Stitch! The Movie

The first Lilo and Stitch movie was amusing and entertaining and held my 2 year old's interest easily with the Elvis songs running throughout. Ten minutes into this one, however, and my son left the room. It was clearly not meant to be a stand alone movie as the first and fell into the trap as so many movies do today: strictly to set up the sequel. In this case, its the setup for their Saturday cartoon series. Not impressed at all. I agree that this could have been used as part of the actual series and not pushed as a true movie. No wonder I look forward more to Pixar's productions than Disney's nowadays.

A few steps down from the original, 'Stitch! The Movie' is too short to enjoy.

At just 60 minutes it doesn't do enough, so everything it shows simply falls flat. Less heart, not as funny and nowhere near as interesting. It's obvious, especially with the ending, that this only exists to kick off the television series; as opposed to building on the 2002 film.

The cast pleasingly remains the same but their performances aren't as memorable as before. Most of the characters are shoehorned in, especially Bubbles (Ving Rhames) and Capt. Gantu (Kevin Michael Richardson). Jeff Bennett comes in to voice Dr. Hämsterviel, a new character, who is alright.

Forgettable in every way unfortunately. Still one of the better Disney animated sequels, mind.

First a couple of things: 1. Despite what the box says the movie is only one hour long, a scant number of seconds over 60 minutes.

2. Only two of experiments actually show up prior to the last two minutes of the movie.

3. This is a rip off if you BUY the film since its nothing more than what should have been the pilot for the show. This should have been shown on TV as part of the show and not as a "movie".

That said its not bad.

Its a "movie" that does not work as a whole but in moments and in throw away lines and actions. It also had a great villain in what is the French Taunter from Holy Grail in hamster form.

The plot, which is more like a hope than a real plot has Gantu being hired by the hamster to get the previous experiments and what happens as a result. There's a bit more to it then that but since its not much more I feel I have to leave something for you to find out on your own.

As I said this is a movie of moments which is what you'll take away from this attack on your wallet by Disney. The moments, and there are many, will have you smiling, or laughing at there cleverness, a cleverness who's level is so high you'll wonder what the hell happened to the rest of the movie...

Is this worth seeing? Yes, but rent it or borrow it, do not buy this.

Will I see it again? On cable or TV.

Frankly this is one of those things that should have worked but doesn't. Its annoying since its as if they had ideas but no idea how to string them into a viable plot...(then again its TV episodes) Allowing that the animation is by turns good, garbage or passable, one wonders if they had three levels of animators working on this each doing a different shot in turn.

This is, on the whole, nowhere near as good as the real movie, who's ending it wipes away completely with talk that the sister and her boyfriend haven't dated, or that some of the events alluded to couldn't have happened in the stills simply because there are now the new creatures. Its as if a few weeks have passed since the end of the theatrical movie, not the year or so that is implied by the end stills.

In pieces and on a level for unstained silliness this is the equal of the first film, but only in the quick moments that never gel.

(This is not a ringing endorsement of the movie only that it should be seen in what ever way puts as little money in the coffers of the Disney company) and

I've never been too impressed with the Disney video sequels. And while "Stitch, the Movie" isn't as good as the original, it's still very good. Also, it sets up the Lilo and Stitch TV series which is even better than the movie! Both "Stitch" and the TV series share the same duel level of humor that make it attractive to both kids and adults. You will see the references and homages to works like Monty Python and other classic humor sources. I haven't enjoyed a cartoon like this since Animaniacs, and it's no wonder since some of the same voices (and maybe writers) are used.

I've seen some negative references in reviews made to Pokemon. Well, that's only a tangental similarity in my opinion. The only negative opinions that I agree with are that Nani has turned into the stereotypical adult figure in kid's shows that doesn't believe the kid until it's too late. On the plus side, the characters of Pleakley, Jumba, Gantu and the new Hamsterviel are much improved.

So, watch the movie, and then watch the TV show!

While Lilo & Stich is an endearing saga, the Stich: the Movie isn't. Almost all the bits of the original is back, but it is so much flatter, so much less artistic, so much less well-paced.

My wife, who loved L & S, fell asleep while watching it and for anyone that has not seen the first L & S-film it must be utterly incomprehensible.

And even the animation feels rougher, and it sure lacks the deep feelings and suspense of the original, in short a typical low-budget follow-up, that supposedly links the real film with the TV-series (which I have not seen).