While many Disney films deal with orphans, few address the legal reality of what it means to lose parents. You can still find these “Inter-Stitch-als” online, but my favorite remains Stitch crashing the dance between Belle and Beast. Given how sacred Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King quickly became after they were released, it was shocking at the time to see Disney using them to promote another film.
To get people interested in the film, Disney released a series of “Inter-Stitch-als.” These were commercials that featured classic moments from the Disney Renaissance being interrupted by Stitch.
(Side note: if you haven’t seen the documentary on the Disney Renaissance, Waking Sleeping Beauty, you need to. In contrast, Walt Disney Animation Studios was well past the Disney Renaissance, and was producing films that lacked the magic typically associated with the “House of Mouse.” (That’s right everyone – once upon a time, it was considered a major financial accomplishment for a movie from a major studio to earn just $273 million.)Īround the time Lilo & Stitch came out, Pixar (not yet a subsidiary of Disney) was producing instant classics, including Monsters, Inc.
With an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earnings of $273.1 million worldwide, the film was a critical and commercial success. Disney released Lilo & Stitch on June 21, 2002.