Lilo & Stitch

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Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 American film, released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 21, 2002. The 42nd animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, it was written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. It was the second of three Disney animated features produced primarily at the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida studio located at Walt Disney World's Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. The film was rated PG for "mild sci-fi action". Lilo & Stitch was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, which ultimately went to Hayao Miyazaki's film, Spirited Away which also starred Daveigh Chase (in the English version).

The song Disney used to advertise the film was Suspicious Minds, performed by Gareth Gates, who became famous on the UK TV program Pop Idol.

Lilo & Stitch was such a hit, that a direct-to-video sequel, Stitch! The Movie, was released on Agust 26, 2003. This was followed by a television series, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, which ran from September 20, 2003 to July 29, 2006. A second direct-to-video sequel, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, was released on August 30, 2005. A third and final direct-to-video sequel, Leroy & Stitch, was released on June 27, 2006, and ended the TV series.

The film was released on VHS and DVD December 3, 2002. In 2003, a 2-disc DVD version was announced alongside Alice in Wonderland and Pocahontas, which were released in 2004 and 2005 repectively. A 2-Disc Special Edition DVD of Lilo & Stitch was released in the UK on August 22nd 2005, alongside the UK release of Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, but a release in the US has suffered from continuous delays.

On March 24, 2009, Disney finally released the long-awaited special edition DVD of Lilo & Stitch. Dubbed a 2-Disc Big Wave Edition, the new set holds nearly everything from the original version and adds an audio commentary, a 2-hour documentary, more deleted scenes including the infamous plane hijacking, a number of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and some games. The original disc has now been discontinued, with the superior new version matching its list price.

Plot

Dr. Jumba Jookiba (David Ogden Stiers) is put on trial by the galactic governing body for illegal genetic experiments, including Experiment 626, an aggressive and cunning creature that is nearly invulnerable. Jumba is imprisonsed while 626 is set to be exiled on an asteroid. However, during transport on Captain Gantu's ship, 626 escapes to the planet Earth. The Grand Councilwoman orders Jumba to work with Agent Pleakley (Kevin McDonald) to recover 626 discretely. 626 survives his escape attempt to Earth and lands in Hawaii, but is knocked unconscious by a passing truck, and is taken to an animal shelter believed to be a breed of dog.

After the recent death of their parents in a car accident, 21-year-old Nani Pelekai (Tia Carrere) is forced to take care of herself and her younger, more rambunctious sister Lilo (Daveigh Chase). They are visited by Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames), a social worker that warns Nani that if she cannot care for Lilo, he will be forced to take her to foster care. To try to help Lilo relax, Nani allows her to adopt a dog from the animal shelter, and Lilo immediately takes keen interest in 626 despite misgivings from Nani and the shelter. Lilo names 626 "Stitch", and shows him around the island; Stitch quickly discovers escape is impossible as he cannot swim. Nani is forced to bring Lilo and Stitch with her as she attempts to secure a job, while Lilo uses the time to try to curb Stitch's aggressiveness by making him behave as Elvis Presley. However, Stitch's antics, at times foiling Jumba and Pleakley's attempts to capture Stitch, ruin Nani's chances. David, Nani's friend, suggests a day at the beach for the four of them to help relax Nani. While attempting to teach Lilo and Stitch how to surf, Jumba makes one more effort to capture Stitch from underwater; as a result, it appears Stitch attempted to drown Lilo. Though everyone is safe on shore, Cobra saw the whole event and tells Nani he will be by in the morning to collect Lilo. After being chastised by both Nani and Lilo, Stitch leaves on his own, recognizing the importance of family.

The next morning, as Nani and Lilo wait for Cobra to arrive, David tells Nani of a job offer that she must respond to, and she entrusts Lilo to remain at home while she goes to secure it. Stitch, hiding in the nearby woods, encounters Jumba, who reveals he has been fired by the Grand Councilwoman, and thus free to use more aggressive tactics to capture Stitch. Stitch races to Lilo's house, followed by Jumba, and the two fight, Lilo quickly calling on Cobra for help. The house is ultimately destroyed by the end of the fight, just as both Nani and Cobra return. As Nani And Cobra argue over Lilo's well-being, Lilo slips away to hide in the forest and finds Stitch, who reveals his true alien form to her. While she yells at him for ruining her family, they are both captured by Captain Gantu, and he makes to leave Earth. Nani hears Lilo's cries of help, and discovers her abduction. Jumba and Pleakly reveal themselves to Nani, and are apologetic for their involvement in ruining her life, and offer to help to recover Stitch with their own spacecraft.

