Lilo & Stitch: Movie Review

This 2002 animated movie saw the resurgence of Disney as one of the top animation studios in the world.

"Lilo & Stitch" is about a troubled girl named Lilo (Daveigh Chase). She lives in Hawaii with her sister, Nani (Tia Carrere), and finds it difficult to make friends at school. Until she met Stitch (Chris Sanders), a blue alien space dog.

Stitch is an experiment, an abomination with a propensity for chaos. He is also a fugitive who happens to fall to Earth accidentally. Despite all of these, the young girl still adopted him, as she believes that there is something good inside him.

Meanwhile, the Grand Councilwoman (Zoe Caldwell) employs the mad scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba (David Ogden Stiers) and Earth specialist Agt. Wendell Pleakley (Kevin McDonald) to re-capture Stitch. And hence, a cat and mouse chase begins.

"Lilo & Stitch" is a story that is unlike any other. Disney has talking toys and dinosaurs, but no one ever thought Disney would make a children's story out of aliens.

With the release of "Spirited Away" and "Treasure Planet," 2002 was a good year for animated movies. It also marks a significant progression in animation as it gears toward grown-up viewers. The storyline is still quirky, of course, but it is more self-aware.

Thanks to the poor performance of "Emperor's New Groove" and "Atlantis" at the box office, Disney executives opted to make a low-budget movie. Because if it flops again, the damage is at a minimum. Hence "Lilo & Stitch," directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois.

It is a gamble by the company to hope kids will love the characters and the story. But since there is little to no risk of making it at all, why not?

 

Thankfully, "Lilo & Stitch" overcomes all doubt by making us all fall in love with the heartwarming story of faith and change. It is a consolation that everything is well-made. The beautiful watercolor background, the memorable characters, and the killer soundtrack, courtesy of The King, all worked perfectly.

 

At the heart of the story is a lesson about "ohana," or family. It wants the audience to realize that we are all the same despite our superficial differences. We are all lost and looking for our home. What we all want is to be remembered and loved. We are all broken in some big and little ways, but we always try to be good.

4/5