| Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Oh come on Disney! You already gave us an already bad sequel to one of the most beloved films in the Post-Renaissance era. How come are you making another one?
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Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch is a 2005 American direct-to-video animated science fiction comedy-drama film produced by the Australian office of DisneyToon Studios. It serves as midquel to the Lilo & Stitch series, is the sequel to the the 2002 film Lilo & Stitch and is overall fourth installment in the Lilo & Stitch series, as well as the third film in the Lilo & Stitch series as a whole. The film takes place between the events of the 2002 Walt Disney Animation Studios feature film Lilo & Stitch and the 2003 direct-to-video film Stitch! The Movie. This was also the final time that Jason Scott Lee voiced David Kawena, and the only film in which Daveigh Chase did not voice Lilo, being replaced by Dakota Fanning.
Plot
Sometime after the events of the first film and before Jumba's other experiments are scattered across Hawaii, Stitch awakens from a nightmare about turning bad again and causing destruction to Earth, including hurting Lilo. After consoling Stitch by reminding him that she knows he would never cause harm to her, Lilo tests his goodness level by having him do a few good deeds. Upon discovering that they are late for hula class, they use their hovercraft to get there.
While at the hula class, Kumu announces that Lilo and her classmates will be prepared to perform at the local May Day festival. Each student is required to create an original dance. Lilo is inspired when Kumu tells her about her mother being in the festival at her age and winning, giving her a picture of the event. After the hula class ends, Mertle insults Lilo by telling her that she will never be like her mother, causing her to start a fight with her. Stitch takes pictures of Lilo fighting Mertle, which is stopped by Kumu, who thinks that Lilo is not ready for the competition as a result of the fight. However, Lilo says that she is ready and "triple promises" to be good.
While preparing for the competition, Lilo and Stitch have a hard time coming up with ideas and Nani wants them to enjoy their family fun night. While watching Them! for family fun night, Stitch's past comes back to haunt him and he goes berserk in the house. It turns out that after Stitch was created, Jumba did not get the chance to fully charge Stitch's molecules as the intergalactic police arrested him, disrupting the process. At first, this glitch causes Stitch to revert to his old destructive programming against his free will, but it will ultimately kill him if Jumba cannot create a fusion chamber before Stitch's energy runs out forever.
Meanwhile, Stitch's uncontrollable destructive behavior drives a wedge between him and Lilo and threatens to ruin her chances for success at the hula competition. Lilo and Stitch try to be inspired for their hula, but Stitch keeps malfunctioning because of his molecules. Since Lilo is so concerned about winning the competition, she fails to notice Stitch's glitch, which is not his fault, and she believes his new behavior is deliberate and begins to neglect him, much to his chagrin and eventual distress. In a subplot, Nani's boyfriend, David, believes Nani is losing interest in him. Pleakley comes to his aid and tries to give advice on romance.
Eventually, the two devise a hula based on the legend of Hiʻiaka. Lilo gets increasingly mad at Stitch as he ruins their practice sessions. To make matters worse, Jumba is having problems creating the fusion chamber because he doesn't have the proper alien technology to build one and must resort to using mere household objects. However, on the day of the competition, Stitch arrives just before Lilo is to perform, wishing her luck. The two reconcile as Jumba finally completes the fusion chamber. However, Stitch has another abrupt fit. Lilo, confused, tries to ask Stitch if he's okay, but he accidentally scratches her face like in his nightmare. Knowing that Stitch would never want to intentionally hurt her, Lilo finally realizes that something is wrong with him and tries to ask what's wrong, but Stitch, greatly horrified and remorseful that he hurt her, runs off to leave Earth, as he believes himself to be too dangerous.
In the middle of her performance, Lilo ultimately forfeits the competition and runs off to help Stitch. As Stitch attempts to leave Earth, Lilo and the rest of the family desperately try to get him to return so they can recharge him. While taking off, Stitch suffers his most violent and painful outburst, which causes him to lose control and crash the spaceship in the Hawaiian mountains. Lilo rides over to the crash site in their hovercraft, where she finds Stitch injured and close to death. She hurriedly gets him into Jumba's fusion chamber, but it's too late and Lilo watches in tears as Stitch apologizes one last time and dies. When a disheartened Jumba takes Stitch out of the chamber, Lilo holds him close and softly apologizes for her ungrateful treatment of him, having finally understood that while she kept saying that she needed him, he needed her more. She says that he is her ʻohana and, therefore, will always love him and breaks down in tears. Everyone grieves for a time as Lilo weeps, but Stitch eventually awakens, much to everyone's happiness. Pleakley is at a loss for words, to which Jumba explains what happened: Stitch was revived by Lilo's love.