Stitch manages to escape his confinement, and with help from Jumba's ship and by launching a gas tanker truck out of a volcano, he is able to free Lilo and stop Gantu. After they land, they find that the Grand Councilwoman has arrived nearby, escorted by Cobra, to arrest Stitch personally. However, when she sees Stitch hugging Nani and Lilo, she realizes he has become a civilized creature. Using Lilo's certificate of Stitch's ownership as proof, the Councilwoman asserts that Stitch is now a part of Nani and Lilo's family on Earth, and lets him go free. As her guards take Gantu away, she exiles Jumba and Pleakly to Earth, and orders Cobra, a former CIA agent who previously met the Councilwoman at Roswell, to keep an eye on the new family. Lilo becomes integrated into Nani's and Lilo's family, and their house is rebuilt with the help of Jumba and Pleakly.

Prodution

Lilo & Stitch is the sixth Disney animated feature to take place in the present day, following Oliver & Company. The movie was originally intended to take place in rural Kansas so that Stitch could interact with other characters while still being isolated from wreaking greater havoc. A decision to change the film's setting to the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi was an important choice in defining the plot more clearly. No other feature-length animated movie had ever taken place on any of the Hawaiian islands before. In Sanders' words:

"Animation has been set so much in ancient, medieval Europe—so many fairy tales find their roots there, that to place it in Hawaiʻi was kind of a big leap. But that choice went to color the entire movie, and rewrite the story for us."

While the animation team visited Kauaʻi to research the locale, their tour guide explained the meaning of ʻohana as it applies to extended families. This concept of ʻohana became an important part of the movie. DeBlois recalls:

"No matter where we went, our tour guide seemed to know somebody. He was really the one who explained to us the Hawaiian concept of ʻohana, a sense of family that extends far beyond your immediate relatives. That idea so influenced the story that it became the foundation theme, the thing that causes Stitch to evolve despite what he was created to do, which is destroy."

The island of Kauaʻi had previously been featured in such films as Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Jurassic Park trilogy. The Disney animators faced the daunting task of meshing the film's plot, which showed the impoverished and dysfunctional life that many Hawaiians and other Westerners lived during the recent economic downturn, with the island's serene beauty. To give a brighter image to the film, the studio used watercolors to paint the backgrounds.

Jason Scott Lee, who has Hawaiian ethnicity, co-wrote the dialogue for his character.

*A 1985 concept sketch of Stitch by creator Chris Sanders.

Chris Sanders, one of the directors of the film, also served as co-screenwriter, co-character designer, and provided the voice of Stitch, a character he actually first created in 1985.

Teaser trailers for this film parody trailers for other Disney films (two of these were animated by Sanders) from recent years. These are called "Inter-Stitch-als" and are featured on Disney's official site. The original actors were brought back to reprise their roles and were shocked when asked to act negatively towards Stitch. The trailers also include the AC/DC song track Back In Black.

• Beauty and the Beast. The 'Beauty and the Beast' ballroom dance sequence begins as normal. However as the camera pans to the angels on the ceiling, Stitch is seen crawling across the painting. Watching Belle and the Beast, he crawls onto the chandelier, which falls, the Beast pulling Belle out of harm's way. The moment ruined, Belle announces she will be in her room. As she departs Stitch wolf whistles after her, to which she replies 'Get your own movie!'
• The Little Mermaid. Ariel is singing the reprise of 'Part of Your World', when a huge wave, which is being ridden by Stitch, 'dumps' on her. As the ocean settles, Ariel pops up and throws a starfish at Stitch, saying 'I was singing here!' This trailer was the most difficult to parody, as it wasn't animated in the CAPS system and had to be cleaned up by hand.
• Aladdin. Aladdin and Jasmine are interrupted in the middle of the 'A Whole New World' sequence by the protagonist, Stitch. Stitch flirts with Jasmine and she drives off with him in his spaceship, leaving Aladdin sitting alone on the carpet, yelling at Stitch to 'get his own movie'.
• The Lion King. There are two versions of this commercial. In one of them, clips of past Disney classics are shown, with a voice over saying 'For over seventy years, the Walt Disney studios has won the hearts of audiences with the most enchanting, delightful and lovable characters the world had ever known. On June 21st, the tradition.', and is suddenly cut off as Rafiki thrusts Stitch into the air in the manner of the presentation ceremony in the original film. A warthog (Not Pumbaa) cries out "Hey, that's not Simba!". All the animals flee, leaving Stitch alone on Pride Rock. Stitch clears his throat and roars unconvincingly. In the other commercial, the end of the song "Circle of Life" plays, Rafiki raising Stitch into the air on the last note. The rest of the parody plays out as the previous one, except that in this commercial, Timon (sitting on Pumbaa's back) is the one who yells "Hey, that's not Simba!".

