Elvis is back again

Just when you thought that all the furor about his being alive or not has already died down, Elvis Presley is back in the news again and seems to be hotter than ever. There are two reasons for this. One is the surprise success of the Disney animated flick Lilo & Stitch where the King of Rock and Roll figures prominently in the story and also in the soundtrack. The other is the release of a remix of a Presley tune from the past which swiftly went to number one in the UK hit charts and is now in the process of also conquering the US of A. And since there is really no shortage of Elvis fans hereabouts, you can bet that we will also be hearing a lot of the techno-spiced A Little Less Conversation by DJ Junkie XL once the album gets here.

Lilo & Stitch tells the story of Lilo, a lonely orphan girl in Hawaii who finds a friend in Stitch, an ugly looking dog whom she adopts from the pound. Now it turns out that Stitch is not really a dog but a genetic experiment gone wild from outer space. Fearful of what he is capable of, he was placed in a space ship to be stranded forever in some planet. But the ship crash lands on earth, Stitch escapes and the creature decides to masquerade as a dog. Needless to say, his presence turns to chaos everywhere until Lilo’s love and faith and belief in keeping a family together brings a change of attitude and behavior in the fugitive alien.

Now where does a dead pop idol like Elvis come in in this tale of Lilo and Stitch? Well, it turns out that Lilo’s parents were great Elvis fans. They probably saw him during one of his performances in Hawaii and watched his Hawaii movies together. Lilo treasures their collection of Elvis records and often plays them to ease her loneliness. She has become a huge Elvis fan. In fact she holds Elvis up to Stitch as the sort of model person the "dog" should emulate. And it works on Stitch. A tale that combines the adventures of a little girl and her "dog" in Hawaii with Presley music in the background blends heartwarming humor and nostalgia in a manner so appealing that audiences instantly fell in love with it. When last heard from Lilo & Stitch were giving the powerhouse combination of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg in Minority Report stiff competition at the box-office.

For a swoony effect the Swedish boy group A*Teens performs a new version of Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love in the soundtrack. Country music star Wynonna Judd also sings a really soulful take on Burning Love. The rest of the contents though are original Elvis recordings which include some of his best like Suspicious Minds, Hound Dog, You’re the Devil in Disguise, Stuck on You, Heartbreak Hotel and of course, the revival of the old favorite Blue Hawaii.

Presley’s Blue Hawaii was one of a few films that he shot in the islands way back in the ’60s. It was a huge box-office success and sort of made Elvis an adopted son of Hawaii. The soundtrack album was the number one seller in the charts for five months and continues to sell to this day. Aside from the title track, it includes Can’t Help Falling in Love, Rock-a-Hula Baby and the Hawaiian Wedding Song.

Thanks to Lilo & Stitch, expect Presley’s Blue Hawaii to start moving briskly once more in the shops. Of course, expect all the other Elvis albums around to start selling again because he is at present harvesting several new crops of followers along with the showing of the movie. All those kids now in love with Lilo and Stitch also want to hear more of this guy singer from many years back named Elvis Presley. Of course, they will also love his music and they will tell their kids about them who will also listen to Elvis and love his songs and so on and so forth.

Incidentally, Aug. 16 is the 25th anniversary of Presley’s death. I do not know if Lilo & Stitch was conceived as part of the activities. If not, then it turned out to be quite a nice coincidence.