Sorry, Ugly Sonic—you’re not going to have an Ugly Stitch to add to your friend group.
Back in 2019, Paramount learned the perils of building a major movie marketing campaign around the reveal of a “live-action” version of a beloved animated character—in that case, Sonic the Hedgehog. When fans got a look at the film’s take on the classic video game speedster, they made like Knuckles and didn’t chuckle.
The largely negative online reaction spurred the filmmakers to instead flex their muscles by postponing the movie for a ground-up character rebuild that was more in line with vintage Sonic. The result of that extreme makeover? A billion-dollar-grossing global franchise that’s currently prepping its fourth installment.
No such last-minute interventions were required to rescue Stitch, the cute and fluffy half of the titular Lilo & Stitch duo headlining Disney’s live-action adaptation of its 2002 animated favorite. According to Mouse House marketing evp Martha Morrison, she and her team knew they had a star on their hands the moment they laid eyes on the CGI recreation of the previously hand-drawn extraterrestrial.
“He was obviously very cute, and felt very much like the character people know and love,” Morrison tells ADWEEK, admitting that an Ugly Sonic-like scenario was a concern prior to her first look at the new Stitch. “Believe me, you run through all the things that people could potentially say about the character that would present a problem. But the filmmakers nailed it.”
The updated Stitch has already won the hearts of moviegoers heading into opening weekend. Box office estimates indicate that Lilo & Stitch will likely bank nearly $300 million around the world over the Memorial Day holiday. (Not bad for a movie that started its life as a direct-to-Disney+ production.)
And Disney’s Stitch-centric marketing campaign can be credited with laying the groundwork for that hefty haul. The alien has been running rampant through a series of real-world pop-up stunts, including a Super Bowl appearance that almost upstaged the Big Game as well as viral movie theater appearances.
