The Fabulous Disney Babe
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Stichergy - The Sequel
It should come as no shock that Disney is planning a direct-to-video release starring Stitch, the creepy, cuddly titular alien from Lilo and Stitch. After all, the company's all about Synergy - Dumbo 2 is right around the corner. The video will kick off Stitch's new series, called, surprisingly enough, "Lilo and Stitch". The alien is living happily on earth with his 'Ohana, no longer a lost ugly duckling, when he is called into action by The Grand Council.
Stitchergy - The TV Show
It seems that Dr. Jumba Jookiba's other 625 experiments (remember, Stitch is Experiment 626) have escaped from his laboratory and are on the loose. Stitch has the task of rounding up all of the other aliens, (purportedly one per episode for a nice long run) and, it is to be hoped, rehabilitating them - I just couldn't see him throwing other aliens in the slammer after finding his "humanity", could you? The characters in the show will be the same ones at the end of the film: Pleakley, Lilo, Stitch, Jumba, Nani, David, Cobra Bubbles and, of course, all of the aliens who keep coming to Hawaii for some reason.
Stitchergy - The Home Video
The Lilo and Stitch DVD was originally supposed to be released in January. Disney has a historical pattern of post-Holiday Season video releases. There was The Hunchback of Notre Dame in March 1997 to start the pattern, then, each year, there would be a release in the same time period but a few weeks earlier, until Atlantis, which was released in January. However, with the major stockholders breathing down the Board's collective necks, the decision was made to shore up 2002's profits by releasing the DVD a month early, in time for Holiday sales, and, of course, to raise up those sales numbers for 2002. So Lilo and Stitch DVDs will fly off the shelves and appear in Christmas stockings all over America, and Michael will have much more festive numbers to show Disney's investors. And we get the DVD a month early - I'd call that win - win, right?
Well, no. It's not as popular of an idea as you'd assume. The people who were expecting the collector's edition at initial release are pretty mad. In order to rush the Christmas DVD out to the general public a month early, they've had to keep bonus material to a bare minimum. In addition to the film, you'll find some cute hula lessons and a couple of Radio Disney-type music videos. For the last couple of releases, they've released both the DVD and the Special Edition DVD on the same day. Shoppers had a choice as to which edition to buy.
Stitchergy - The Special Edition
This set will be released in January, with all of the bells and whistles intact. Disney's counting on the "double - dippers" for this release - those who couldn't wait another month to see Lilo and Stitch while there was a DVD all ready released. Although a few people who would have bought the Special Edition and bought the basic DVD instead will say "I all ready have it" and move on with their lives, Disney's betting that there will be many more who couldn't wait, and who have to have the deluxe edition.
Stitchergy - The Ticked-Off Pixar Vice President of Creative
All of Disney's might for promotion for Monsters Inc and Beauty and the Beast Special Edition will now shift. Monsters Inc. was going to be THE kid-friendly video release for Christmas, cleaning up with the families who had not bought the DVD during its summer release. (I'm one of those people). With Lilo and Stitch's release moved eight weeks forward until before Christmas, Pixar could see Monsters Inc, which "owned" Christmas this year, show sales figures far below their Holiday Season anticipations...and things have been a little shaky between Disney and Pixar due to their differences of opinion on what fulfills a contractual agreement anyway. This action just adds fuel to the fire.
Stitchergy - The Theme Park Attraction
WDI met with Chris Sanders this month to discuss bringing Stitch to Walt Disney World's Tomorrowland. Alien Encounter, while technologically amazing, had a very limited audience and lots and lots of parental complaints. In the attraction, a teleportation experiment goes awry, an alien beamed into the teleportation tube in the middle of the former Flight to the Moon/Mission to Mars theatre "breaks out" and massacres people in the dark. Guests, pinned down in the dark, were stepped on, breathed on, tasted and even bled on by the alien's victims, then got splattered with bits of the alien itself when it exploded at the end of the Disney attraction. I, for one, would take Alice to see Skippy, the cute little snarfle-nosed alien in the pre-show, then chicken exit. Disney's attempt at a PG-13 attraction in its theme parks failed, as it had little or no charm or repeat value.
Disney's Imagineers hope to lighten up the attraction while keeping the technological wonders of Alien Encounter intact, and plussing the repeatability of the attraction. Experiment 626 is the alien in the tube in this version of the show, tentatively titled "Stitch Encounter". In this version, Stitch drools and sneezes on you and whispers gibberish and "nasty Stitch" comments in your ear, then licks the back of your neck. It is, as pitched, much more humorous. While it's a little bit "funny-scary", families will be infinitely more charmed and likely to return to see Experiment 626 run amok.
Oh - and for all of you who wrote and asked - "Harold" is the nickname CMs and park goers alike have christened the Yeti in the Matterhorn.
• • •
Since we're talking Stitch, Rebekah had this tidbit to add:
Need more Stitch now? Don't want to wait for all the wonderful things Fab described. Currently at Disneyland's Innoventions is a fantastic interactive experience centered around the little alien. At the Disney Interactive location that has previously showcased 101 Dalmatians and a bug's life is a little grasshut covered in photos from Lilo & Stitch. Families are invited into the hut where a large video screen can be found. Stitch scampers about the screen which shows him on a Hawaiian beach. The conversation began with the usual pleasantries, names exchanged. Then he asked us about our day at Disneyland. When we told him we'd had lunch. He began to sniff. While hanging from a palm tree, he asked if we had peanut butter and jelly? ham? before finally guessing correctly we had turkey. Then he asked if we wanted to know what he'd eaten. Sure, we responded. He climbed down from the palm tree and was standing the beach. Come closer said the little blue alien while motioning with his claws. We leaned in. Closer, he says again. So we leaned in to where our heads were only inches from the screen. Then BURRRRRP!!!!!! Stitch let out a large belch and happily declared he'd had ice cream pizza. Kim a fellow Stitch-aholic doubled over with laughter. When he asked us what else we did at the Park, Kim replied, play. Stitch said, oooh, with dinosaur toys and then in a moment reminiscent of the scene of Lilo's bedroom, stomped around growling and munching then switching to "don't eat me" Then responded "ooh, but you are so yummy" Once again Kim and I were laughing hysterically. As the conversation continued we we told Stitch we'd taken a picture with Flik and Atta he declared he was jealous and wanted a picture, too. So we posed and Stitch took our picture. He licked the photo and put it in his photo album before saying goodbye. At the exit we were handed a card that enabled us to pull up the photo on a website when we got home. I'm still amazed by the experience and wish I could've taken him home. :) If you decide to visit Stich at Innoventions don't wait until the end of the day as he has limited hours and don't put it off for too long as Innoventions exhibit are changed out periodically.
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-- Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith can be reached using the Talkback form below or by emailing her at [email protected].
The Fabulous Disney Babe's column is posted every Friday and whenever else she has something to say. For more on Michelle's background, see her first column. She also offers The Fabulous Tour: Disneyland Secrets and Stories. Click here for more information.
The opinions expressed by our Michelle Smith, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted October 14, 2002