Lilo & Stitch

I love this story and the message. A sweet child who has a hard time fitting in and is a little darker personality than the other girls. A little naughty alien leaning how to love and be loved. “This is my family, it is small and broken but still good.” I am divorced with a child and I think it is good for him to see two or three people who aren’t perfect are still a little family. Kids can have very sad times in their life like death of family members or divorce. Not many children shows really go past the “disney dead mom, straight to orphan” and how we still are a caring family even if we struggle but still remember the before times. And Stitch shakes his booty at the bad guys and thats funny.

For anyone who was between 8 and 14 for the movie's 2002 release, I probably don't need to convince you it's a great film. If you're a little older and remember The Little Mermaid and other traditionally-rendered films fondly, I think you'll take the film for its art style alone. Watercolor backgrounds and some great character art direction make for a really watchable and colorful film, not to mention the fluid and sometimes manic motion seen in Stitch and the other alien characters.If you'd like a really short review, please read the final paragraph of this review. If you'd like to read a little more about how the movie might be taken, keep on reading.But it's not just a bauble. The plot sees a colorful and funny cast of aliens interacting with a struggling pair of sisters living on Hawaii's Kauai island, just as DCFS asks pointedly if younger sister Lilo is better off living with older sister Nani. The arrival of Stitch (an alien genetic experiment gone awry) throws everything into chaos for them both, including some pretty great scenes when Nani tries desperately to find a new job only to have Lilo and Stitch ruin her chances accidentally. It's the best use of a montage I've seen in a long, long time and gives some good laughs along the way.The A plot revolves around a family dynamic which incorporating Stitch by degrees and Nani's struggle to keep Lilo in her life. The B plot is the alien federation's attempts to secure Stitch ("Experiment 626") and put him in exile. The final act marries the A plot and B plot well, and it finishes on a high note. Not typical 'Disney pie in the sky, everything's good forever' stuff, but Lilo and Nani have a chance at a better life.There are some moments that are pretty painful for an older teen or adult to watch, particularly one scene where it becomes clear Lilo should be placed in foster care, and for some Nani's struggles strike close to home. It's not framed the way most Disney films approach "broken" families - both Lilo and Nani need each other, but they're both ill-equipped to support each other. That's not exactly fixed by magic wand at the culmination of the movie, but the new house and a wider support network (including two exiled scientists from Stitch's federation of planets) suggest things might get easier.Most kids will focus on Stitch - I mean his name is in the title! Trying to cope with his "genetic programming" and unable to act on his aggression, he comes to terms with not currently having a "family" as a spliced clone. He comes to make his own extended family with Lilo, Nani, and a few secondary characters. In the end he's a hero for saving Lilo from a kidnapping by an overzealous space captain out for Stitch's bounty, and Stitch remains happily exiled on Earth with his new family or "ohana." There's plenty of funny "bad boy" behavior and trickery by Stitch, and kids and adults alike will enjoy the action scenes. As violence goes it's bloodless but dynamic, fun, with huge sweeping motions and rolling fight scenes.If it's a rainy afternoon and you have some kids over, pop some popcorn and watch this. Be prepared for a few "pew pew pew" sound effects and giggles every time Stitch scurries on six (yes, six) limbs. If not, there's nothing to stop you from enjoying a well-animated movie about family and aliens that doesn't pluck at the same heartstring over and over again. It knows its marks, it makes it, but it's not cloying, and its execution in animation and plot are both pretty neat.

Classic all time favorite!

There have been some fine Disney animated features over the years, but this is the one that I watch over and over again. For my money, this stands head and shoulders above the rest of the animated movies I've seen (and I try to see them all).ANIMATION - A+: In the opening scene of the hula dancers, observe the reflections of the dancers on the wood floor. Wow!PRODUCTION VALUES - A+: The movie is visually stunning. The backgrounds look like watercolor paintings and are extremely colorful. The backgrounds completely capture the look, colors, and flavor of living in a small town in Hawaii.CHARACTER DESIGN - A+: The directors took great pains to design the look of the characters. Unlike most Disney women characters, the older sister has some meat on her bones and looks athletic, not anemic. Hallelujah! A more realistic approach to portraying women.Lilo reminds me so much of my Hawaiian nieces in the way she moves and speaks! And the feistiness of her! Some people have said she does not present a good role model for children! I would say that she is a much more realistic child than usually shown in movies. I LOVE her spunk and strong personality!My heart was completely captured by Stitch! What a roly poly, cute character he is. Chris Sanders, the director, provided the temporary voice of Stitch, but did such a great job that they kept his voice in the final movie. I can't imagine Stitch sounding any other way.MUSIC = A+: Wow! The choral music sung by Hawaiian children is wonderfully moving! And of course, the King (Elvis)! Very appropriate as he was extremely popular in Hawaii.TARGET AUDIENCE = B: The movie is SO entertaining for adults that I rather wonder if it isn't more enjoyable for adults than kids. I know that my three-year old niece wouldn't watch it because she thought the beginning was too "scary." Whereas, I've watched it maybe 5 or 6 times and laughed each time at the Elvis jokes and some of the other jokes that I think might go over the heads of children.And just between you and me (nobody else is reading this, right?), there are a few moments when Stitch reads the story of the Ugly Duckling, realizing that he too is separated from any family, and when he prepares to leave Lilo that always make me cry. How a little furry animated character can show dignity and nobility I don't know, but he does.I find the movie a delight visually, musically, emotionally, and it makes me laugh!DVD EXTRAS = A+: I thought the extras on the DVD were quite nice. A great documentary on how the animators "got" the hula by attending a hula school, and a nice piece on the main animators and on the children's choir that sang the Hawaiian-style choral music in the film. Also lots of information on the Hawaiian islands.