Stitch! The Movie

Before “Lilo & Stitch” was theatrically released, Disney was already working on both a sequel and a cartoon show. David Cornelius mentioned, “You’d think that was a sign of arrogance - after all, how could they be so sure the movie would be enough of a hit to warrant such follow-ups? But remember, this is Disney, the place where every movie, popular or otherwise, has been getting sequels, and most of the characters have been getting TV shows as well. It’s not arrogance as much as it is a case of ‘well, that’s what we always do’.”

The sequel is “Stitch! The Movie,” released in 2003, and it’s less worthy of a sequel than it is a cheap set-up for the cartoon show, a pilot episode said that it’s a direct-to-video sequel. Cornelius said, “The back-to-back production does allow for a few improvements over the usual Disney sequel problems; the animation is better than usual (not as rushed, not as cheap), the entire cast has returned (instead of the usual Disney studio regulars hired as replacements on such projects), and the picture feels livelier, less like a soulless, “mandatory” project.”

It is missing a large amount of the original movie’s heart, sadly. That was a cute story of eccentrics finding family, with lovable characters and a few memorable scenes. This one’s more of a sitcom, less charming, a little weak. The previous movie saw Disney trying something new when it comes to the animation style, storyline, and character. This one shows those new things being redone in a more traditional style.

The story of “Stitch! The Movie” (and, by evasion, the upcoming cartoon) is that mad scientist Jumba, reprised by David Ogden Stiers, has hid his previous 625 genetic experiments to Earth in “inactivated” mode. Looking like marbles, these experiments will come to full size once they are poured in water.

For “Stitch! The Movie,” Jumba is kidnapped by an old rival (Kevin Michael Richardson) who wants the experiments for himself, and Lilo (Daveigh Chase) and Stitch (Chris Sanders) decides the best way to save him is to activate one of the experiments. Things don’t go as planned, and soon a Gremlin-looking monster is going around Hawaii, getting fueled by all the electricity.

Experiment 625, voiced by Rob Paulsen, also gets activated, and we see that he’s just like Stitch, only yellow and lazy. Cornelius said, “Sounding like Gilbert Gottfried doing a Danny DeVito impression, 625 spends most of his time talking about bologna sandwiches. Kids may find this very funny. I didn’t. (More importantly, neither did my daughter.)”

What saves “Stitch! The Movie” is Kevin McDonald, reprising as the geekish alien Pleakly. McDonald is a natural for funny voice-over acting, and here he gets every laugh. (There’s a great part where Pleakly starts calling every planet alphabetically, starting with Planet Aaaaaaaa.)

However, these laughs don’t happen much enough, and while “Stitch! The Movie” will entertain the kids for an hour, it’s not memorable enough to make it something to buy. Cornelius said, “It’s better than “Cinderella II” and the like, but it still feels less like a film and more like a product.” Sure, you might want to see this to get prepared for the cartoon series, but if the cartoon series was anything like this movie, why bother?

I never saw the cartoon series, but I think it was short-lived. I can’t say if the cartoon series was any good, but if it was, great. However, if it wasn’t all that memorable, than that’s fine. The same could be said for the “Hercules” animated series, which was on Disney for the first season and the second was in syndication. This one you could just pass, but it’s not anything horrible. I would just say that for a TV pilot, it’s ok.

There are two more sequels to “Lilo & Stitch,” but I will be looking at those in a couple of days. Tomorrow I will be looking at the second sequel in “The Lion King” series. Stay tuned for that, because that’s going to be a good entry in “Disney Sequel Month.”