[MouseMan]

Rude, blue and coming to theater (or store) near you.
By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY

Stop talking to Aloha Stitch, and he"ll snore.

He's awfully naughty. He can be darn nice, too. And if you ignore him, he'll emit a bored "Whatever. " Though Disney's latest animated adventure Lilo & Stitch doesn't open until June 21, consumers already are itching to get their mitts on Aloha Stitch, a chatty, Furby-esque version of the destructive bat-eared alien who is adopted by a little Hawaiian girl named Lilo. Depending on how you talk to the cuddly koala-ish creature, this version of Stitch ($30-$35) answers with one of 35 responses.

Ask if he's hungry, and he requests "Coconut cake and coffee, please." Inquire if he's rotten, and he cackles insanely. He burps, barks and, if you stop playing with him, snores and turns himself off.

Disney consumer products president Andy Mooney describes Stitch as "fresh and hip."

Stitch's voice is provided by the movie's co-director and writer, Chris Sanders. Obviously, this wee space traveler is not your typical kid movie hero. No one ever saw E.T. pick his nose with his tongue, for instance, or curse in galactic gibberish as Stitch does.

The toy, available in stores for the past two or three weeks, have been selling "at an extraordinarily high rate," says Mooney. "It's amazing to think that the movie hasn't debuted, yet we're already in a reorder situation for most of the Disney stores."

Though the company won't release exact figures, Mooney says sales are 50% higher than for the products from Disney's fall smash Monsters, Inc., during the same pre-opening time period.

Along with the Web Blaster from Spider-Man and the Jedi light sabers from Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones, the talking Stitch and his mute plush cousins ($10-$16) are the "I want it, Mommy!" movie toys of the summer. The difference is, mere months ago, no one knew Stitch from any other slice of Disney kitsch because he's an original creation done just for the movie.

The studio's pitch for Stitch has been on the money, toy analyst Chris Byrne says.

"It speaks to the power of pre-opening promotion," he says. "Those trailers where Stitch disrupts traditional Disney cartoons like Beauty and the Beast were so appealing to children's safe sense of mischief. He is mischievous but not mean. They established an identity for this misfit guy from the get-go."

In fact, Mooney says an animated TV series starring the rude blue dude is in the works. The secret to his appeal is simple. As Byrne puts it, "People like the character and he's cute."

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[MouseMan]

I decided that I had to post this above info, 'cause I LOVE mine! And it's really a well done doll! The "furby-esque" aspects of this new toy is certainly going to make it a hot item! (The Disney store closest to me is almost out of them already!) So if you'd like to get one...get him soon! Once the film opens...you'll be hard pressed to find them!