Movie Info:
Writer: Chris Sanders
Director: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
Cast: Daveigh Chase, Chris Sanders, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Kevin McDonald, Ving Rhames, Zoe Caldwell, Jason Scott Lee, Kevin Michael Richardson
Rating: PG
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Release Info:
Theatrical Release: June 21, 2002
DVD Release Date: March 24, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $19.99
Lilo & Stitch was one of those Disney movies that I never sought out when it first came to theaters and later to DVD. I don’t know what it was that prompted me to ignore it. Maybe it was that it just didn’t have that classic Disney feel. Whatever it was I never saw it and had all but forgotten about it until it landed on my doorstep to review. The concept seemed cute enough, but I knew little about it and wasn’t overly enthralled when it came to watching it.
What I learned by watching Lilo & Stitch was that this is anything, but your typical Disney animation. It’s got all of the good things like stellar animation and a fun concept, but the story seems stronger than some of your typical Disney fare. This comes with a PG rating, which is just laughable, if you ask me. The themes here are not scary or too adult for a child so I am not sure what’s with the elevated rating. Whatever the reason, I would ignore it because Lilo & Stitch is about as harmless as they come.
Thinking of it from a more protective parental standpoint (think Soccer Moms) I still can’t see anything here worth worrying about. The main character is a young girl that lives with her sister because their parents have died. The sister has good intentions, but Lilo tends to be rambunctious and it causes problems with the social workers that get the decision to keep their family together or not. That about covers Lilo. Stitch is her unusual pet that has some social issues and looks adorable dressed as Elvis. I am not sure what’s PG about any of this, but maybe kids are more sensitive about strange looking pets and the meaning of family then they used to be.
Any way you look at it, kids should love this movie. Not only that, but adults should be fairly entertained, too. It works because the topic of family and friendship are not dumbed down. Lilo could be any little girl other than the fact that she is an animated character. The ways that she feels are common for a lot of little girls. In that respect, it was nice to see Disney step up to the plate and offer something that they rarely do, which is something relatable.
The Lilo & Stitch: Big Wave Edition Plot
Lilo & Stitch was a lot better than I imagined. The movie starts in a galaxy far, far away. Dr. Jumba Jookiba (David Ogden Stier) is being put on trial by the galactic council. He has been performing genetic experiments that are illegal. The worst is the creation of Experiment 626. This six armed alien is nearly indestructible and has a primary goal of destroying nearly everything and anything in its path.
The Grand Councilwoman (Zoe Caldwell) and the rest of the council rule on the matter. Dr. Jumba is imprisoned and Experiment 626 is banished to an asteroid where it will be executed. As Experiment 626 is being transported by Captain Gantu (Kevin Michael Richardson), he manages to escape. Then he sets a course to planet Earth and the Grand Councilwoman must send someone after him, before he can destroy the planet.
In the Hawaiian islands, a little girl name Lilo (Daveigh Chase) is excitedly playing in the ocean. The mischievous girl is late for dance practice, and she ends up causing a ruckus at hula practice due to being soaking wet. The other girls don’t like Lilo and she ends up getting in a fight with one of them. After the fight, Lilo’s sister, Nani (Tia Carrere) is called. While she’s waiting on the porch for Nani, the girls from dance class mock Lilo and it becomes clear that she has no friends. Sadly, she returns home on her own.
When Nani realizes Lilo is at home alone, she’s upset. A caseworker is coming by and she wants everything to be perfect. Unfortunately, Lilo has locked her out of the house. Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames), the social worker, is not happy with what he sees. Lilo doesn’t help the situation when she says Nani punishes her, a lot. Not realizing Nani might lose Lilo, she takes her frustrations out on her sister in front of Cobra Bubbles. He has no choice but to give Nani a few days to straighten up her act or she’ll lose Lilo.
That night, Lilo sees a shooting star, which is really Experiment 626′s ship landing on the island. She wishes on it, for a friend. Experiment 626 has a hard night when he gets hit by a car and is taken to the pound. There, he hides two of his legs to look more like a dog. The next day, Nani takes Lilo to the pound to get her a friend. She ends up picking Experiment 626 and naming him Stitch (Chris Sanders).
Stitch has evil tendencies and destructive habits. Lilo loves him even though Nani is upset that she didn’t get a more traditional looking pet. Lilo sets out to teach Stitch many things. The primary thing to teach him is the music of Elvis and how to be like the king. She also teaches him about family (her parents died) and the Ugly Duckling. With a desire to kill and destroy in Stitch, Lilo might just be in danger from the thing she considers her best friend. Adding in Nani having job troubles and Dr. Jumba accompanying Pleakley (Kevin McDonald), an alien expert of Earth, to find Stitch and destroy him and you have one heck of a Disney movie.
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Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
The video and audio for Lilo & Stitch has never looked better (at least that’s what I’m guessing). Things are bright, colorful, and look great. The aspect ratio is 1.66:1 and it looks fabulous. I did not notice anything negative worth reporting. Things like compression errors, color bleeding, and blur were non-existent. The level of detail is quite high. The fact that Lilo & Stitch was painted and then transferred to its animated setting makes me love it even more.
The audio was just as great as the video quality. The main audio track is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 that is crisp, vibrant, and does not require volume toggling. Everything sounds perfect from the musical moments, to the alien-induced sound effects. The dialogue comes through without a hitch, as well. Additional tracks are available in Spanish and French, Dolby Digital Stereo sound. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, and French to round out the audio options.
