Lilo & Stitch (2002) Reviews

• Gets Better And Better As The Film Goes On

  ccthemovieman-12006-10-12

  This was a pretty entertaining "kids" animated film. It was a little different in that there is some dramatic action you usually don't see in nice animated cartoons and you have heroes who aren't exactly good role models. However, as the film progresses, all those characters (small child, big sister and alien) all become nicer and more caring "people." There also is a good "no one is left behind" family message. You just have to be patient with the human kid and sister in the beginning. I think the best feature of this film are the brilliant colors. This is a great visual movie. It's also nice to hear a kids movie these days with absolutely no profanity in it. (What a sad statement to have to make.) In summary: one of the better modern-day animated films. Highly recommended.

• Is this a Disney movie???

  Theoron2002-06-21

  Project "Six-Two-Six" is deemed too dangerous by the "Grand Council." A hideous genetic creation from the lab of mad-scientist "Jumba," (David Ogden Stiers) project Six-Two-Six is put on board a space ship to be banished to a nice little deserted asteroid, where he can live out the rest of his days. On the way there, project Six-Two-Six takes over the ship, and then escapes using what looks like a space squad car. He eventually crash lands on one of the islands of Hawaii (Kauai?) where a little five-year old orphan girl named "Lilo" (Daviegh Chase) finds him in a dog pound (don't ask) and takes him home as her new pet dog, "Stitch" (Chris Sanders). Of course the Grand Council soon realizes what has happened, and sends agent "Pleakley" (Kevin McDonald) along with the mad-scientist to the island to recapture experiment Six-Two-Six. And so begins one of the most unusual and creative animated films from the Disney studios. Featuring a completely new style of drawing, and backgrounds that look like watercolor paintings, Disney is taking a bold step in trying something a little different. The artwork seems like a combination of "Winnie-the-Pooh" and Saturday morning cartoons. The dialogue and slapstick comedy is much more reminiscent of Warner Brother's beloved "Loony-Tunes." Except for a handful of well chosen Elvis Presely songs, and some beautiful Hawaiian music, there are none of the musical numbers that one would expect to find in a typical Disney film. (I, for one, didn't miss them.) We soon find out that Lilo is an orphan, living with her older sister Nani (Tia Carrere) in what could be comfortably called a "dysfunctional" household. Nani is trying hard to make ends meet and be a mother to her young sister, who is having a very difficult time adjusting to life without her mom and dad. The creators of the film do a superb job with the character of Lilo, making you identify with her loneliness and isolation without making it depressing. They also very accurately portray the problems with an older sibling raising a younger, and the friction and fighting that results is typical of what one would find in this sort of arrangement. The subject matter is very mature, but the animators do a fantastic job bringing it home to a level that small children can appreciate. Nani decides Lilo needs a dog to keep her company, so off to the kennel they go. Lilo just falls in love with Stitch, the "talking dog," and decides to take him for a pet. It is with this most unlikely of characters that Lilo can find someone to confide in, to share her passions with (like Elvis), and to share the pain and sorrow that comes from being without parents. Stitch was created by the mad-scientist Jumba to be an evil little monster, but in the care of Lilo, he realizes his own aloneness, and his need for love and acceptance. So the evil little alien allows Lilo to take him by the hand, dress him up as Elvis, and go surfing. (Stitch's one weakness in the inability to swim, so for him to go surfing is a surprising concession to the little girl's whims.) His original motive for being "nice" to Lilo was to avoid the agents sent to recapture him, but soon he realizes that Lilo and Nani mean more to him than just sanctuary. Disney makes a point in all their trailers and commercials to show Stitch as the Rodney Dangerfield of animated characters: he don't get any respect. Other than Lilo, everyone else in the film, including his creator Jumba, is trying to capture and/or kill him. Even Lilo's sister finds several opportunities to take out her frustrations on the mixed-up little alien. At first, it's rather amusing, since Stitch is about the most obnoxious Disney character of all time, but after a while, you start feeling sorry for the little guy, and start hoping that he can find the love and acceptance he's longing for. I've often wondered why Disney's recent animated films cannot reach the level that Pixar's CGI creations do effortlessly ("Toy Story," "Monsters Inc."). Disney's cartoons seem dull and lifeless compared to the fun and action that Pixar delivers on a regular basis. Well, it seems as if the Disney animators are finally being infected by some of the magic that comes from their computer animation partners. "Lilo & Stitch" demonstrates that there is still some life left in that old art form that Walt made so famous many years ago. But more importantly, this little gem has a lot of heart. You find yourself caring for the orphaned Lilo, you find yourself hoping that Stitch can fin d a place in a family, and you hope that big sister Nani can find a way to keep social worker "Mr. Bubbles" (Ving Rhames) from taking Lilo away to a foster home. There are some really big themes being tackled in this film, such as unconditional love, the need to belong to a group or community, self sacrifice, and family unity. The animators handles all these extremely well, and you find yourself getting a lesson in philosophy as well as being entertained. Yet the one theme that Disney pushes in all their advertising, and several times during the course of the film, is the oft repeated phrase: "Ohana means family, and family means NO ONE gets left behind." This is a theme one finds emphasized in the recent combat films "Black Hawk Down" and "We Were Soldiers," but isn't something you often find in a animated feature! That one little phrase, "no one gets left behind," has enough philosophical and theological weight to fill a college text book. It means that everyone, no matter what you may think of them, has value, and that there is no such thing an "expendable" person. A better lesson for young children would be difficult to find. My rating: 10/10.

