LILO AND STITCH (***)
Let's face it. When it comes to animated features, Disney practically assures great entertainment. Even some of their less impressive works by their standards (see: ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE, THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE, POCAHONTAS) are still dynamic pieces of diversion by anyone else's. They practically invented the formula for full-length animated films with SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES, and now with LILO AND STITCH they continue their long-standing tradition of merriment.
The movie starts out with great creativity, featuring an alien intergalactic council indicting a slightly mad (but very charming) scientist named Dr. Jumba Jookiba (David Ogden Stiers of THE MAJESTIC). His crime is genetic manipulation resulting in Experiment No. 626, who we come to know later in the movie as Stitch (Chris Sanders), an indestructible, fast-learning, and uncouth little alien whose sole purpose is to destroy. As Jumba is incarcerated, Stitch escapes into hyperdrive from his scheduled annihilation and lands on Earth. The Grand Councilwoman would rather have Earth wiped out than to have Stitch survive, but Pleakley (Kevin McDonald) wants Earth spared because he's convinced that it's a haven to the endangered species of... mosquitoes. The Councilwoman decides Pleakley should go retrieve Stitch for destruction with the help of 626's creator, Jumba of course.
While on Earth, Stitch crashes on what I believe is the Garden of Eden... Hawaii. He survives being roadkill, finds himself in a dog pound, and gets adopted by Lilo (Daveigh Chase), a little native Hawaiian girl whose constant bundle of energy surpasses even Stitch's. Lilo has problems of her own, the biggest of which she's not even aware of. Her older sister and guardian Nani (Tia Carrere of TRUE LIES) does her best to take care of Lilo, but both of them seem to be accident magnets (Even The Three Stooges didn't have as much trouble as they do). This forces an MIB-looking social worker named Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames of the HBO movie DON KING: ONLY IN AMERICA) to consider taking Lilo away from Nani's custody.
We all know where this is going. But what makes the movie so engaging is its wonderful light-hearted spirit in getting to an all-familiar climax. The movie markets Stitch as a Disneyesque black sheep, and they're right. I don't think I've ever seen a Disney character so unceasingly nasty, yet undeniably cute. Disney has learned to take advantage of its good-hearted leading character reputation, and still use it in the end to delightful effect. The movie has great moments for Stitch, as when we find out that one of its directives is to find great cities and demolish them. Stitch experiences a stroke-like condition upon realizing this, and even resorts to building a make-shift small-scale city to destroy it ala Godzilla.
One of Disney's recent strengths, is to find distinct identities for their animated works through their artistic renderings. In Lilo & Stitch, you can find strong Polynesian characteristics in the human characters. The trend is shown in ALLADIN's Arabic features, THE LION KING's strong African landscape, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME's European architectural feel (especially with the Notre Dame cathedral), HERCULES's Greek-like drawings, MULAN's Chinese representations, and so on. With LILO AND STITCH, Disney has now covered The Middle East, Africa, Europe, China, and now Polynesia.
As in all Disney movies, there's always a good moral to be learned. And in this one is about the importance of family. Do you really want to hear that from me? The film doesn't hammer this message home, and there's not much one can really expound on. But nonetheless, the film tells it well. It had one particular scene that I found quite touching, where Stitch after learning the tale of the ugly duckling, walks into the forest alone and waits for his real family to find him, just as the ugly duckling did. How will Stitch handle the truth of finding out that he has no real family? How the film handles this moment shows why Disney is second-to-none in family entertainment. It is the movie's best scene.
I do admit that I was slightly disappointed by the flow of events. I was wowed by the beginning and wished that the movie could have focused on the science fiction aspects. The film's galactic council here is much more creative, more lively, and more fun than anything the past two STAR WARS films had to offer. I loved the look of the alien creatures, especially that of Captain Gantu and Dr. Jumba. The movie has a few lightning bolts of ideas but it succumbs to crowd-pleasing near the end. Nevertheless, its characters are too wonderful, too engaging, and too funny to take for granted. And by the end, seeing Lilo and Stitch in grass skirts dancing the hula is too damn cute to ignore. They're absolutely endearing.
LILO AND STITCH heralds a bright new talent in the world of animation, and his name is Chris Sanders, who wrote and directed this treat. I liked how the opening credits state that the movie is "based on an idea by Chris Sanders". It's simple, honest and not all trumped up. And yes, Mr. Sanders even voices Stitch himself. This is obviously his pet project, and you can see how much love and attention was put into it. It's obvious in the film's rich color, it's vibrancy, and its wonderful sense of humor. And how can you not love a film that also loves Elvis? The movie features six songs from the king himself, and the movie's release seems adequately timed with the 25th anniversary of Elvis' passing. The movie treats him with awe, and I'm sure somewhere up there, the king has a big grin.
Posted by FLIPCRITIC at August 14, 2002 12:00 AM