One of my favorite Disney movies is Lilo and Stitch, which has a great combination of great writing, humorous characters and heart. The franchising of Lilo and Stitch has not fared so well; while the tv show and the followup direct to dvd movies have done well money-wise, the storytelling and comedic aspects of these efforts have suffered. The news today is that Disney is developing a new Stitch property fills me with both anticipation and dread. Developed jointly by Disney and Toei Animation's Madhouse (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) and titled "Stitch!", the setting has moved from Hawaii to an fictional island in southern Japan (very similar to Okinawa), and introduces a girl named Hanako as Stitch's new sidekick. Madhouse has managed to produce some great anime series in the past such as Deathnote and Dennou Coil, and contributed to the Animatrix in the "World Record" short.
Hmmm... We just introduced Katie to Lilo and Stitch (we've been slowly introducing her to kids movies that we think are good). It seems that the biggest problem with any follow on to Lilo and Stitch the supernatural aspects of the story were window dressing. Stitch was never really in danger because of his indestructible nature. The story in Lilo and stitch was about Nani and Lilo fixing their family and healing from the loss of their parents and about Stitch's personal evolution from evil (I don't know backing up sewers, reversing street signs, and stealing everyone's left shoe just doesn't seem that evil...) ball of destruction to "a model citizen". Stitch is a character whose story was finished at the end of the movie. Sure you can give him "adventures" but much like the Incredibles (thank god they never made an Incredibles II) Lilo and Stitch was done when the credits rolled.
And I too prefer the title Evil Genius...