Kevin Carr started his review out by saying, “When it comes to “Lilo & Stitch,” I have to admit that I’m a bit biased. I really think the characters are cute. It’s one of the most clever, original and warm Disney films in the past decade. I loved the original movie, including its style and animation.”
Carr goes on to say, “Even the television show is fun to watch. Normally, these Disney-films-turned-television-shows are an excuse for substandard animation and weak stories. And while the “Lilo & Stitch” television show isn’t as slick as the feature, it’s still a great little show.”
Now comes the 2005 sequel, “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch.” Now you might be wondering why this has a “2” in the title when technically “Stitch: The Movie” was the second in the series? Here’s the reason: this movie takes place before “Stitch! The Movie” and the cartoon show.
In this film, Stitch (Chris Sanders) is starting to act strange around Lilo (Dakota Fanning) and Nani (Tia Carrere). At first, Lilo insists that his goodness level is still high. However, when Stitch bugs out and starts creating issues, he’s sure his badness level is rising. With the help of Jumba, voiced by David Ogden Stiers, they find out that his molecules are losing energy because he was never fully charged at all. (Carr says, “I know this is kinda weak, but work with me here. It’s a kid’s show.”)
Even though Lilo is having problems living up to her mother’s skill at hula, Stitch is slowing losing his mind. Jumba is hysterically trying to find some way to recharge Stitch while Pleakley (Kevin McDonald) is desperately trying to help David (Jason Scott Lee) form his relationship with Nani.
The story is kind of fragile, but the real charm of “Lilo & Stitch” is the characters and their interactions. By having it take place in Hawaii, there’s a number of great scenery and chances for Lilo to go on about Elvis. The best parts of this film are when Lilo and Stitch are together.
As I stated before, Disney got the great child actress Dakota Fanning to voice Lilo. Carr admitted, “While I’m a huge fan of this little girl, she is a bit wasted in this role. I don’t see much of a difference between this Lilo and the Lilo in past shows. She does a great job with the role, however, and offers the same energy and fun I’ve grown accustomed to with Lilo.”
It’s nice to see one of the Disney animated franchises keep its spirit with every sequel and television show. There’s no insane hamster in this movie, but hold on tight. He appeared in the next sequel: “Leroy & Stitch,” which came out in 2006.
You want to know how that one is. Well, here are my thoughts:
“Leroy & Stitch” is the third sequel to the classic “Lilo & Stitch” within a short four years, taking place after “Lilo & Stitch 2” and “Stitch! The Movie” (there was also a cartoon show and a DVD Game). As you might have thought, the film has basically been targeted mainly to the fans of the show – though the surprisingly impressive animation and addition of random parts of humor basically makes sure that the movie never really becomes a complete bore. The film takes place around the efforts of Lilo (reprised by Daveigh Chase) and her three alien friends (Stitch, Pleakley and Dr. Jumba) to stop the evil Dr. Hamsterviel, voiced by Jeff Bennett, who – with his creation of an evil Stitch clone (also Chris Sanders) – has plans on, you guessed it, universal control. If that’s not all, “Leroy & Stitch” never really feels like the unnecessary sequel that one now categorizes with the Disney studio. David Nusair stated in his review, “There's a continuing storyline at work here, and it's clear that viewers who've been with the series since the very beginning will get a whole lot more out of the movie than neophytes.” With that mentioned, it seems really obvious that – when looking at animated classics like “The Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast” – these films are mainly meant to satisfy only the younger children (who will obviously have fun with Stitch’s wide-ranging incidents). Thankfully, the movie’s end looks like it will not have any other sequels that are planned – a sigh of relief, that’s for sure.
I do say that you should watch “Lilo & Stitch 2,” but I would say not to bother with “Leroy and Stitch.” I guess the reason why I didn’t really get into this one is probably because I never saw the animated series, so that’s why I wasn’t fond of it. However, with that said, this concludes my reviews on the “Lilo & Stitch” franchise.
Check in tomorrow when I talk about another sequel that I found entertaining, but people hated. Entertainment is essential to these movies in “Disney Sequel Month.”
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