Cast

• Daveigh Chase as Lilo
• Chris Sanders as Stitch
• Tia Carrere as Nani
• David Ogden Stiers as Dr. Jumba Jookiba
• Kevin McDonald as Agent Pleakley
• Ving Rhames as Cobra Bubbles
• Zoe Caldwell as Grand Councilwoman
• Jason Scott Lee as David Kawena
• Kevin Michael as Captain Gantu
• Susan Hegarty as Rescue Lady

Reception

The film opening at #2 with $35,260,212 in its first weekend, less than $500,000 behind the film Minority Report. In its second week, fell to #3, again behind the Spielberg film at #2. The film profited $145,794,338 in the United States and Canada, and $127,349,813 internationally, finishing with $273,144,151 in the world.

Lilo & Stitch received extremely positive reviews from critics and movie-goers alike, and to date has been the only Walt Disney Pictures production released during the 2000s to meet with critical approval and make its cost back during its original theatrical run. The film's success at the box office and on DVD led to a franchise, with four direct-to-video sequels and a television series spanning two seasons. The film has received 139 reviews on the site Rotten Tomatoes, 119 positive and 20 negative, giving it a positive total rating of 86%.

Soundtrack

Untitled

The soundtrack of the film was released by Walt Disney Records on June 21, 2002. It, along with the movie, features more Elvis Presley singles than any of Elvis' own feature films.

#	Title	Singing by
1	"Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride"	Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu, The Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus
2	"Stuck on You"	Elvis Presley
3	"Burning Love"	Wynonna
4	"Suspicious Minds"	Elvis Presley
5	"Heartbreak Hotel"	Elvis Presley
6	"Devil in Disguise"	Elvis Presley
7	"He Mele No Lilo"	Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu
8	"Hound Dog"	Elvis Presley
9	"Can't Help Falling in Love"	A*Teens
10	"Stitch to the Rescue"	Score
11	"You Can Never Belong"	Score
12	"I'm Lost"	Score

Spin-offs

On August 26, 2003, Disney released a direct-to-video sequel, Stitch! The Movie, which seved as the pilot to a TV series titled Lilo & Stitch: The Series. This series ran for 65 episodes between September 20, 2003 and July 29, 2006. The series carried on where the film left off and charted Lilo's efforts to capture and re-home Jumba's remaining experiments. This series ended with Leroy & Stitch, which was released on June 27, 2006.

On August 2005, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, the "official" direct-to-video sequel to the film, was released. In this film, Stitch has a glitch because his molecules were never fully charged (this is contrary to an alternate opening, "Stitch's trial", which was seen on the DVD release of Lilo & Stitch). Lilo wants to win the May Day hula contest like her Mom did in the 1970s, but Stitch continues to have outbursts. Lilo thinks Stitch is not cooperating properly, until she finds out that Stitch is dieing. Can Lilo save Stitch?

Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch has a darker emotional tone partially due to the addition of Dakota Fanning voicing Lilo in Daveigh Chase's absence. The high quality animation and challenging plot echoes the sadness of much of the original film. This stands in contrast to the easygoing feel and weaker animation of the other Lilo & Stitch offerings.

In March 2008, Disney announced that it is to produce a reimagined version of Lilo & Stitch, titled Stitch! and aimed at the Japanese market. The show, which began in October 2008, features a Japanese girl named Yuna (formerly referred to as Hanako) in place of Lilo, and is set on a fictional island in Okinawa prefecture instead of Hawaii. The series is produced by the Japanese animation house Madhouse LTD.

See also

• List of experiments from Lilo & Stitch
• Kingdom Hearts II
• List of Disney theatrical animated features
• Stitch!

References

• Drawn and Quartered, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
• Lilo & Stitch: Collected Stories From the Film's Creators, 2002. Disney Editions. ISBN 0-7868-5382-4.
  • This book consists of a series of essays by the film's makers, an unusual format for a book in this genre.

External links

• Official site
• Lilo & Stitch at IMDb
• Lilo & Stitch at AllMovie
• Lilo & Stitch at Rotten Tomatoes
• Lilo & Stitch at Box Office Mojo
• Lilo & Stitch at the Big Cartoon DataBase