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"Lilo and Stitch" is the latest animated offering from Disney. It tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a small Elvis-obsessed Hawaiian girl called Lilo and a blue alien called Stitch.
With "The Emperor’s New Groove" the House of Mouse finally found its funnybone and it’s pleasing to see that it’s kept a finger firmly on it. "Lilo and Stitch" is somewhat of a departure from the sickly sweet offerings of Disney of old. For a kick-off, we seem to have the first animated anti-hero in the form of Stitch. You see, he’s no ordinary doe-eyed alien; created by idiot scientist Jumba on the distant planet of Thermio, he’s "bulletproof, fireproof, and can think faster than a supercomputer. His only instinct…to destroy everything he touches." Not to mention the fact that he has six arms, can change his appearance and slip through the smallest gaps. (But he will drown if thrown in water, which could be considered a design fault). Oh and he talks like a cross between Animal from the Muppet Show and the Tasmanian Devil. So when he escapes from a high-security space prison and heads for earth, the aliens are somewhat concerned and send Jumba
and mosquito expert Pleakley to retrieve him. These two are little more than a cartoon version of Laurel and Hardy (or Little and Large) and seem to lurk in the background far more than ostensibly villainous characters should. Still at least the actors voicing them seem to be having a good time, seeing as they get most of the best lines. Jumba has a heavy Central European accent, as befits a mad scientist and which sounds great when he reveals Stitch’s instincts "He vill go to first major city he can find, back up the sewers, turn all traffic signs round and steal everyone’s left shoe…" And Pleakley’s weasely voice matches the character perfectly, especially when he’s eulogising over Earth as a habitat for the "endangered" mosquito.
Lilo’s not exactly your average Disney moppet either. Orphaned by a car crash, she lives with her elder sister Nani and is under immediate threat of being taken into care by the improbably named social worker, Cobra Bubbles. She’s pretty dysfunctional, getting into fights at school, finding it hard to make friends, locking herself in the house listening to "Heartbreak Hotel" when no-one will listen to her and so on and so forth. In fact, she acts like a real kid might in such a traumatic situation. But that’s where the reality ends. This is Disney, after all. So it’s no surprise that when she goes to the local dog pound, she picks Stitch as her new best friend.
The character of Nani has a realistic edge, as a young woman who has had to grow up very fast and is struggling to make ends meet. However, her boyfriend David seems to exist merely as a plot device, so the animators could sneak in some surfing footage. But he is countered by the morally ambiguous social worker, Cobra Bubbles, whose job it is to take Lilo away. Strangely he brings a little gravitas to the piece, which is in no small measure due to the fact that he is voiced by the immediately recognisable Ving Rhames.
The main characters are rounded out by a motley assortment of aliens, who resemble everything from fish to armadillos and a small group of humans who are little more than sight gags.
The animation style is also fairly unusual for Disney. This time they have gone for a very rounded, chunky style, which extends to virtually all of the characters, which gives everything a plump, cuddly look. The colours are bright and fresh and give the film the overall appearance of one of the studio’s films from the fifties. This is also the first Disney film in thirty years to use hand-painted watercolour backdrops for all of the shots, giving the scenes a hazy quality, appropriate to the location. There is also the unusual step of inserting snippets of old film footage and photographic stills into the mix, which gives some scenes an almost surreal quality.
The soundtrack thankfully diverges from the tired formula of lots of crushingly dull and formulaic soft rock and ballads. Instead, we are treated to some of Elvis’ finest numbers, sung by the man himself (with the exception of the totally superfluous Gareth Gates cover of "Suspicious Minds" over the end credits). Lilo’s obsession with the King also provides a handy little plot hook, whereby she tries to mould Stitch into the image of Elvis, which leads to him wearing a variety of Hawaiian shirts, jumpsuits and wigs, before going off the deep end at a load of tourists.
Overall, the story and stylistic conceits of the film mesh together well, giving the audience a polished product. There are plenty of flashy visuals and some inventive chase scenes to keep preteen speed freaks happy. There are even some snappy one-liners and lots of film references to keep adults involved. And to keep the Disney purists happy, there’s even a trite moral to go with the film, all based on the Hawaiian concept of "ohana" or family, which is something to do with nobody being forgotten and nobody being left behind, which sounds to me more like a rule of thumb for any large family going on holiday.
So, grab the kids and go along, there are far worse ways to spend eighty-five minutes of your life. The worst that can happen is that you’re badgered from now until forever for all the merchandising. And if you haven’t got any kids, go anyway and laugh like a drain as a blue koala-alike alien is thwarted in his attempts to wreak havoc on a small island without any major cities…and wonder why we don’t send George W Bush there.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Kids will like it, Elvis soundtrack, ocassional funny moment, 'cute' if you like that kind of thing Disadvantages: Lazy, lazy production. Disney morals(again), no surprises, not a classic Disney movie by any stretch of the imagination
Advantages: lovely quality of drawn animation, positive messages, realistic body forms and facial feautres Disadvantages: some of the extras could have been left off without harm
Advantages: Great soundtrack from Elvis, Original characters and nice family plot line Disadvantages: Its mad that the characters actually believe Stitch is a dog when he is clearly an alien!!
![Lilo&Stitch [DVD] [2002]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78207113.jpg "Lilo&Stitch [DVD] [2002]")
Oct 19th, 2002
very helpful by (100%):
