It’s almost seven years since the film hit the big screen and had its eventual DVD release, an animated television series would follow the next year, and then a straight-to-DVD sequel in 2005, so it had to be time for a new release. Disney certainly had enough time to put together something really special, so why does the 2-Disc Big Wave edition seem so thrown together? From no information as to which pieces of material are on which disc, to repetitive content, games listed as samples that aren’t, a ridiculously short hula lesson, and a painfully long documentary, this is a mess.
The reselling of a film on DVD is always about the bonus material, and there is certainly a lot here, but how about putting some effort into the presentation. The second disk is an embarrassment. It loads to an amateurish menu that leads to a documentary which follows the making of the film from inception to premiere, and is exhaustively thorough at over two hours. If that is not enough, the second disk also includes footnotes from the documentary and “Deleted Scenes and Early Versions,” though both features contain a lot of the same material.
The first disk contains the feature as well as some pleasant and educational bonus features including audio commentary featuring producer Clark Spencer and directors/writers Sanders and Dean DeBlois, DisneyPedia: Hawaii – The Islands of Aloha, and the theatrical trailers that creatively inserted Stitch into classic Disney films such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Aladdin.
Whereas the documentary on the second disk was too long, some features on the first disc are far too short. The Hula lesson will disappoint kids as it could have easily been a terrific piece by providing some quality instruction rather than the three-minute glance that it is, “Burning Love” is nothing more than watching Wynonna standing in front of a microphone singing the song, and though “A Stitch in Time” is certainly long enough at three minutes, it makes little sense.
Recommendation: If you don’t own the wonderfully edgy Lilo & Stitch, than this is a fine way to add it to your collection. If you do already own the DVD, and really want to know more about the film, there is some quality bonus material here, but the presentation certainly could have been better as could some of the content.
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