Originally Posted By Rebekah This topic is for discussion of the 2/27/2002 news item <b><a href="http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=11605" target="_blank">AICN: Review of Lilo & Stitch</a></b> <I>Ain't It Cool News</I> offers a moderately spoiled review of <I>Lilo & Stitch</I>. Ain't It Cool News discussion boards topics may contain strong language and appear at the end of the article. Animated logo in top left may contain graphic cartoon violence.
Originally Posted By Inkan1969 This review has left me very scared. Scared that there's still three and a half months for Disney to turn yellow and put in last-minute changes into "Lilo and Stitch" to make it less "controversial". Like what they did to "Simba's Pride". Spoilers I read the whole paragraph about Lilo and how her grief over losing her parents is portrayed realistically, with her being combative and punching other kids because she's having trouble coping. I'm tremendously worried that Disney may cut out those scenes to tone it down. I wish there was some way to guarentee that the current print will not be cut between now and the release date. - Inkan <a href="http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~jfl/intro.html" target="_blank">http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~jfl /intro.html</a>
Originally Posted By Dlmusic June 21st I believe. The review still make me wonder of the box office potential of the movie. Presently, nobody really knows what the movie is all about and the marketing isn't helping much. Hopefully come May the marketing will begin to explain more of the story to get people interested. It is a rather off beat story for Disney and the marketplace this summer is going to be jam-packed. So it looks hard, but not impossible for Lilo and Stitch to do well. At the present time I'm predicting somewhere in the 90-95 million range. Of course, we're still way off and there are a few factors (final marketing for example) outstanding.
Originally Posted By rasvar Inkan1969: The wonderful thing with this movie is that the suits have stayed away from Orlando and let the animation team have full control of this project. Even the marketing is being handled by the project leader, Chris Sanders. Its almost an experiment to see what can happen if management keeps its hands off. Chris will probably chew someones arm off before they are allowed to mess with his baby. This is the main reason I have much higher hopes for Lilo and Stitch over Treasure Planet. Suits have had too many hands in the latter. The upper management of Disney needs to realize that they need to loosen the reigns a bit and allow the creative folks to create. I am expecting about $175M from Lilo and Stitch when all is said and done. Its not heavily effects laden, either. It has something that has been missing for a while, a good story with interesting characters. Characters that you can actually care about. IMHO, this IS the make or break film for Disney Feature animation. If this film works, maybe the suits will loosen the grips on creativity and allow more animator control over projects. If this film fails, I expect that you wil see even more DTV stuff and Feature Animation will slowly fade to where it was in the late 60's early 70's.
Originally Posted By arstogas Everything Rasvar said. Seriously, in addition to bookoo box office, they are going to send a bazillion STITCH stuffed toys. I'm gonna buy at least three... the little plastic one with concealable arms, the talking/grunting one, and the biggest one I can hang from my ceiling. Maybe a fourth that I can slam the trunk of my car on... just his claws hanging out... And LILO herself is going to be hailed by so many as a little girl who is not "perfect" in design... Just a girl who is loving and has a loving heart - that's a GREAT role model for little kids who might have big ears, wide nostrils or whatever. I'm so juiced about this movie. It's going to teach some execs at the Mouse a lesson (if they're not too dense to GET the message).
Originally Posted By Sapphire You're right rasvar - this is Disney's last big chance to redeem itself as the premier animation house over Pixar. If "Lilo and Stitch" is a hit, it could be a spectacular one. If it fails, it could be the beginning of a slow death for the company's animation division. "Treasure Planet" has so much going against it - studio meddling, a release date a week AFTER the Harry Potter sequel opens, etc. Now "Lilo and Stitch" will have to go up against week 2 of "Scooby-Doo" and directly against Spielberg's "Minority Report", but given the performances of recent summer films, it's not really as threatening an opening date. Why? "Scooby-Doo", if it's as bad as early reports indicate, may have a severe dropoff after the first presumably huge weekend - most "big" films have suffered this in the past year due to poor word-of-mouth. If "Lilo and Stitch" is as great as it could be, it could last a long time in this climate. And "Minority Report" doesn't sound like a kiddie magnet. As for the early trailers (the Inter-Stitch-Als) not giving a clear idea of the plot, well, it is a bit early to give everything away, isn't it? More important right now, I suspect, is selling the kids on the concept of a Disney film that isn't the same old corny story, and a character that isn't the traditional Disney hero. Given the almost uniformly positive reaction people (online at least) have had to these trailers, I think it is already doing a lot to heighten anticipation.