Later that night, the family (along with David) performs Lilo's hula dance on the empty stage, and Nani tells Lilo that their mother would be proud of her, and a star twinkles in the sky to justify.
Glitched Qualities
- The film is rather pointless, as the first film did not hint at a sequel at the end of the film.
- It feels more like a TV special rather than an actual sequel since it is only 68 minutes long.
- Although they are still likable, most of the characters are inconsistent and out of character.
- Dr. Jumba Jookiba has gone from a mad scientist to a dumb moron in general.
- Wendy Pleakley became David's guide to winning his love interest, Nani. Not to mention he, like Jumba, also became a dumb moron as well.
- Nani Pelekai doesn't have any connection to any events as she's just there to be there. However, she also behaves like a total bitch in forcing the family to spend time together.
- David Kawena became an extremely nervous wimp who tries to speak with Nani, but to fill up the film's running time, he always fails until the end.
- Lilo Pelekai is very inconsiderate, unsympathetic, and unlikable in this film. When Stitch fails Lilo's rehearsal, Lilo becomes a complete jerk to Stitch, focusing way too much on her hula rehearsal until she realizes Stitch has a glitch.
- Heaps of continuity errors: Much like Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, this film is quite difficult (practically impossible, really) to place within the greater continuity of the other films such as Stitch! The Movie and the TV series Lilo & Stitch: The Series since the film has very poor connections and poor continuities with the film, TV series, and various other spin-off media such as video games. For example:
- The film seems to overlook the continuity established in the PlayStation 2 video game, Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626. In this game, set before the events of the first film, Stitch is apparently fully charged and wreaking havoc in outer space. This plot is also evident in the deleted scene of the original film entitled "Stitch's Trial" shown on the first Lilo & Stitch DVD.
- It is also retconned with Disney Adventures Magazine, where Jumba created Stitch and Reuben helps him, but in the movie, how Jumba created Stitch is much different and when Jumba was caught, Reuben and the other experiments are nowhere to be seen.
- It can be noted as an inconsistency that in Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Stitch mostly talks in his native alien language, yet for most of this film, he can speak in fluent English.
- Despite these differences, it appears that Disney has retconned Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626 and that this film stands in continuity, appearing after the first film, and prior to Stitch! The Movie.
- The layout of the house has changed, but because Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch takes place before Stitch! The Movie, it is possible that the house has been renovated between the two films.
- Jess Winfield, executive producer and writer for Lilo & Stitch: The Series, stated that when the series started production, his production team discussed with the Lilo & Stitch 2 producers to avoid any story conflicts for Stitch! The Movie. When Leroy & Stitch was well into production, they were asked to look at an early version of Lilo & Stitch 2 to check for inconsistencies, and they definitely noticed a few. Some of the inconsistencies included completely different names for Mertle's posse (DisneyToon came up with their own names, hence why Teresa was called "Aleka" in the film) and the inconsistency regarding Mertle's unseen father (he apparently still lives with his family in Lilo & Stitch 2, whereas he's absent in Mertle's life as of the series' continuity). Considering that Lilo & Stitch 2 was released without correcting these issues, it was apparent that DisneyToon felt it was not necessary to revise their film to maintain consistency with the series' mythology. Winfield implied that he treats Lilo & Stitch 2 as an alternate universe, even though Disney tends to promote the film as an interquel on some digital storefronts and the original DVD release. [1]
- Unlike the other films, Gantu, the main antagonist of the first film and the secondary antagonist of Stitch! The Movie and Lilo & Stitch: The Series, does not appear nor is mentioned in this film. The same can be said for the Grand Councilwoman and all the other alien characters from the original film as well as Cobra Bubbles.
- The film seems to overlook the continuity established in the PlayStation 2 video game, Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626. In this game, set before the events of the first film, Stitch is apparently fully charged and wreaking havoc in outer space. This plot is also evident in the deleted scene of the original film entitled "Stitch's Trial" shown on the first Lilo & Stitch DVD.
