Lilo and Stitch (2002)
Lilo and Stitch is a sweet and heartwarming 2002 movie about two sisters, young adult Nani and little sister Lilo, and their attempts to build a family after the death of their parents. The relationship between the two sisters, both of whom are strong-willed, grief-stricken and fiercely loyal and loving toward one another, is beautifully rendered and developed in the film, and has you both laughing and crying throughout. The film is also set on a Hawaiian island and has some wry and humorous commentary on the island’s tourism and the way that tourists engage, and fail to engage, with the native culture.
And there’s also this alien, but the less said about that the better.
I joke, obviously, but Lilo and Stitch is a weird one. I really do like this movie; it affects me emotionally in the way the really good Disneys do, but I can’t help being frustrated by it. If the movie had just been called Lilo, or had been called Lilo and Nani, I’d probably love it, but as far as I’m concerned Stitch doesn’t belong and doesn’t earn his place.
Although the innovative and cool design of the film attempts to bring the alien-world and the human world together, and does so to a certain extent, it never really bridges the gap. This is perhaps most noticeable with the (very long) opening sequence. People walking into the cinema for the first time must have wondered whether they’d gone into the correct theatre. Expecting a film set in Hawaii they’re instead plunged into a weird alien world with spaceships and illegal genetic experiments, and the credits don’t roll until 10 minutes or so into the film. This opening really jars with the rest of the film, and the continued presence of the two aliens, Jookiba and Pleakley, unfortunately continues to jar.
The main problem with the movie that I can see, however, is Stitch himself. I think they got the balance between annoying and cute wrong for this character, and if this had been different I might have been more willing to accept the weird juxtaposition of action-packed alien adventure and bittersweet examination of a family in crisis. But Stitch is just mean. I genuinely don’t find him or his destructive ways funny. If he had been a bit less destructive, and a bit more willing to accept Lilo’s love, or if there had been more of a sense that the family needed someone like him in it, I think the movie would have been stronger. It would have helped to ground the story in the little family of Lilo, Nani and Stitch a bit more. As it is I find myself wishing Stitch would get lost and stop messing things up for the two sisters, who have already been through enough.
As I said though, this all doesn’t make me dislike the film. I love Lilo and Nani - they are both such charismatic characters. I think Lilo would have been funny enough as a character by herself; there was no need to add in the madcap Stitch. I also love the design of the film, particularly the characters, who look different from characters in any other Disney movie, and the soundtrack which mixes musical styles really well.
This is all (even more than most of my reviews I think) very much a personal opinion however. I watched Lilo and Stitch for the first time as an adult and I have no idea how a child would react to Stitch. His prevalence in the parks and the mountains of Stitch-related merch (plus the sequels and the TV show) suggest...pretty well.
But the movie seems like a movie of two parts to me - one part is for kids and the other part is for adults, and they haven’t managed to marry the two together as smoothly as with other Disney films. I’m just left, at the end of the film, wishing I’d spent more time with Lilo and Nani and less time chasing Stitch.