Unlike most of Disney’s direct-to-video sequels, their Lilo & Stitch-related efforts have proven reasonably entertaining. Though neither Stitch! nor Lilo & Stitch 2 entered “classic” territory, both seemed charming and entertaining.

Disney tries for a sequel trifecta with 2006’s Leroy & Stitch. This one starts on a high note, as little Lilo (voiced by Daveigh Chase), formerly vicious alien beast Stitch (Chris Sanders), reformed mad scientist Dr. Jumba (David Ogden Stiers) and good-natured space law enforcement agent Pleakley (Kevin McDonald) receive honors. They capture and assisted the happy endings for Jumba’s hundreds of out of control experiments.

Unfortunately, the plaudits come with a price, as the galactic authorities want to reassign everyone someplace other than Hawaii. Lilo changes their minds, though, and our quartet of misfits finds their way home to the Aloha State. This doesn’t leave the others totally content, as all fantasize about the new positions they almost obtained. Stitch would have piloted a Big Red Battleship, Pleakley could have taught a class, and Jumba would have re-entered his evil genius workshop.

Eventually Lilo realizes that her pals remain on Earth just to placate her, so she lets them go. In the meantime, we reconnect to the events of Stitch! as Captain Gantu (Kevin Michael Richardson) breaks out imprisoned evil genius Dr. Hamsterviel (Jeff Bennett). Newly-appointed Captain Stitch gets the assignment to re-capture Hamsterviel, but the evil rodent ends up at Jumba’s lab and forces the inventor to make a new, more vicious version of Stitch. He makes a twin called Leroy, a creation that causes all sorts of problems that the movie follows.

With each new expansion of the Lilo & Stitch universe, I find it more and more difficult to come up with anything new to say. All of the various flicks are so similar that it becomes difficult to resist the urge to simply cut and paste my remarks. They all feature virtually the same positives and negatives.

That said, Leroy starts to show diminishing returns. Despite its brief 73-minute running time, the film feels padded at times. It subjects us to too many musical montages, and it also lacks much of a dramatic arc. It concentrates on the loneliness factor among the four main characters, a theme that does little more than recollect notions in the prior efforts.

The return of Hamsterviel also shows a lack of creative inspiration. Surely the filmmakers could have come up with a new villain and a more inventive creature than a clone of Stitch. There’s not a lot new that Leroy brings to the table.

Nonetheless, the flick manages reasonable entertainment. It fails to stand out as anything memorable, and it doesn’t even live up to the modest standards of its Stitch-related direct-to-video predecessors. It creates some moderate amusement and keeps us fairly involved for its short running time, but it doesn’t do more than that.

Leroy & Stitch appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. The other Stitch efforts offered good visuals, and Leroy lived up to those standards.

Sharpness seemed very good. From start to finish, the movie remained crisp and well defined. I noticed no examples of softness or fuzziness during this detailed and concise picture. Jagged edges and moiré effects appeared absent, and I noticed no signs of edge enhancement. In regard to print flaws, I noticed none, as the movie looked clean and fresh from start to finish.

Like its predecessors, Leroy boasted a vivid and varied palette, and the DVD presented those hues well. The colors consistently looked positive. From the lush landscapes to the bold tones of the aliens, the hues always came across as lively and tight. Black levels also seemed terrifically deep and solid, while shadow detail was appropriately dense but never seemed overly murky. Ultimately, Leroy offered a fine image.

When we moved to the audio, we found a similarly strong experience. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Leroy & Stitch favored the front channels, but the mix opened up well when appropriate. Stitch’s nightmares offered lively material, and other actions scenes provided a lot of exciting sonic activity. In between, things seemed more subdued, but the soundfield matched the film nicely. Music always demonstrated positive stereo imaging, and the effects created a realistic and involving sense of atmosphere. When the action heated up, the surrounds added a fine layer of material that contributed some engaging audio. The back speakers also offered a lot of effective isolated speech that created a fun sense of setting.

Audio quality seemed positive. Dialogue always came across as natural and warm, and I detected no concerns related to edginess or intelligibility. Music appeared bright and dynamic, with concise highs and rich lows. Effects also were tight and realistic. Those elements betrayed no distortion, as they consistently appeared clean and accurate. The effects provided some strong bass response as well. The track lacked the consistent ambition to make it to “A” level, but it still warranted a positive “B+”.

Only a couple of extras round out the set. The main attraction stems from a “never-before-seen” bonus episode of the Lilo & Stitch TV series. This show lasts 22 minutes and 40 seconds as it presents Experiment 251, a critter who binds together uncooperative individuals. This means he links Lilo and her schoolyard nemesis Myrtle as well as Pleakley/Jumba and Nani/Stitch.

I think this episode proves more interesting than Leroy itself. It lacks the same production values and isn’t quite as amusing, but at least it boasts a more creative story. It’s a pretty good little program.

We also get a Big Red Battleship Flight Simulator game. This requires you to use the arrow buttons to navigate a debris field. It’s pretty easy and moderately entertaining, largely because it uses Hamsterviel as an annoyance. Unfortunately, it doesn’t present a real reward for success.

Technical glitch alert: when I played this DVD through my HT receiver, the audio for the menus and the TV show episode was very rough and distorted. Everything else sounded fine, and when I checked out the bonus episode through my TV’s analog inputs, it came across well. I don’t know why some aspects of the audio were so terrible through my receiver, but I thought I’d mention this concern.

Leroy opens with some promos. This disc begins with ads for releases of The Little Mermaid, Meet the Robinsons, That’s So Raven: Raven’s Makeover Madness, and High School Musical. In addition, all of these and previews for The Shaggy Dog, The Suite Life, The Fox and the Hound, Little Einsteins Mission Celebration, Spymate, and Brother Bear 2 appear in the Sneak Peeks section.

Leroy & Stitch will create a sense of déjà vu in its viewers. Those who’ve seen its predecessors will find the same style of entertainment here. This means it provides decent fun but never becomes anything particularly inventive or memorable. The DVD features excellent picture and very good audio but lacks substantial extras. Stitch fans should rent this one, but I can’t recommend a purchase, especially since the DVD comes with a rather high list price of almost $27.