- Uses many clichés such as the "fake-out death" and "everyone dances" ending.
- The film can sometimes get way too scary for children, especially the scenes with Stitch's glitch wreaking havoc.
- Overuse of Elvis Presley references.
- Unfunny jokes, such as Lilo claiming her butt is sitting where Elvis' butt was sitting on a bench.
- Lilo was voiced by Dakota Fanning (the voice of the titular character from Universal/Laika's Coraline), which would've been fine if she was actually voiced in the next and final sequel, Leroy and Stitch, but her original voice actress (Daveigh Chase) later reprises her role, which made it entirely pointless to change her voice actress.
- There is no villain in this movie, which was part of the charm of the first movie. The only huge threat is Stitch's glitch which isn't really meant to be fully evil, just more havoc-causing and crazy in general. The only one that's the closest to being the main antagonist in this film is the mean girl Mertle Edmonds, who is an extremely unlikable character to begin with due to her bratty glasses-wearing nature and how she often mistreats Lilo throughout the franchise. But even then, her inclusion feels rather force, and after Mertle's rather odd dance preforms in the contest before the climax, she randomly disappears and is never seen or even mention again for the rest of the film.
- Overall, this film has no impact whatsoever on Lilo & Stitch franchise, as not only does this film never references the previous sequel Stitch! The Movie, yet the franchise's follow-up TV series Lilo & Stitch: The Series hardly ever acknowledges the events of this film in episodes produced before and after this film, and the entire events of this film are completely ignored in the next sequel Leroy & Stitch released the following year, so skipping over this film wouldn't leave out any major plot details or anything.
Good Qualities
- The animation is an improvement from the first film.
- Additionally, the animation is a massive step-up from the second film, Stitch! The Movie!. Mainly due to having a higher budget.
- Great voice acting, even if having Dakota Fanning voicing Lilo was pointless, she, at least, did a passable job as Leo. She even sounds close to Daveigh Chase.
- At least they also got Jason Scott Lee to return as David as well, after last voiced him in the original 2002 film.
- Good soundtrack.
- At least Lilo finally became aware of her mistakes after Stitch glitched in front of her.
- Stitch’s "death" towards the end of the film is very heartbreaking and emotional.
- Just like Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, none of the characters were flanderized and are still likable (especially both Stitch and Lilo (despite her harshness to Stitch)).
- At least, the film's a massive improvement over Stitch! The Movie. As it managed to undo the many flanderizations the characters suffered from, the animation being more in-line with that of the original 2002 film.
Trivia
- This film was originally planned for a theatrical release like DisneyToon Studios' other film Return to Never Land, but was instead released straight-to-video, mainly due to the negative reception of The Jungle Book 2.
Critical reception
Upon release, the film was left with mixed reviews from critics, audiences and fans of the franchise alike, who considered it an improvement over Stitch! The Movie.
On critical response aggregation website, Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 40%, and an average score of 5.5 out of 10 based on 10 reviews.
Hi-Def Digest said, "The humor in the second movie is juvenile, and lacking in the wit that makes the first so distinctive. The characterizations are heavily simplified, to the point where some of the characters feel dumbed down. Also, a lame subplot involving one of Lilo's peers feels silly and has a poor resolution. Even worse is the false sentimentality of the climax, which feels like cheap heartstring-tugging". ReelFilm gave a 2.5 out of 5 star rating, saying "Lilo & Stitch 2 is cute enough - there are a few genuinely funny moments here, while the voice acting is surprisingly effective - although the film does eventually wear out its welcome".
In a 2019 list of direct-to-video sequels, prequels, and "mid-quels" to Disney animated films, Petrana Radulovic of Polygon ranked Lilo & Stitch 2 first out of twenty-six films on the list, appreciating its faithfulness to the original film's tone. She stated, "The other two Lilo & Stitch sequels were just fine, but they didn’t capture the essence of what made the original special, choosing instead to focus on aliens. Stitch Has a Glitch, however, manages to balance the alien story with the human one. Overall, the movie verges on being cheesy, but it is a satisfying, heartwarming type of goo, with very funny moments and gags."
