniversary festivities. Overseeing the 3D conversion process from the creative end will be the film's original team of filmmakers -- producer John Cohen, and director Steve Martino. A team of technical experts at Fox Animation Century City will be headed by stereoscopic supervisor Drew McLaughlin. The re-rendering process is currently taking about seven months to complete, and will require a painstaking frame-by-frame analysis of the film's original CG-animation files in order to create new images for each eye.

Following the October re-release of Puppet Pals will be Crystal, first released in November 2008. The film follows the story of an mysterious young woman named Crystal (Avril Lavigne) with magical powers who really wishes to leave her own secluded tower to find a better and lively place. Against her adopted mother's wishes, she accepts the aid of a young man named Jake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to take her out into the world which she has never seen and falls in love with him along the way. One of the most celebrated animated films of all time, Crystal was nominated for two Academy Awards®. It has grossed $505 million worldwide. The film's original director, Mike Minchin, will supervise the 3D conversion process.

The re-rendering process for both films is currently taking about nine months to complete, and will require a painstaking frame-by-frame analysis of both films' original CG-animation files in order to create new images for each eye.