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Lilo & Stitch
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- For the television series, see Lilo & Stitch (TV series)
Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 American film. The 42nd animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, it was released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 21, 2002. The film was written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, and was the second of three Disney animated features produced primarily at the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida studio located at Walt Disney World's Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida.
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Encyclopedia
- For the television series, see Lilo & Stitch (TV series)
Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 American film. The 42nd animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, it was released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 21, 2002. The film was written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, and was the second of three Disney animated features produced primarily at the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida studio located at Walt Disney World's Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. The film was rated PG for "mild sci-fi action". Lilo & Stitch was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, which ultimately went to Hayao Miyazaki's film, Spirited Away.
Plot
An extra-terrestrial mad scientist named Dr. Jumba Jookiba (David Ogden Stiers) is put on trial by a galactic governing body, headed by a Grand Councilwoman, for creating illegal genetic experiments. The council is shown the creature, Experiment 626, and are appalled by it's aggresive tendencies. Jumba tells the council that 626 is bullet proof, fire proof, extremely intelligent, can see in the dark and possesses super strength but his only instinct is to destroy (and possibly kill). Jumba is sent to Prison and 626 loaded onto a transport vessel to take 626 to a desert asteriod, where he was banished by the council. However, he escapes his holding cell, steals a red police cruiser,and is chased by other police cruisers, but then he engages the stolen police cruiser's hyperdrive; sending him hurtling towards Earth while the people trying to stop him narrowly escape the ensuing blast from the jump.
His pod crashes onto Earth. On the run, he passes himself off as a dog on Earth. (He starts off with three pairs of limbs, antennae, and things on his back that resemble feathers, but hides two of the pairs of limbs, antennae, and feathers.) He is accidentally run over by a transport ruck and knocked unconscious, while the driver takes him to the animal shelter, amazed that the impact didn't kill him. Meanwhile, a little girl named Lilo Pelekai (Daveigh Chase) who is living with her 21-year-old sister Nani (Tia Carrere), as their parents have recently died in a car accident. ("It was raining, and they went for a drive, and...") Lilo is lonely and a bit of an outcast. Her friends don't seem to include her in their gang, and in rage she punches one of them. A social worker named Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames) is monitoring Nani's progress, as he is concerned that her parenting techniques do not meet the standards required to raise a child and Cobra's organization is considering putting Lilo into foster care. Nani is fearful of this, as Lilo is the only family she has left, and vice versa. Lilo doesn't help, as she doesn't really know what may happen.
To try to help, Nani takes Lilo to the animal shelter, so she can adopt a dog, and she finds 626. Stitch discovers that he is being watched by Jumba and Galactic Agent Pleakley (Kevin McDonald), who have been assigned to recapture 626 without being detected by humans in exchange for Jumba's freedom - who had arrived soon after him. Lilo mistakes 626 for a dog - whom she names "Stitch." She identifies with Stitch's strong antisocial tendencies, and the two form a bond immediately. Unfortunately, his violent behaviour eventually costs Nani her job. Stitch initially attempts to escape the island but finds that it is impossible because he is afraid of the water, and cannot swim since his body is too dense. Stitch resigns himself to stay with Lilo. Pleakley is both a guide and Jumba's supervisor, to ensure Jumba does not escape should he fail to recapture Stitch. Lilo notes Stitch's violent tendencies and attempts to teach him to relax, holding up her favorite musician Elvis Presley as a model example of behavior.
Cobra Bubbles tells Nani that unless she finds employment and improves their living conditions, he will have to take Lilo into foster care. She has three days to change his mind. Nani, with the help of her friend David, tries several times to find employment, but is unable to secure a position, as Lilo's attempts to tame Stitch by having him behave as Elvis Presley generally lead to disaster during Nani's job interviews. After one such tiring day, David offers Nani and Lilo a day of surfing at the beach. While the three of them are trying to help Stitch learn how to surf, Jumba and Pleakley capture Stitch from underwater, leading Stitch to grab onto Lilo, dragging her under. David manages to rescue both Lilo and Stitch, but Nani believes that Stitch was attacking Lilo. Unfortunately, Cobra Bubbles saw the entire event, and tells Nani (not without sympathy) that it's time to separate Lilo from her and that he'll return the next morning. Stitch realizes that it was his fault and returns to Lilo's house alone. After seeing Lilo and Nani express affection as sisters, and discuss the importance of their culture and being together as a family, he experiences an identity crisis and decides to leave, hiding in the woods feeling completely lost.
