
At Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008 on Thursday, American media conglomerate
Walt Disney unveiled a three-minute pilot video of
Stitch!, the television series
animated by Japan's
Madhouse studio for the Japanese market. Disney's original
Lilo & Stitch! film (pictured at right) and its earlier spinoffs centered on a space alien named
Stitch! and the Hawaiian girl who adopts him. This new project will feature a new girl, tentatively named Hanako, who hails from southern Japan's Okinawan islands and knows karate. The pilot includes traditional Okinawan music. The AFP news source
posted a photograph that shows
Stitch! and the new Japanese heroine. (In the
linked page, click on the photo for a slightly larger view.) Disney also covered its
Fireball production with
Toei Animation and its
Robo Crosser production with
Telecom Animation Film.