The cult of Stitch is strong

We've mentioned it before, and it bears mentioning again, that 2002's "Lilo & Stitch" was supposed to be the other Disney movie of that year. "Treasure Planet" was the big swing, and "Lilo & Stitch" was additive in hopes of maybe finding some smaller success on a smaller movie. "Treasure Planet" flopped, and "Lilo & Stitch" is now totemic. They did the classic cheap-ish spinoffs that went to television and video in direct fashion, but then it got added to the live-action landscape. After a couple of lukewarm-to-poor outings for Disney on that front, including the woeful "Snow White," we were wondering if the audience for these films had cooled. Then "Lilo & Stitch" came around to make it clear the right offering can work, and the right offering involved the beloved blue alien.

Stitch is, clearly, what makes these movies stand out, and what makes them so popular. The fuzzy, friendly monster is essentially what would happen if you crossed a mogwai with a gremlin. People have come to love the character, and he creates easy iconography for Disney. Mermaids exist elsewhere, as do genies, though Genie is a distinct design. There is only one Stitch, though. All the family stuff and the Hawaii stuff aside, "Lilo & Stitch" in both iterations is a boat riding the wave of Stitch love.

It is impressive that moving Stitch into the quasi-live-action space worked so well, and just how popular this movie has proven. Stitch is definitively in the Disney Pantheon now. Dare we wonder if Stitch makes the Disney Mount Rushmore? 

Of course, as this movie heads toward a billion dollars, one does wonder what more there is to do. And Stitch wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer, so to speak. With "The Lion King," they were able to do a "Mufasa" prequel, but they couldn't do a live-action-adjacent prequel about Stitch in his Experiment 626 days. They could do that in a traditionally-animated sense, we suppose. Would Disney be so bold/craven as to decide the direct-to-video sequel "Stitch Gets a Glitch" should be given the live-action treatment? It feels unlikely Disney would let this cash cow end here, not when the cult of Stitch is as strong as ever.

That's a good problem for Disney to have, of course. For now the bigwigs over there will just count their cash and figure out as many merchandising ideas as they can. After all, what's a cult without iconography?