Lilo & Stitch (Two-disc Big Wave Edition) Release Date: March 24, 2009 Own it on DVD Directors: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders Writers: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders Stars: Daveigh Chase, Chris Sanders, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Kevin McDonald, Ving Rhames MPAA Rating: PG HoboTrashcan’s Rating:

While Pixar may be the king of animation these days (and Disney has now fully embraced computer animation with their fantastic film Bolt), it wasn’t long ago that the Walt Disney Company itself ruled animation with memorable stories and beautiful hand-drawn adventures. One of the last great hand-drawn Disney films was Lilo & Stitch, which was originally released in 2002 and is now being rereleased on DVD in a special two-disc “Big Wave Edition.”

Lilo & Stitch is the story of a genetically-engineered alien who was created by a mad scientist with the sole purpose of bringing destruction and chaos wherever he goes. The alien, referred to as Experiment 626, is exiled to a deserted asteroid and his creator, Jumba, is imprisoned for his work. However, since Experiment 626 has been bred to wreak havoc and since his creator gave him a host of superpowers, including superstength, intelligence and a resistance to bullets and fire, Experiment 626 is able to escape capture and flee to Earth.

The aliens originally want to just destroy Earth with Experiment 626 on it, but a historian on our planet convinces them that Earth must be spared because it is the natural habitat of an endangered species – the mosquito. So the aliens decide to strike a deal with the mad scientist who created Experiment 626 to bring him in in exchange for his own freedom. They send him to Earth along the Earth historian, Agent Pleakley. Knowing that they are on his trail, Experiment 626 decides to blend in and pretend to be a dog in order to get adopted by a family as a pet.

He is adopted by Lilo, a precocious Hawaiian child who is living with her sister after the death of her parents. Lilo is a free spirit who thinks a bit differently than her peers, which causes her to have problems fitting in, so her sister decides to get her a dog as a companion. Lilo is immediately drawn to Experiment 626, who she dubs Stitch.

Unfortunately, since Experiment 626 has been engineered to be an agent of chaos, he proves to be a handful. His antics couldn’t come at a worse time either, since Lilo’s sister Nani is being observed by the world’s most intimidating social worker, Cobra Bubbles, who doesn’t believe Nani is fit to raise Lilo. So Nani must prove herself to Cobra Bubbles while Lilo attempts to control her rambunctious pet, who is being tracked by two aliens. It’s certainly an original concept for a movie and one that works well.

The story is cute and, more importantly, it is well-written enough to keep the attention of any adult who sits down to watch the film with their children. It also had a nice nod to the Ugly Ducking, which adds some emotional weight to the film. Plus, parents should appreciate all of the references to Elvis Presley and all of his music featured in the film (Lilo claims that Elvis Presley was a model citizen – which is really a pretty funny claim – and has Stitch model his actions after the King). Fans of animation should also appreciate the look of the film, which is a bit different from any previous Disney animated feature. Stitch manages to be both ugly and cute at the same time and all of the human characters in the film have a fresh look from the standard Disney character models.

The “Big Wave Edition” of the film is packed with extras. Disc one includes audio commentary, a music video, several mini-games and hula lessons. It also includes a humorous feature called “A Stitch In Time,” which inserts Stitch into classic Disney films. However, the bulk of the special features are on the second disc of the DVD. The second disc has deleted scenes, the original pitch for the story, early sketches of Stitch and a whole lot more. But the most interesting extra is a two-hour documentary on the making of the film, which should be watched by any true fan of animation, since it is far more in-depth than your standard “making of” featurettes.

The story is incredibly charming, the animation style is unique and the in-depth documentary makes picking up the “Big Wave Edition” worth the price. If you have children or if you are a fan of animation (or Elvis), I definitely recommend picking up the “Big Wave Edition” of this film.

Written by Joel Murphy. Lilo & Stitch 2-Disc Big Wave Edition is available now on DVD.

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Brian Murphy

Over the last several years, I’ve been lucky enough to have access to the Washington Redskins, and recently I have also begun covering the Capitals. I’ve never tried to attain a media credential for the Wizards, mostly because they suck.

But if I did have a credential, I would use it to track down Gilbert Arenas and tell him one simple sentence – “don’t do it.”

Word on the street is that Arenas, who seemingly a lifetime ago was known as Agent Zero, Hibachi and a relevant basketball player, is planning on making his triumphant return to action this weekend after being sidelined for nearly a year due to a knee injury.

While it’s great to see a player anxious to bounce back from injury, this is quite possibly the worst decision Arenas can make. Doesn’t he know that this year’s Wizards are on the verge of something special?

Had the Wiz not rallied to steal a 95-93 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats at home last night, they would have become the first team in NBA history to go winless in their division for an entire season. Now, they’re 1-14, meaning they’re bad, but not bad enough to be memorable. For the year Washington is currently 17-56, which is the second-worst record in the league (ahead of only Sacramento, who is 15-55). Again, bad, but not enough to actually do any good.

If the Wizards were to finish with the worst record in the NBA, it would increase their chances of landing the number one overall pick, which means they’d be able to draft Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin to help turn things around. But because they’re the Wizards, I don’t even know why I’m getting my hopes up.

When healthy and at their best, Washington is a fundamentally flawed franchise. General manager Ernie Grunfeld is one of the best in the league, but what he’s built in D.C. is a team of jump shooters who either cannot or will not play defense. They can’t score tough baskets when the game is on the line and they give up entirely too many easy buckets to their opposition which means, best-case scenario, they’re good enough to qualify for the playoffs but have zero chance of doing anything once they are there. Teams that can’t score tough points in the paint don’t last long in the postseason, but because the bar was set so low for so long, no one seems to actually acknowledge this.

Without the services of Arenas and center Brendan Haywood this season, the Wizards have been unbearable. Coach Eddie Jordan was fired when the team got off to a slow start and was replaced by some no namer who used to teach a high school gym class or something 20 years ago. The reason no one objected was because folks figured it was a lost season anyways, so bring in someone to pace the sidelines while giving the young kids extended minutes to see who is worth keeping when the band is back together. Instead, Ed Tapscott has decided to make his players “earn their minutes” which is code for “he decided it’d be more fun to lose while playing his veterans over rookies.” I’m sure it makes sense to someone, just not me.

So here’s where we are – the Wizards are awful and yet we have no idea if young guys like Nick Young, Oleksiy Pecherov and JaVale McGee are players you can build a team around. The Wizards are bad enough that no one is coming out to watch them this season, but not bad enough to give them the best chance at the top pick in the draft. With nine games to go, there’s absolutely nothing left to play for.

It’s bad enough that the team re-signed Arenas to a six-year, $111 million deal seeing as he’s played in 13 regular season games over the last two seasons. But to let him come back now and possibly re-injure himself or worse, come back and play well enough to possibly win a game or two for the Wiz down the stretch, is unthinkable. My only hope is he’s so rusty, he remains a non-factor while chucking up ill-advised 20 footers all night long. A player like Griffin is talented enough to help turn this franchise around. Adding him, along with Arenas and Haywood (and a coach people have heard of) to the rotation next season instantly makes this team worth watching again. But if this plays out the way it typically does for Washington, they’ll play just good enough to not get the top spot and have to settle for this year’s version of Kwame Brown instead.

Brian Murphy is an award-winning sportswriter who also goes by the name Homer McFanboy. Contact him at murf@homermcfanboy.com.

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