The Plot: An alien programmed for death and
destruction is adopted by two orphaned sisters on the island of Kauai.
The Songs: "He Mele No Lilo,"
"Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" (performed by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu
and Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus); "Blue Hawaii," "Heartbreak Hotel,"
"Hound Dog," "Stuck On You," "Suspicious Minds," "You're The Devil In Disguise" (performed by Elvis
Presley); "Burning Love" (performed by Wynonna); "Can't Help Falling In
Love" (performed by The A*Teens)
A Little History: Production on Lilo & Stitch cost $80 million - the idea being that, in the
wake of several expensive flops for the studio, it would be more economical to
produce an animated feature at roughly half their usual budget. (See also Dumbo.) Co-writer/director Chris Sanders
originally created Stitch during the mid-80s, for a children's book which was
never published. Sanders and co-director Dean DeBlois previously collaborated
on the script for Mulan (the poster
for which hangs on Nani's bedroom wall). They based the look of Lilo & Stitch on Sanders' own personal
artistic style - soft, rounded, with no hard edges or straight lines to any of
the characters or set designs - and chose to use water-colored backgrounds as
opposed to Disney's traditional gouache animation style. Multiplane camera
effects and tone mattes were also kept to a minimum, to give the movie a more
old- fashioned look than any of its modern-day predecessors. During the
animators' research trip to Hawaii, they learned the concept of 'ohana (defined by their tour guide as "a
sense of family that extends far beyond your immediate relatives") and
integrated its importance into the plot. Most of the mountain ranges and
cityscapes as featured in the film are based on actual Hawaiian locations. Voice
actors Tia Carrere (Noni) and Jason Scott Lee (David), both native to the
islands, helped rewrite much of the dialogue to reflect proper dialect and
slang. Initially, the screenplay climaxed with a Boeing 747 careening throughdowntown Honolulu; this sequence was changed, however, following the attacks on
September 11, 2001. Teaser trailers for the film (called "Inter-Stitch-als")
parodied previous Disney Classics including Beauty
And The Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, set to AC/DC's "Back
In Black." Lilo & Stitch
opened on June 21, 2002, and eventually grossed $273 million worldwide - one of
two Disney titles, along with The
Princess And The Frog (2009), to earn back its budget during the 2000s. A
direct-to-video sequel, Stitch! The Movie, was
released in August 2003, and essentially served as the pilot
for Lilo & Stitch: The Series,
which ran on the Disney Channel from September 2003 to July 2006.
How It Broke New Ground: The first feature-length animated film set in Hawaii. Also one of a handful of Disney films to be set during the present day (the others being One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Rescuers, Oliver & Company and The Rescuers Down Under).
How It Holds Up Today: Animation with an attitude, and another attempt by Disney - after Dinosaur, The Emperor's New Groove and Atlantis failed to generate much heat at the box office - to cash in on the current pop culture climate. Whatever the ploy, it worked: Lilo & Stitch's $145 million U.S. gross far outshined its predecessors, and no doubt won a victory for smaller budgets and tighter production schedules the world over. (Chris Sanders and Dean DuBlois, by the way, went on to helm How To Train Your Dragon for DreamWorks.) For his part, Stitch (who looks like a cross between a sugar glider and a koala bear) takes a bit of getting used to; he uses poor Lilo as a human shield at one point, almost drowns her at another, and generally upends the lives of everyone he comes into contact with. Even Lilo herself is far from your typical six year old, acting out as she does because of some deep-seated emotional trauma (not since Bambi has the death of a parent affected cartoon characters so grievously). Great pains are made to connect these two as kindred spirits, which is obvious, and the lush Hawaiian landscapes and cleverly-integrated Elvis Presley songs are a welcome addition to the canon. But it's the 'ohana/ family stuff that really sneaks up on you - proof that, despite the movie's rougher edges, Disney still has our best interests at heart.
Grade: B
How It Broke New Ground: The first feature-length animated film set in Hawaii. Also one of a handful of Disney films to be set during the present day (the others being One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Rescuers, Oliver & Company and The Rescuers Down Under).
How It Holds Up Today: Animation with an attitude, and another attempt by Disney - after Dinosaur, The Emperor's New Groove and Atlantis failed to generate much heat at the box office - to cash in on the current pop culture climate. Whatever the ploy, it worked: Lilo & Stitch's $145 million U.S. gross far outshined its predecessors, and no doubt won a victory for smaller budgets and tighter production schedules the world over. (Chris Sanders and Dean DuBlois, by the way, went on to helm How To Train Your Dragon for DreamWorks.) For his part, Stitch (who looks like a cross between a sugar glider and a koala bear) takes a bit of getting used to; he uses poor Lilo as a human shield at one point, almost drowns her at another, and generally upends the lives of everyone he comes into contact with. Even Lilo herself is far from your typical six year old, acting out as she does because of some deep-seated emotional trauma (not since Bambi has the death of a parent affected cartoon characters so grievously). Great pains are made to connect these two as kindred spirits, which is obvious, and the lush Hawaiian landscapes and cleverly-integrated Elvis Presley songs are a welcome addition to the canon. But it's the 'ohana/ family stuff that really sneaks up on you - proof that, despite the movie's rougher edges, Disney still has our best interests at heart.
Grade: B
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Hang on, Disney fans – there's more to come. Need to play catch up? Click on the following for: Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Fun And Fancy Free, Melody Time, The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady And The Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred And One Dalmatians, The Sword In The Stone, The Jungle Book, The AristoCats, Robin Hood, The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, The Rescuers, The Fox And The Hound, The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver & Company, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, Fantasia/ 2000, Dinosaur, The Emperor's New Groove, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Please comment! Let me know what you think!
Hang on, Disney fans – there's more to come. Need to play catch up? Click on the following for: Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Fun And Fancy Free, Melody Time, The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady And The Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred And One Dalmatians, The Sword In The Stone, The Jungle Book, The AristoCats, Robin Hood, The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, The Rescuers, The Fox And The Hound, The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver & Company, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, Fantasia/ 2000, Dinosaur, The Emperor's New Groove, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Please comment! Let me know what you think!
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