Visual: 
Audio:
Bonus Features:
If you want special features you’ve come to the right place. The fact that this is a 2-disc special edition means that you can expect your fair share of bonuses. Things begin with an audio commentary by the writer and directors, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. Clark Spencer is also included in the commentary though it seems that he might have been recorded on his own. A lot of information is offered here and it ranges from lighthearted to a bit serious. In any case, it’s obvious that these are some passionate filmmakers. As far as commentaries go, the kids will be willing to leave this one behind, but the parents might find it worth a listen.
“Your Ohana” is up next and though it’s not clear where this song is from it serves as a cute music video. Three sample activities are available from Lilo & Stitch’s Island of Adventures. These include “Gecko Race”, “Hamsterviel’s Coconut Shell Game” and “Hamsterviel’s Match Game”. These are just sample activities so don’t expect too much here because you won’t find it.
“DisneyPedia: Hawaii – The Islands of Aloha” has Lilo and Stitch giving out information about Hawaii and the six biggest islands. They talk about surfing, luaus, volcanoes, and much of the things that make Hawaii what it is. It is somewhat entertaining and kids that are old enough to sit still through this educational lesson should find it worth watching.
“Create your Own Alien Experiment” allows kids to answer three trivia questions. Once this has been accomplished you get the chance to guess which order three substances should be used in order to produce an experiment.
“A Stitch in Time: Follow Stitch Through the Disney Years” is just a small featurette that puts everyone’s favorite blue alien into stills of some of Disney’s favorite classic movies.
“Hula Lesson” brings you Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu, who gives information and instruction about the famous Hawaiian dance.
“Burning Love” is a short featurette with Wynonna Judd. Judd performs a cover of the Elvis Presley song and gives her thoughts on what it was like. This is followed up by another music video cover of Elvis’ “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.”
“Animating the Hula” gives a few more minutes with the writer/director and how they set out to be respectful of the dancing. Split screens are used to show how animators reproduced the dancing footage that was done at Ho’omalu’s studio.
Four Stitch interpretations are included that serve as Stitch-tastic teaser trailers for Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King.
The second disc includes even more special features. It begins with a two hour documentary that is all about the adults. First off, there is no way a kid would sit through a two-hour documentary. Despite the fact that the kids won’t be interested in this, adults should love it. The documentary offers a large selection on up close and personal interviews. Many of the interviews include Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois, Thomas Schumacher, Clark Spencer, Roy Disney, Pam Coats, Alex Kupershmidt, and Andreas Deja. Everything you could possibly want to know about this film is available in this informative documentary.
This is followed up by some “Documentary Footnotes” that includes plenty of behind the scenes materials. I have to say that this section impressed me quite a bit when I first looked at it, but upon closer inspection, there doesn’t appear to be a whole lot here.
Next up is a scene from the movie Mulan. While it may seem that the two movies have little to do with one another, this scene is special because it is where Chris and Dean met and first had the chance to collaborate.
“Walking is Falling” is an eleven minute featurette with Dean DeBlois and Joe Grant. Grant is one of the legends of Disney that recently passed away. In addition to DeBlois weighing in on Grant, Roy Disney and Andreas Deja also offer their thoughts.
“Chris’ Pitch Book” offers 45 pages of artwork and story material that Sanders originally pitched back in 1998. This is followed up by “Chris’ Photo Gallery” a small slideshow that includes the crew’s research trip they took to Hawaii.
“Treatise on Stitch” is a seven minute report on the alien’s arrival on Earth. What it basically ends up being is lots of text with some sound effects. This is a filler more than anything.
“Andreas Deja’s Sketches of Lilo” is just what it sounds like it is. Think of this like a showcase for the animator to comment on his drawings.
“Fishing with Ric” is a nine minute featurette with Clark Spencer and Ric Sluiter while they fish. The feature is a basic fluff piece where Sluiter talks about how he loved working on the film. The next featurette, “Ric Sluiter Interviews Maurice Noble” also includes Sluiter, though this time he is interviewing someone, as the title suggests.
A small scene from Dumbo is presented next, which leads into some “Chalk Talk” featurettes that offer information about design of the characters. The two featurettes are called “Alex Kepershmidt on Stitch” and “Chalk Talk: Andreas Deja on Lilo.”
“The Sanders Style Book” lasts almost ten minutes and serves as an illustrated guide that show the animated features of Lilo and Stitch. As far as animation features go, I found this one to be pretty interesting. This is followed by “Dean Pitches New Sequence” which shows the storyboard pitch of a beach scene known as “Dysfunctional Angel,” where Stitch throws a fit while Jumba and Pleakley are watching over him.
There are five deleted scenes and three scenes that are considered as early version scenes. An alternative opening is also included. Finally, the four teaser trailers are repeated though it doesn’t make sense as to why they repeated these on the second disc when they are on the first disc.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
Lilo & Stitch is a great, heartwarming, family tale. This is why Disney has been delighting families for nearly a century. Lilo & Stitch: Big Wave Edition is a major upgrade from previous releases. The quality of the movie is rockin and this two-disc set is stuffed full with bonus features. If you already own Lilo & Stitch you’d be a fool not to upgrade. If you don’t pick up Lilo & Stitch: Big Wave Edition right away. You and your kids will love this movie as much as those of us in the Evans household do.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: DVD Review, Disney, Family Film, PG, Alien, Lilo and Stitch
Written by Ashtyn Evans – Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn attends Wright State where she is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.
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