The following morning, Jumba and Pleakley are fired for failing to capture Stitch. The Grand Councilwoman assigns Captain Gantu to capture Stitch. This leads Jumba, no longer bound by Galactic Code, to aggressively chase Stitch in one last frantic effort. He finds Stitch in the woods and discovers that Stitch is waiting for "family" to arrive. Jumba says that Stitch, being an experimental creation, doesn't have one and that he can never belong. Stitch runs from Jumba and a chase ensues. Meanwhile, Lilo discovers that Stitch left, while David arrives with a job offer for Nani. Nani tells Lilo to stay at home and not to answer the door. Stitch comes back to Lilo's home, followed by Jumba, and the two begin to fight while Lilo calls Cobra Bubbles for help. The house is ultimately demolished, with Nani and Agent Bubbles arriving just after. Seeing Nani and Cobra arguing, Lilo runs off into the woods and encounters Stitch. He reveals his true alien form, and Lilo is furious that he had deceived her. Before Lilo can say any more, Gantu ambushes and captures both of them. Stitch manages to escape the pod they are both placed in but is then confronted by Nani. At this point, Stitch finally speaks to her in pidgin English and shows that he is an alien and does understand the meaning of ohana, meaning "family" and "that nobody gets left behind or forgotten". Jumba is able to capture Stitch during this moment of understanding, but Nani pleads with him to help save Lilo from Gantu, and he reluctantly agrees.
Employing Jumba's spaceship, they and Gantu give chase around the Hawaiian mountains. Stitch manages to land on Gantu's ship and attempts to free Lilo, but Gantu reconfigures the angle of the afterburners to blast Stitch off the ship. After a moment of unconsciousness, Stitch wakes up just in time to save a frog from being run over by a gasoline truck. Hijacking the same truck, Stitch drives it straight into an active volcano, taunting Gantu and releasing the fuel into the lava. The explosion launches Stitch like a rocket straight into Gantu's cockpit. Gantu tries to smash Stitch but ends up getting thrown off the ship. Stitch rescues Lilo moments before the ship explodes. When everyone lands in the ocean, David is coincidentally surfing nearby and helps transport everyone to shore.
Just as they arrive to the shore, it is suddenly revealed that the Grand Councilwoman herself has come to arrest Stitch. Stitch, using his new name and broken English, asks to say good-bye to Lilo and Nani, telling the Grand Councilwoman: "This my family. I found it all on my own. It's little, and broken, but still good." Lilo presents the certificate of adoption from the dog pound which, as a legally binding document, makes her responsible for Stitch. The Grand Councilwoman sees that Stitch has reformed into a civilized creature under Lilo's care, and so Stitch's sentence of life in exile is altered: he's now considered a ward of Lilo and Nani's. Cobra Bubbles is revealed to be a former CIA agent who previously met the Grand Councilwoman at Roswell, and he promises to keep an eye on the family. The movie ends with both Jumba and Pleakley assigned to Earth (they help rebuild the demolished home with some of their alien technology), and with Stitch being fully accepted into Lilo's family.
Setting
Lilo & Stitch is the sixth Disney animated feature to take place in the present day, following Oliver & Company. The movie was originally intended to take place in rural Kansas so that Stitch could interact with other characters while still being isolated from wreaking greater havoc. A decision to change the film's setting to the Hawaiian island of Kauai was an important choice in defining the plot more clearly. No other feature-length animated movie had ever taken place on any of the Hawaiian islands before. In Sanders' words:
- "Animation has been set so much in ancient, medieval Europe—so many fairy tales find their roots there, that to place it in Hawaii was kind of a big leap. But that choice went to color the entire movie, and rewrite the story for us."
