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

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

Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World

In 1998, Disney furthered Pocahontas’ story with a direct-to-video sequel. Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World features most of the original voice cast, with Billy Zane, Brad Garrett, Jean Stapleton and Finola Hughes providing new voices and Donal Gibson replacing his older brother as the voice of John Smith. It was met with largely negative reviews.

The film deals with Pocahontas’ journey to England with John Rolfe to negotiate peace between the Native Americans and the English. However, Ratcliffe is still up to his scheming ways and has King James in his pocket.

A great way to describe this film is mediocre. It’s got average story, average art, average characters, average voice acting, and average music. Everything about it just completely ok.

Jamestown is now a proper settlement, but it seems the lessons of the first film have been completely forgotten by both sides. It makes sense on the part of the settlers, mainly because there’s a bunch of new people who most likely weren’t told of what happened. But for the Native
Americans, Powhatan seems to have a horrible memory.

The irony of the “new world” being flipped to mean London for Pocahontas is interesting, the fish-out-of-water story is could have been much better. Granted, seeing her explore London through song, her not understanding Victorian dress and committing numerous faux-pas at a party is interesting. The culture shock could have been much better. However, her character not being derailed is good, especially when it came to the bear baiting.

Also, it was painfully obvious that John Smith was never really dead, especially since Ratcliffe tried to kill him at the beginning of the movie. But when he shows back up, while he’s under a cloak, his face is still a visible, just darker. Also, how did news of his “death” beat Rolfe’s voyage?

Despite all that, this wasn’t terrible. In fact, it looks to be better than most of Disney’s direct to video sequels.

#37

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas

Disney’s 1997 Christmas video release was a direct to video midquel to Beauty and the Beast. Starring most of the main voice actors from the original film, plus Paul Reubens, Bernadette Peters, Tim Curry and Haley Joel Osment, The Enchanted Christmas has not been very well received.

Set around the Christmas season in the middle of the events of the first film, Belle (Paige O’Hara) wants to celebrate Christmas. But the Beast (Robbie Benson) won’t allow it as Christmas was when he was transformed. Forte (Curry), an organ, and his music have been the only thing keeping the Beast happy. He wants to remain under the curse as he didn’t have any significance in the castle before then. He uses his lackey, Fife (Reubens) to break Belle and the Beast apart.

The only good thing this film has going for it is Tim Curry. Because no matter what crappy film that man is in (like Ferngully), he’s always able to provide an enjoyable performance.

It’s a shame Disney thought the story of Beauty and the Beast needed to be continued in some manner. Because here, we have things that didn’t need to be seen, old characters who get derailed, and new characters that are, mostly, unlikeable with a plot forced into the events of the first film with all the gentleness of a speeding locomotive.

Bear in mind, this takes place between Belle running away and getting attacked by wolves and Beast giving her the library.

For one, as said above, Beast hates Christmas because it was the night the enchantress transformed him. The first film showed this via stained glass window. This film outright gives it a fully animated sequence, thus ruining the beauty and charm of the original telling.

Then there’s our old characters. In the first film, Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts had an idea of social norms and that falling in love takes time. Here, they want to rush everything without any care of how social graces work. And Belle changes from someone who acts like her life completely changed (BECAUSE IT DID!!!) to happily loving her life and joyously giving Beast lessons on ice skating.

And then we have the new characters. Bernadette Peters as the castle decorator got turned into a Christmas angel. She got locked into a tower with all the other servants turned Christmas ornaments and pretty much spends the film telling Belle how celebrating Christmas would be a bad idea, but helps her anyway. We also have a Jewish axe that spends the majority of his time in the film kvetching with Jewish humor. But it’s not funny.

The kicker is, I hear this is the better than the other Beauty and the Beast sequels.

#52

Pocahontas

1995 saw the first animated Disney film to be based on a real character from history. Telling the story of the Native American woman of the same name, Pocahontas was released June 16. Starring Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson, Billy Connolly, Christian Bale, David Ogden Stiers, and Linda Hunt, the film earned over $300 million worldwide. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song (Colors of the Wind) and Best Original Score, it also won four Annie Awards, an Artios Award, an ASCAP Award, a Film Music Awards, an Environmental Media Award, a Golden Globe, a Golden Reel and a Grammy. The Soundtrack also went Platinum six times. And, like most Disney Renaissance films, this got a direct to vide sequel.

The rebellious princess, Pocahontas (Bedard/Judy Kuhn), has been promised to the best warrior of the tribe by her father, Chief Powhatan (Russell Means). But she senses her life has greater purpose. When English settlers arrive to form Jamestown, she meets the idealistic John Smith (Gibson), who is interested in adventure and the beauty of the land. But the Governor Ratcliffe (Stiers) has the other settlers dig up the land in search of gold.

The Native Americans fear the English, who regard themselves as superior. A rendezvous between them leads to the death of her betrothed and John Smith is sentenced to die, which Ratcliffe uses as the perfect excuse to exterminate the natives.

