A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Lilo and Stitch

Date of theatrical release: 2002

Details:

Voice talents: Chris Sanders (Stitch)

Daveigh Chase (Lilo)

Tia Carrere (Nani)

Ving Rhames (Cobra Bubbles)

David Ogden Stiers (Dr. Jumba)

Kevin McDonald (Agent Pleakley)

Jason Scott Lee (David)

Zoe Caldwell (Grand Councilwoman of the United Galactic Federation)

Kevin Michael Richardson (Captain Gantu)

Directors: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders

Score: 1/2

The Review: Disney advertisements emphasize the "bad boy" nature of Stitch, the diminutive 6-armed alien destructor construct marooned on Earth and befriended by a young Hawaiian girl. He/It is certainly not your typical Disney character lifted from the pages of French fairy tales or Edgar Rice Burroughs. An interdicted galactic criminal on the run wouldn't seem to inspire much sympathy or interest, unless you watch way too much Saturday morning cartoons, or unless you have a very strange concept of "cute." Besides, the premise has enough holes to drive a black hole through, amusing though some of these gaps might be. It's escaped to Earth? Destroy it and the planet it's on! And the only reason that Earth is not immediately gassed en masse is that the galactic federation has, for some reason, decided that the mosquito is an endangered species and that its food source, humans, are to be protected. Such are the throw-away concepts that pepper and spice this light, enjoyable romp. After all, in how many movies, Disney or otherwise, is the phrase, "Oh good, my dog found the chainsaw!" a welcome plot twist?

Disney is slowly expanding its coverage of ethnic diversity space, probably for many more reasons than a fresh storyline in an semi-exotic locale. Here, the music is appealing and different, based on Hawaiian rhythm and lyrics. I think there's more Hawaiian than English in the various songs and background -- with the exception of Elvis (another "bad boy," he fits in well). The rhythm in particular is hypnotic and driving, and the various children's choruses work very well. It's good to see again how important the score is here, in contrast to the studio's essentially music-free zone, their last effort, Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

The animation is average, and all that I noticed seemed to be done in traditional fashion. It's clear that the animators had a free hand in character creation, and these are some of Disney's oddest.

3-Feb-03

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