Originally Posted By Inkan1969 I really hope you're right, rasvar. I hope that Chris does have the pull to keep the suits from hacking apart his movie. Wow, so Chris was the one who came up with the "Inter-Stitch-als" idea. That must be why it's such a different marketing campaign. For the people who's saying the campaign isn't good, well it seems to me that you can't escape the ads on the Disney Channel or Toon Disney. Also, I think they have succeeded in making Stitch unforgettable. Who could forget a wild and crazy alien who could woo away Jasmine? The ads have also given two new catchphrases.: "His name is Stitch" and "Get your own movie". - Inkan <a href="http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~jfl/intro.html" target="_blank">http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~jfl /intro.html</a>
Originally Posted By hargjamb However, in Lilo and Stitch's second week, it will go up against Nickelodeon's "Hey! Arnold" movie. It will be sandwiched between two kid friendly and popular movies.
Originally Posted By hargjamb Just found this out, too. Nickelodeon's "Wild Thornberry's" will be released two days after Treasure Planet.
Originally Posted By Sapphire PLUS, "Adam Sandler's 8 Crazy Nights", an animated feature aimed at a teen audience, opens within that 3-day November period as well. Upcomingmovies.com says that one of these three films will have to move its release date. Unfortunately, it's hard to imagine which one can do it. "Treasure Planet" has pretty much locked down that slot - it was the first to announce a release date, IIRC - and I can't imagine a more productive time for it to open, especially since the date probably will have to stick for the IMAX engagements. Ideally, Nickelodeon/Paramount will move the "Wild Thornberrys" film to early November, a profitable time to open animated features without worrying about the late-month crush. Since "8 Crazy Nights" isn't gunning for the "Treasure Planet" audience (Disney wouldn't be watering the latter down if they weren't going for the tots), neither film poses a heavy threat to the other. As for "Hey Arnold" opening the week after "Lilo and Stitch", well, it really isn't one of the more popular Nickelodeon shows right now and I doubt it will prove to be heavy competition, though Nick will probably market it to the skies. (Incidentally, a Powerpuff Girls film will open over the July 4 period, but because it's competing against "Men In Black II", it won't be as big of a threat as it might have been otherwise.)
Originally Posted By electra I saw the trailer for Arnold when i went to see Peter Pan 2. My God if i had to sit thru that movie in a theater....zzzz! the animation is just horrible! it's fine for a tv but blown up? Looks really bad! Rasvar i sososo agree with you! i hope hope HOPE!!!! that L&S is a HUGE hit. It will SAVE Disney animation. Imagine if the suits decide to leave the animation unit alone for the animators themselves. The marvels they would create ! yes L&S MUST be a huge hit. i just hope the Disney fans who are more into traditional Cinderella fairytale stuff dont avoid it.
Originally Posted By zenifrax While there are audiences for certain genres (animation, comedy, drama, fantasy, etc.), there are usually larger audiences for quality of films of any genre. Hopefully, those who would be attracted by a Disney animated musical will be outnumbered by those who enjoy quality animation or just quality film entertainment. Aiming for quality should keep both artists and audiences happy, as well as the executives whose vision tends to drop from blue skies to bottom line.
Originally Posted By arstogas I can't speak to the other films... but there is little doubt that Scooby-Doo will be a terrible movie. That said, some puke-worthy movies DO make money (Flintstones and The Grinch are recent examples). But I don't think Scooby will hold any sway over little old Stitch. By the way, they are STILL doing pickup shots for Scooby, here in Los Angeles, having to "fix" a lot of stuff in the rough cut. Most films do pickups, it's expected... but the extent of these is pretty significant. I don't think the bandaids are going to stop the bleeding.
Originally Posted By zenifrax It is always baffling and depressing when a movie which I consider embarrassing makes big money in theaters. But then I realize that I am not Mr. Average Moviegoer, although that doesn't make me feel much better. To provide a clue as to my tastes, among the big titles which I hate are "Jurassic Park," "The Lost World," "Twister," "Mrs. Doubtfire," both "Mission: Impossible" films, and "Rush Hour 2." Except for some opportunities to evaluate groundbreaking special effects, watching these films is/was a very disturbing experience for me. For anyone whom I have offended, I hope you don’t feel compelled to defend your favorite film. Although if you have any criticisms of my favorite film, "Mary Poppins," I would be happy to address them. (By the way, "Mary Poppins" made a lot of money in 1964-65 dollars!)
