The parade of Disney direct-to-video (DTV) sequels continues with 2005’s Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch. In this one, alien critter Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders) fears that his bad side will come out again. His human pal Lilo (Dakota Fanning) reassures him, but his nightmares give him qualms.

In the meantime, Lilo gets an assignment to come up with a hula dance for an upcoming celebration. She worries she doesn’t have enough talent even though her late mother was a good dancer at Lilo’s age. Here Stitch supports his buddy and they strive to come up with a dance that will win the competition.

Stitch’s fears of problems grow when he starts to behave erratically. His former evil genius creator Jumba (David Ogden Stiers) tells fellow alien Pleakley (Kevin McDonald) that Stitch wasn’t “fully charged” before he escaped. This means Stitch may run out of energy soon and experience significant concerns. The movie follows Stitch’s issues along with Lilo’s hula and conflicts between the two caused by Stitch’s behavior.

While most Disney DTV projects range from mediocre to bad, the Lilo sequels have proven to be surprisingly good. 2003’s Stitch! The Movie wasn’t exactly a classic, but it offered decent laughs and entertainment. The same holds true for the generally amusing Glitch.

I was tempted to simply cut and paste my comments about Stitch! since both it and Glitch provide the same strengths and weaknesses. In the latter category, Glitch suffers from a simple lack of inspiration. Disney doesn’t create these DTV sequels because of a burning need to continue the stories. Instead, they’re cheap, easy ways to produce product, and they sell. Lilo’s need to create a hula isn’t exactly a plot for the ages, and Stitch’s theme isn’t much better.

Nonetheless, Glitch manages to use its varied characters to good advantage. As was the case with Stitch, almost all the original voice actors return. Jason Scott Lee (“David”) went missing last time, but he returns here. Everyone else is along for the ride, though Dakota Fanning takes over for Daveigh Chase as Lilo. I guess the now 15-year-old Chase could no longer sound like a seven-year-old, though apparently she’ll return for 2006’s Leroy and Stitch, so maybe she was just too busy for Glitch. The accomplished Fanning does just fine in the part.

The other actors continue to bring a lot of life to their roles. Stiers, McDonald and Sanders prove fun and lively as their goofy characters. I especially like Stiers’ eastern European turn on the nutty inventor Jumba; he turns a stock role into something unusual and creative.

Frankly, there’s not a ton to say about Lilo & Stitch 2. The animation seems perfectly fine and the thin story lines work out more than adequately for the film. The plots act as little more than a framework for the gags anyway, so I don’t mind their flimsiness. Matters turn surprisingly sweet and emotional when necessary as well, even if the flick starts to borrow liberally from ET. Glitch doesn’t live up to the original movie, but it works out better than expected and offers decent entertainment.

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch 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. No problems interfered with this excellent transfer.

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.

The tropical Hawaiian setting of Glitch meant that it 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, Glitch offered a fine image.

When we moved to the audio, we found a similarly strong experience. Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch offered both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. Both were very similar, and I discerned no significant differences between them.

Much of the movie 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 few minor extras round out the DVD. Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride presents a music video from Jump5. Is there some factory at Disney that manufactures these pop groups packed with attractive, peppy teens? Jump5 are totally nondescript, and this boring video is a waste of space.

A bonus short called “The Origin of Stitch” lasts four minutes, 37 seconds. It shows us what it describes, as it depicts Stitch’s creation. Don’t we already know this information? I’m not sure what purpose this redundant cartoon serves.

Two activities pop up under “Games and Activities”. Where’s Pleakley? offers a video version of “Where’s Waldo”. It forces us to find Pleakley in crowd scenes. The interface makes it tough to succeed. In one-player mode, you need to locate Pleakley quickly, but since you have to scan through a mix of choices, it’s almost impossible to do so rapidly enough to beat the clock.

Jumba’s Experiment Profiler shows you various creations and asks questions about them. The individual profiles offer more than enough information to make this an easy task.

A few ads open the DVD. We get promos for Cinderalla, The Greatest Game Ever Played, The Shaggy Dog and Leroy and Stitch. These also appear under Sneak Peeks along with clips for Toy Story, Kronk’s New Groove, My Scene Goes Hollywood, Bambi II and Kim Possible.

Perhaps I liked Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch solely due to low expectations. Whatever the case, I still thought the movie offered a reasonable amount of fun and entertainment. The DVD presented very good picture and sound but lacked substantial extras. With a list price of nearly $30, it seems a little pricey for a purchase, but it’s at least worth a rental.