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Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005)

Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Director: Michael LaBash and Tony Leondis
Cast: Chris Sanders (Stitch), Dakota Fanning (Lilo), Tia Carrere (Nani), David Ogden Stiers (Jumba), Kevin MacDonald (Pleakley), Jason Scott Lee (David)
Runtime: 68 min.
MPAA Rating: PG (mild sci-fi action)

Set shortly after the events of the first movie, Stitch has settled into domestic life with Lilo and her older sister Nani. Now living under their roof with Jumba and Pleakley, Lilo and Stitch learn that their Hula School will have a Hula competition for their town’s May Day festival. This is important to Lilo because her late mother won that same competition when she was her age. While trying to come up with an idea for a hula, Stitch begins ‘glitching’—his eyes momentarily go green and he reverts back to his destructive habits—at this point, we learn from Jumba that before he was arrested by the Galactic Federation he did not fully charge Stitch; worse, it will ultimately kill him unless Jumba can build a fusion chamber to fully charge Stitch. So, with the Hula competition coming up fast, and Stitch’s time running out, can Lilo win the Hula competition, Stitch behave long enough to help her and Jumba and Pleakley build a fusion chamber to give Stitch the charge that he needs before Stitch shuts down for good?

Before I begin, I will start by saying this is the second movie in the Lilo and Stitch film series in regards to timeline, but the third released chronologically. This is because it’s supposed to come after the original movie from 2002, but before Stitch!: the Movie and the 2003 cartoon series. Likely because as far as tone and artistry it’s more congruous to the original film, and they would have needed more time to make a proper sequel as opposed to the time needed for a cartoon series. It is also worth noting this would be the final Stitch movie to get a VHS release; Leroy and Stitch was released on DVD and that was it.

That said, I will admit I wasn’t eagerly anticipating this movie as much as I thought I would, namely because at the time, I was an avid watcher of Lilo and Stitch: the Series and wanted to see more of that in production; I was in Florida at the time and Stitch was everywhere. It just seemed a bit archaic to go back to making a midquel when Stitch was essentially invading everything Disney. More on that is coming.

For now, let’s discuss the movie. For the story, they go and drop the alien story; there is no Grand Councilwoman or Captain Gantu so they just focus on the antics of the original movie’s characters. It’s also worth noting that Cobra Bubbles does not return; there is no real villain in the movie. While I will acknowledge that does remain true to Chris Sanders’s claim that everyone has some good in them, that leads to a problem: the story is a bit weak. You have Lilo and Stitch trying to create a hula, Jumba needing to build a fusion chamber to charge Stitch, and Pleakley wanting to help David celebrate his 3-week anniversary together with Nani. One could say that Stitch could be the antagonist being that he is at risk of reverting back to his old destructive tendencies, but compared to the original movie at the time it suffers from the same problem the series did in that it’s notably less mature. This story is not bad, it’s actually rather innocent. Just coming off the heels of the original movie it’s a bit lightweight; the only real way you can take the story seriously is if you only acknowledge the original movie and maybe this film and ignore Stitch!: the Movie and the Series. For one, being that I was such a follower of the cartoon series and this movie is supposed to come before that, wouldn’t that have necessarily meant Stitch is in no danger? Because he clearly was alive in the Series; if that was any indication shouldn’t he be A-OK no matter what happens here? I’m aware that’s not really an issue now that time has passed, but I feel that should be addressed.

For the animation, it’s art-wise close to the original film and I do admire that. It’s faithful to the original look and I see that as proof that cel animation can still serve it’d purpose, with or without computers.

In regards to the characters, we get to go back to Kauai and catch back up with six primary characters: Lilo, Stitch, Nani, Jumba, Pleakley and David. They are more or less the same and haven’t changed much: Lilo is the quirky little girl who wants to create a Hula to honor her late mother, Stitch is the now-domesticated alien experiment grappling with his glitch, Nani is the unhinged, stressing legal guardian, Jumba’s the kooky mad scientist, Pleakley the eccentric Earth expert and David…well, he was always just a minor character so there’s not much to go on with him. There are some pros and cons here. For one, it’s good to see these characters are still faithful to their original characterizations; it’s more in line with the original movie in contrast to the off-the-rails approach taken by the Japanese anime, the Chinese adaptation, and (arguably) the American cartoon series. However, in retrospect, this is a bit of a problem in that because all these characters have their odd ‘quirks’ and there isn’t really a straight character to be found, it’s a bit hard to get emotionally attached to them. Because everyone wants to have their moments of being funny and there’s no rock to the insanity, you get the feeling you’re in a house full of mixed nuts. So one could argue that the more off-the-rails approach was fitting with the Series?

One more element I'll add is this is the only movie where Daviegh Chase does not voice Lilo. Because she was pre-occupied with Lilo and Stitch: the Series Dakota Fanning took over her voice.

Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch is hardly a masterpiece and I personally had the least use for this movie prior to this review. However, it’s harmless and won’t do something to anger fans, confuse people not already familiar with the characters or appeal to people older than 10. It also won’t get you to want more, but it’s not like there is much else this franchise can do. This movie is certainly watchable and that’s it.



Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005)
TreyVore rates it: C

I can add to this one.

For the first two seasons of this Family Guy spin-off show, it was Adored By The Network. Starting with Season 3, it became Screwed By The Network. All the listed factors are valid, but in 2011 Fox was going to introduce Loren Bouchard's mature animated series Bob's Burgers, which took their original post-Simpsons timeslot. The Cleveland Show for Seasons 3 and 4 was bumped up to air before The Simpsons and then it would stop getting promoted.

Yo Yogi!
Original run: 1991-1991
Reason: Crap. Where do I start with this one?

1: This series was made with the intention of being another of Hanna-Barbera's Muppet Babies copycats, featuring classic cartoon characters as kids. For this show, Yogi and his friends Boo Boo, Cindy Bear, Snagglepuss and Huckleberry Hound, were cast as a crime-fighting detective agency working for Security Guard Smith in Jellystone Mall. However, you'd have to have ignored all continuity for this to make any sense; for one, did they tear down the Mall to build the park?

2: At the time, NBC no longer had their classic 80s cartoons like The Smurfs or Alvin and the Chipmunks and this was part of a not-worthy replacement line-up.

3: It was so over-the-top 90s it hurt.

4: It was a massive ratings bomb. This show just did not attract viewers, who wisely chose to watch anything but this show. In an effort to get some better ratings, they made a deal with Kellogg's to promote the show with a pair of 3-D glasses in boxes of Rice Krispies. When kids watched the show, usually when they were about to go to a chase sequence the signal to wear the glasses came when Yogi would throw his hat up and spin it; afterwards 3-D mayhem would ensue. Yogi and his friends may have jumped off-screen, but the ratings were still flat, and the show was canceled a few months later.

This teen incarnation of Yogi would appear as part of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, but that would be it. Nowadays, you'd probably have to debate over whether this series or the 2010 movie was the nadir of Yogi's career.

You want to know something really weird? You can actually buy this series on iTunes!

I think I'd rather see Raya and the Last Dragon take it.

Yep. We have a Decepticon equivalent for our villain group. We will need our heroes to take the Autobots' mantle to stop them.



Of course.

I see a 6 as being "decent". So it may not rock the Academy Awards, but it's watchable.

It may sound as such. Do you want Jenny to be classified as Menasor?

Plus Snowy's an ideal match for Orville being he likes a woman that doesn't show much sadness.

Yep, they got Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and now Rich Moore. Sony's going to be a force to be reckoned with.