• The Oasis in the Middle of a Desert

  Foux_du_Fafa2006-10-21

  Disney's animation department (until the purchase of Pixar) had, to tell the truth, fallen into a bit of a dark age as the 90s drew to a close. The films were getting muddled with executive desires, and as a result went ridiculously over budget, and needless to say ultimately often bombing at the box office and/or with critics as a consequence. Only the Pixar films and, to a lesser extent, DTV sequels (themselves not exactly the brightest bulbs in the chandelier) were really the only new animated films from Disney that were making money. Whilst a number of Disney's animated films of the early 2000s are fine ("Home on the Range" and "Brother Bear" are, in particular, both fun flicks), they certainly don't quite live up to the best of Disney animation. And then there's "Chicken Little". I wanted to like it, but I was left really disappointed. It had nice animation, but executive meddling had left the story in a mess. I'm a fan of Zach Braff and Harry Shearer, but even their vocal talents didn't save this film, which resulted in the worst Disney film of all time, and was probably only a hit due to the sheer mountain of advertising. And yet, there's always an oasis in the middle of a desert, and "Lilo and Stitch" is, in this case, just that. It's the story of a girl who mistakes an alien for a dog, and whilst seeming an unusual little flick, is unpretentious. The animation differs from the classic Disney style that many may be used to, but it's delicious eye candy. It's rather touching, too and was rightfully a hit with critics and at the box office. Director Chris Sanders is directing another animated film for Disney entitled "American Dog" and should be released in 2008. Hopefully that will be just as good. Although it was rated PG in the USA, I honestly think that most young kids will be able to take this if they survived the likes of "The Lion King", "Finding Nemo" and "Dumbo". But enough with the kids, and onto the adults; seriously, don't dub this as a kids movie because it's made by Disney. It's got something for everybody in it and I recommend it.

• A very un-Disney-like Disney animation. And not in a bad way.

  Victor Field2003-03-22

  "Lilo & Stitch" is unusual for a Disney animated movie in that it actually seems to take place in the real world (not to mention the present day), despite the latter half of the title being a genetic creation from another galaxy. Devoid of almost everything that people come to expect when the name "Walt Disney Pictures" appears on screen - which is not to say we're in "Golgo 13" territory here - this, as did "The Emperor's New Groove," suggests that though the box office takings may go down, the House of Mouse may yet pull another "Beauty and the Beast" on us one day. The movie's a breath of fresh air not only in its setting - it's set on the Hawaiian island of Kauai - but also in its characters; Lilo is a little girl being brought up by her big sister Nani following their parents' death (offscreen), and the movie's not afraid to indicate that it's tough for both of them. They, along with their social worker Cobra Bubbles and friend David, constitute a rare sighting of proper human beings in Disney cartoons (see also, surprisingly, Lucky Piquel from "Bonkers"), the reward writer-directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois get for putting the emphasis on the emotions rather than on the chase element of the plot (Stitch/Experiment 626 was created by a scientist in violation of the laws of his planet; when Stitch escaped, his creator and an "E-arth" expert were sent to bring him back) or on the potential for slapstick - though it's there and it's certainly used, the focus is purely on heart. The realness of the movie means that "Lilo & Stitch" often feels like a live action movie that just happens to be drawn (at one point Stitch sees a 1950s SF movie on TV, and the movie in question is shown as a genuine film clip). Usually that's a bad thing if the 'toon in question strives to be realistic, but in this case there are so many elements that don't come naturally - seen any koala/dog hybrid-Elvis Presley wannabes on the beach lately? - that it still works. If there's a downside, it's that the scenes of the alien pursuers are for the most part almost a distraction... but even then the human element ups the involvement, with the added bonus of there being no real "bad guys" per se (yes, I said bonus - it's nice to see a Disney movie where there isn't a traditional black-hatted villain, just people doing their jobs). And if all else fails, take into consideration the fact that it's also often genuinely funny; the fact that it never condescends to its audience; the fact that you actually have real Hawaiians (the voices of Tia Carrere and Jason Scott Lee) as key Hawaiian characters; and the fact that the songs used here actually have a purpose (to add dimension to our heroes - Lilo is a major fan of Elvis and tries to reach Stitch through the King), something many live-action movies often forget. "Lilo & Stitch" would be something worth seeing even if it wasn't a Disney film; seeing that it is... moving forward was always one of Walt's credos. It's encouraging to see that they're actually capable of following his ethos without the help of Pixar. One major flaw though: in spite of the presence of Elvis, Wynonna and Alan Silvestri, the British release version has well-known song-murderer Gareth Gates slaughtering "Suspicious Minds" over the end credits. Thank heaven someone invented the "mute" button.

• Pure Magic

  videogrfx-12005-03-04

  I don't know why this film didn't do better at the box office. This is perhaps Disney's best animated film to date. It rivals anything by Pixar. Why? Very simple really and it's what Pixar keeps doing so well. They tell a good story filled with well developed characters. Not to mention the animation is excellent and the watercolor backgrounds beautiful. Watch it a second or third time just to look at these fantastic pieces of art! I hope Disney learns a lesson here (from DVD sales at least) that 2-D animation isn't dead if done right and Lilo & Stitch was done right. I purchased the DVD for my daughter, okay, for me too but she loves it and while only almost four, she gets the themes. (although it took her a while to understand Nani is Lilo's sister and not her mother). The special features are good. The Hawiian Children's Choir and Hula segments especially good. I liked the deleted scene feature and would like to see them added for a later release. Disney should have marketed this film better. I would have liked to have seen it on the big screen. Personally, I don't care for Disney as a company but if they keep producing work like this, I'll keep coming back.