Forever Magical
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Stitch sitting atop the security booth at the Entrance to the Disney Studios

At the recent Disney Art Classics Convention we took a tour of the Disney Studios. I'd seen pictures of Stitch atop the Team Disney Building temporarily replacing Dopey (click here for more info) but was delighted to find Stich was hiding out in various locations throughout the site. While it was fantastic to see the prop house and to tour the Disney Studios, I believe that keeping our eyes peeled for Stitch and snapping photos of him in the various places will be a favorite memory of mine.

Months earlier I'd seen images from Toy Fair 2002 which offered a first glimpse into the collection of toys that will be available in connection with film. I picked out the ones I wanted from the photos and got ready to wait patiently. However following the Disney Studios tour I found I couldn't wait so patiently. I was in desparate need of Stitch. I printed out the image of Lilo & Stitch in the hammock and Stitch reading the story of the Ugly Duckling and made myself some buttons. However, Disney seemed to know people like myself existed because only a few days after I'd made my buttons the Disney Store and the World of Disney began to release Lilo & Stitch toys including the 16” plush Stitch. He sold out before I arrived but I snagged an 8” Stitch. I carried him with me to Storyteller’s Café that night for dinner. Several people stopped by my table to ask me where I got Stitch. They didn’t ask me who he was, they just wanted to know where I got him. As I walked around the hotel with him I could hear people, both adults and children, start talking about Stitch to others in their party. Stitch appears to have a solid fan base and his film isn’t even out yet.

My growing collection of Stitch includes the Stitch boinger, Aloha Stitch, a smaller 8"plush Stitch,
the 2-1 Stitch in his alien suit and the Disney Store bag which features Stitch on one side and Lilo on the flipside in the background.

I soon discovered you can’t have a bad day carrying Stitch around the Resort. On several different days as I walked around with Stitch people would stop and chat. They would talk about how excited they are about the film. They asked where they could purchase one, too. They shared their favorite scene from the trailers. But very rarely do they need to as, "Who is it?" Among my favorite moments carrying a Stitch came last week at the Disneyland Resort. I was carrying my 2-1 Stitch. He talks in alien when he is wearing his alien suit and talks in English when he’s not wearing the alien suit. I entered Guest Relations and was greeted with an incredibly high pitched, “Stitch!”. The Cast Member’s face lit up even brighter as she began to coo over him, asking if she could hold him and where did I get him. She wrote herself a note to remember to call the World of Disney after she had helped me with my question. Since there was no one else waiting for assistance she asked if she could take him backstage and show him around. So Stitch headed backstage for a bit. When she brought him back out she talked about the scenes they were showing on Cast TV and how lovable and adorable Stitch was. Of course I had to agree, Stitch is adorable and I love all the toys I’ve collected so far.