Leroy & Stitch

The final installment of the Lilo & Stitch franchise was released in the summer of 2006 as a Disney Channel and Toon Disney movie. Starring Chris Sanders, Daveigh Chase, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Kevin McDonald, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jeff Bennett, Tara Strong, Rob Paulsen, and Zoe Caldwell, Leroy & Stitch was nominated for the Golden Reel Award.

Lilo (Chase), Stitch (Sanders), Jumba (Stiers), and Pleakley (McDonald) are honored as heroes by the Galactic Alliance as their mission to capture and repurpose all 623 experiments. Jumba is given the key back to his lab, Pleakley is offered a post as Chairman of Earth Studies at Galactic Alliance Community College, Stitch is made Captain of the Galactic Armada, and Lilo is made ambassador to Earth However, Gantu (Richardson) has decided to break Dr. Hamsterviel (Bennett) out of prison and force Jumba to create an evil twin of Stitch named Leroy (Sanders). Who is then cloned.

This is one of those films that has a great idea on paper, but is terribly executed.

 For every Lilo & Stitch installment, it seems like references to Elvis keep getting greater and greater. For instance, Jumba played “Aloha Oe” while he activated Leroy. And guess what the key is to stopping the army of Leroys? That’s right, Stitch getting on stage and playing the song. Normally, it’d be a pretty good Chekhov’s Gun. But here, it really feels forced.

And speaking of forced, Lilo’s rival, Mertle, is picked up by a Leroy and she thinks she’s having a nightmare. But she’s quick to turn that around and realize it’s not and then makes peace with Lilo. This is also completely out of nowhere. Not once had Mertle expressed any softening of her hatred towards Lilo and all of a sudden, she’s being chummy. This is poor writing.

#99

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch

In 2005, the second Lilo & Stitch got its second direct-to-video sequel. Stitch Has a Glitch, which takes place before the events of the other additions to the franchise, started Kevin McDonald, David Ogden Stiers, Dakota Fanning, Tia Carrere, Chris Sanders, and Jason Scott Lee.

Lilo (Fanning) is trying to figure out a hula dance for her class’ May Day festival. But during her preparations, Stitch’s (Sanders) past comes back to haunt him and he goes berserk. Jumba (Stiers figures out that because his molecules didn’t get a chance to fully charge when he was created, that he will ultimately be destroyed.

Stitch Has a Glitch is kind of interesting in that it originally feels like Stitch is reverting to who he used to be before meeting Lilo. However, it’s an even better explanation in that his molecular structure is breaking down. This makes for a good story. However, how it’s resolved does not. Since it’s Disney, it’s basically the love conquers all format. We’ve come to expect it and it’s not inherently a bad thing. But here, it has not build up and comes completely out of nowhere.

Lilo’s obsession with Elvis also returns, but she seems to be even crazier about him than ever. In the first film, she was just a die hard fan. Here, she seems to worship him.

The film isn’t terrible, but when it forces the Disney method ending without any proper buildup and exaggerates the quality of a character that was simply a trait from before, it doesn’t make for that good of a film.

#67 

Stitch! The Movie

Late 2003 saw the direct-to-video spinoff of Lilo & Stitch. Starring Chris Sanders, Daveigh Chase, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Kevin McDonald, and Kevin Michael Richardson, Stitch! The Movie serves as more of a pilot for the spinoff series more than an actual sequel

The disgraced and forcibly-retired Gantu (Richardson) meets with the career criminal, Dr. Jaques von Hamsterville (Jeff Bennett). He’s not after Stitch, but Jumba (Stiers) and his 625 other experiments all in dehydrated pods. Jumba is soon kidnapped with one of the pods, starting a race between Gantu and Lilo (Chase) and Stitch to find the others.

This sequel feels very similar to Return of Jafar, mainly because it’s a pilot of sorts for the oncoming sequel. And not only does it have its individual story, but sets up the series quite well.

The animation is cartoonier than the first film, but that can be attributed to being from Disney’s secondary animation studio and having a different art director. However, it still works very well and doesn’t distract. Cobra Bubbles also has a different voice actor and it’s noticeably different, but he’s not in the movie for very long.

Having the story center on Stitch and his issues with wanting cousins rather than the story between Nani and Lilois great too. Mainly because the conflict within that story ended and it would be stupid to force a new one onto viewers. It’s also really nice to have something that doesn’t involve three episodes from a series that didn’t air. 

#47

Lilo & Stitch

Summer of 2002 finally saw a new original story from Disney. Lilo & Stitch became their 42^nd canonical animated feature Starring Chris Sanders, Daveigh Chase, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Kevin McDonald, Ving Rhames, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jason Scott Lee, and Zoe Cladwell, the film made almost $200 million. It also was nominated for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Spirited Away.

Sisters Nani (Carrere) and Lilo (Chase) have recently been orphaned because of a car accident, but neither completely understand each other and Lilo is often lost in her own world. Meanwhile, Dr. Jumba Jookiba (Steirs), a mad alien scientist, stands trial for having illegally created a new life form. His Experiment 626 escapes from the United Galactic Federation and finds himself on Earth.

Lilo thinks he’s a dog and adopts him, causing him to learn the meaning of family while Nani has to convince a social worker (Rhames) she can be a good guardian.

As weird as a concept this film is, it seems to really work. Disney finally created an understandable and relatable child character. She’s not annoying or whiny. She’s hyperactive, weird, and irrational, just like a little kid. And Nani isn’t a mean or spiteful, she’s trying to be the best guardian she can be. And the two realize that they’re really all they have. Then Stitch falls to Earth and sets in motion a chain reaction.

The backgrounds are all watercolor and are done really well, which helps immerse the viewer into the story, which is set in Hawaii. And that’s also interesting. The movie’s setting is in a state rarely touched on in films. There’s a few, but most films set in America go for the continental 48.

The parts with the aliens provide good comedic relief at times, but in other instances, they feel out of place. However, there is a throwaway line by Jumba midway through that’s surprisingly deep. When Stitch has nothing left to destroy, essentially voiding the necessity of existence, he wonders what it must feel like to not even have memories to visit in the middle of the night.

# 13