| 
Technical Information
Studio: Buena
Vista Home Entertainment
Year of Theatrical Release: n/a
Disc Format: 1
single-sided, Dual Layer
Image Format: Anamorphic
Widescreen
Aspect Ratio: 1:66:1
Region
Encoding: 1
Sound Format: Dolby
Digital 5.1, DTS
Running Time:
64 minutes
Director: Tony
Craig, Robert Gannaway
Stars: Jeff
Bennett, Zoe Caldwell, Tia Carrere, Daveigh Chase, Kevin McDonald,
Ving Rhames, Chris Sanders, David Ogden Stiers
MPAA Rating: G
Disc
Supplements:
- Trivia Challenge
- Experiment Finder
- Experiment Gallery
- Aloha, E Komo Mai music video
|
| |
|
Somehow I am always a little bit disappointed
by the direct-to-DVD and Video releases from Disney, and in
this case I am more disappointed than usual. Stitch! The Movie
is less of a movie and more of the series premiere of the Stitch
cartoon that will be starting this fall on the Disney Channel.
Now, I’m not saying it wasn’t cute and entertaining
and the kids certainly enjoyed it, but it really isn’t
a movie in the sense that it is not anywhere near a complete
story.
Remember how Stitch was called Experiment
626 in the original Lilo & Stitch movie? Well, Stitch! The
Movie is supposed to be about the other 625 experiments. Actually,
it introduced only two other experiments, Experiment 221, whom
Lilo names Sparky, and Experiment 625, who has no other name
because he never meets Lilo. It DID do a lovely job of setting
up the TV series, which apparently will have each episode centered
on finding a lost experiment and finding a place where it will
fit in.
This cartoon did capture the unique animation
of the original Lilo & Stitch movie, as well as bringing
back all the characters we enjoyed the first time, including
Lilo, Nani, Pleakley and Dr. Jumba (who are friends now), as
well as Captain Gantu and my favorite, Agent Cobra Bubbles.
It also introduced a new character, the evil genius Dr. Hamstaviel,
the long-lost partner of Dr. Jumba, who together invented Stitch
and his 625 predecessors. As he does in Stitch! The Movie, Hamstaviel
will inevitably continue to try to reclaim his share of the
experiments in the TV series.
As far as the story goes (well, what there
is of it, anyway) Lilo and Stitch finds out there are more experiments
and they set out to find them. Each experiment is neatly dehydrated
into a gumball and stored in a device that looks like a gumball
machine. While they rescue just two other experiments in the
64 minute run time, they will surely continue their quest every
Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the odds aren’t that
great so far that the experiments will even be cool. One that
they found and named Sparky, was a lightning-bolt version of
Stitch and although they didn’t share much of its personality,
at least it was interesting. The other experiment theoretically
has all the power of Stitch but only in interested in making
sandwiches. Need I say more?
:::back
to top |
For a film that is so blatantly
a commercial for a television series, Disney actually saw fit to
give this one an anamorphic widescreen transfer. Granted, this isn't
a theatrical aspect ration, but rather something closer to 16:9.
Disney calles this "family friendly" widescreen, which
I imagine is because of the smaller black bars that appear on standard
televisions.
As for the picture, the quality is
surprisingly good for what, again, is really only a television series.
The quality of the animation is sub-par compared to Lilo and Stitch,
but for what it is, it doesn't look half bad. Colors are very vibrant,
but not overly saturated. Digital artifacting is not a problem,
but some excessive edge enhancement does present itself.
:::back to top |
I'm not really sure why Disney
went through the effort to put both a Dolby Digital and a DTS track
on this disc. Both surround formats are exceptionally under-utilized,
with an overall lack of rear activity. There are some moderate left
to right effects, and dialog is always clear, but overall this sound
mix is pretty lackluste.
:::back to top |
Included are a handfull of extras
that are, I imagine, meant to make up for the bait and switch Disney
pulled by calling this television show a "sequel." Unfortunately,
for the most part the extras aren't any better than the "film."
The Trivia Challenge
was just that, a bunch of trivia questions. You can choose to answer
questions about either the movie or the new TV series. Although
the kids enjoyed this, I thought it was a bit dull.
Experiment Finder
was difficult, if not impossible to decipher. You are supposed to
put each experiment with the place where it will fit in. The problem
is that nobody knows anything about the other experiments yet, other
than what is on the list/poster that was included with the disk.
We all simply guessed the answers to this game and didn’t
really understand why they were right or wrong.
The Experiment Gallery
is a series of screen shots of 23 of the other experiments with
a short bio of each. I suppose if you watched this first you might
do better at the Experiment Finder game, but I doubt it.
You may not believe this, but the
“Aloha, E Komo Mai” Music Video by
Disney band Jump 5 actually got more play in our house than the
movie itself. Our kids love Disney as much for the songs as the
animation, and while this song didn’t live up to the standards
set by the extraordinary music of Lilo & Stitch, it is a catchy
tune with a great Hawaiian spirit and really the only worthwhile
extra on the disc.
:::back to top |
Overall, I think Disney dropped the ball with
this sequel release. While we expect a lower-budget product with
straight to video Disney releases, this one was sad in its blatant
promotion of the TV series. I would recommend renting this title
if the kids really want to see it, unless you are a die-hard Stitch
fan owning it is a waste of money.
:::back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| In most cases, films get
low family friendly ratings because of content not appropriate for
younger audiences. This is a case where the low marks are given because
this is a disc that likely won't appeal to the adults at all and many
of the kids may even feel exploited by it. |
|
|
|
|
|
| -- By Jennie Austin. Copyright
© 2003. |
|
|
 |