Pocahontas doesn’t go through any development in the film. That’s because she’s the catalyst for the development of everybody else. Her involvement caused John Smith to go from understanding cultural differences (through the power of song no less), her people to not fear the colonists and the colonists to realize the only reason the natives didn’t like them is because of what they were doing. But the way the development happens is intriguing. Smith is convinced and does his best to get the other colonists to understand as well. But when they almost do, Ratcliffe convinces them Smith is being lied to. And Powhatan, understandably, is too preoccupied to listen to her. The standoff at the end shows that neither side really wants to do battle. They just believe they have to. Actually, the only one that really wants bloodshed is Ratcliffe.

He’s a good villain. Like many of the others, he wants fame, fortune, and glory. But he is willing to commit genocide to do it. Actually, he isn’t the one willing. He wants to be the instigator, sit back, let everyone else kill each other and reap the rewards. Plus, his lust for power is so strong, he convinces himself that if anyone says different than what he’s after, he must have been lied to. Ratcliff is the worst type of person. A bureaucrat. He’s also got a great foil by the way of Wiggins (also voiced by Stiers). Wiggins actually understands why the natives don’t like them, and tries to be a voice of reason to Ratcliffe, but is constantly ignored.

The music here is also some of the best from the Renaissance, though it’s a shame the ACLU or some such organization made them change one of the lyrics to what is now a completely forced rhyme. (“Their whole disgusting race is like a curse” to “this is what you get when races are diverse”) The soundtrack actually went platinum six times.

On the other hand, this film is rife with historical inaccuracies.

Pocahontas was a nickname, meaning “the naughty one.” Her real name was Matoaka. In reality, she was 10 or 11 when the Virginia Company arrived. She also wasn’t Powhatan’s only child. John Smith was not well-liked by his fellow colonists and the two never had a romantic relationship. After she was captured by the colonists she converted to Christianity and married John Rolfe. Also, while he was captain of The Discovery, Ratclife was not the first governor of Jamestown. He also wasn’t chained up and taken back to England. He was tied to a tree and skinned alive.

But then again, this story features a sentient weeping willow and a compass that points to one’s destiny. I shouldn’t really be upset about historical inaccuracies in a movie where the target audience is children. #16

Beauty and the Beast

I like 1991. Mainly because it was the year I was born, but other than that, a lot of great stuff happened. The Soviet Union fell, Comedy Central was launched, the first Starbucks opened in California, and Beauty and the Beast was released to theaters. Starring Paige O’Hara, Richard White, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, and Robby Benson, it made $399 million at the box office. It was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture, had three songs nominated for Best Original Song (“Beauty and the Beast” won) and won the award for Best Original Score. It also won three Grammys and two Golden Globes and The American Film Institute recognizes it as its #22 Greatest Musical, #7 animated film, #62 Greatest Song (“Beauty and the Beast”) , #34 Greatest Passions, and nominated Belle as one of their 100 Years… 100 Heroes and Villains. Eventually, it became a musical and was featured in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

When Belle’s (O'Hara)  father doesn't return from his trip to a fair, she searches for him and finds a caste hidden in a forest. She finds her father in the dungeon and offers herself in his place. The Beast (Benson) that imprisoned him accepts.

However, he is actually a cursed human prince who hopes her love will break the enchantment on him and his servants (Stiers, Lansbury, and Jerry Orbach) . With time limited to a wilting rose, the prince must tame his temper and she must learn to see his goodness.

But the vain Gaston (White) sees Belle as his and vows to marry her.

Remember when I said the Big Ben scene in The Great Mouse Detective was the definitive use of CGI in the 1980s? Well, this film could possibly the greatest use of it in animation in the early 90s. And whenever it’s used, it looks spectacular. The “Beauty and the Beast” number would not have been nearly as good without it. Which leads me to say that this film’s production value is nothing short of amazing.

But we can’t stop there! Disney subverted “love at first sight again!” And this time, not only is it central to the story (unlike The Aristocats), but it’s actually pulled off very well, tying it into character development and a well-placed song. He went from unpleasantly mean, angry and abrasive to gentle, kind and loving and she went from being afraid of him to seeing him for who he truly is. And that’s what’s interesting. Beast wasn’t angry and abrasive because he wanted to be, it was because he hated himself. And since Belle was the first one to get past that exterior, he was able to get over himself.

Beast is also a great foil for Gaston. He starts off absolutely loving himself as God’s gift to women. And for some reason, the entire town seems to love him. He was a vain jerk that thought that since he was attracted to Belle, she should drop everything and marry him. But when it becomes clear that he’s not getting what he wants for the first time, he devolves into a complete psychopath and leads on of Disney’s greatest third acts.

And then there’s the music. I’ve mentioned two songs already and the fact that three of them were nominated for an Oscar. That’s because they’re all great songs. Except for one. See, I watched the Special Edition. And got “Human Again.” They were right to cut it out of the theatrical release as it just stops the movie dead cold for the song before picking it up again.

But if the only problem with a film is that a previously cut song is out of place, then it’s a pretty strong movie that got robbed by Silence of the Lambs. #2.