While the animation team visited Kauai to research the locale, their tour guide explained the meaning of ohana as it applies to extended families. This concept of ohana became an important part of the movie. DeBlois recalls:
- "No matter where we went, our tour guide seemed to know somebody. He was really the one who explained to us the Hawaiian concept of ohana, a sense of family that extends far beyond your immediate relatives. That idea so influenced the story that it became the foundation theme, the thing that causes Stitch to evolve despite what he was created to do, which is destroy."
The island of Kauai had previously been featured in such films as Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Jurassic Park trilogy. The Disney animators faced the daunting task of meshing the film's plot, which showed the impoverished and dysfunctional life that many Hawaiians and other Westerners lived during the recent economic downturn, with the island's serene beauty. To give a brighter image to the film, the studio used watercolors to paint the backgrounds.
Jason Scott Lee, who has Hawaiian ethnicity, co-wrote the dialogue for his character.
Reception
The film opening at #2 with $35,260,212 in its first weekend, less than $500,000 behind the film Minority Report. In its second week, fell to #3, again behind the Spielberg film at #2. The film profited $145,794,338 in the United States and Canada, and $127,349,813 internationally, finishing with $273,144,151 in the world.
Lilo & Stitch received extremely positive reviews from critics and movie-goers alike, and to date has been the only Walt Disney Feature Animation/Walt Disney Animation Studios production released during the 2000s to meet with critical approval and make its cost back during its original theatrical run. The film's success at the box office and on DVD led to a franchise, with four direct-to-video sequels and a television series spanning two seasons. The film has received 139 critical reviews on the site Rotten Tomatoes, 119 positive and 20 negative, giving it a positive total rating of 86%.
Soundtrack
Main Article: Lilo & Stitch (soundtrack)
Track listing
Sequels
The film has had a total of three related movies come after it.
Parodies, references and trivia
- Social worker Cobra Bubbles, formerly of the CIA, is modeled on the mysterious "Men in Black" (of urban legends and several hit movies) who work to prevent an alien takeover of Earth and to persuade humans that aliens do not exist.
- Items in the background of both Lilo and Nani's rooms reference other Disney movies. Lilo has a stuffed Dumbo doll on her art easel, while Nani has a movie poster for Mulan on her wall. Additionally, a restaurant called "Mulan Wok" is visible during the scene where Stitch sees "Earth vs. the Spider" in a shop-window television. The directors had worked on Mulan.
- The end of the movie features snapshots of the future "family" life of Stitch with Lilo and the others, each of them variations of classic images like famous Norman Rockwell illustrations.
- Chris Sanders, one of the directors of the film, also served as co-screenwriter, co-character designer, and provided the voice of Stitch, a character he actually first created in 1985.
- Earth is referred as being in Quadrant 17, Section 005, Area "51" in the Galactic charts, one of several references to Area 51.
- During the introduction of Stitch to Lilo's room, he finds a book of "road maps of Iowa" which pokes fun at the idea that Iowa has enough road maps to fill a large book but when he pulls a page from it, it shows a global map with two islands and a large body of water.
- The alien text that the Galactic Federation uses is known as "Tantalog" text and was designed for the film. The text can be downloaded and used in word processing programs.
- When Lilo and Stitch walk past the store selling calendars with images from around the world, the "Orlando" calendar has a picture of the Magic Kingdom.
- There are several "hidden Mickeys" in the film: one is visible on Jumba's platform in the Grand Council scene, another is a clothing logo on one of Lilo's photo subjects on her bedroom wall, and another is one of the gauges on the control panel of Gantu's ship.
- Near the beginning of the film, during the trial, Stitch is asked by the Grand Councilwoman to provide some sign that he understands what's going on. He responds by licking the inside of his glass cage. The saliva trail is in the famous "D" shape in the Walt Disney logo.
- After the trial as Jumba is taken into prison, you can hear the sound of a Probe Droid from The Empire Strikes Back.
- The sign on Lilo's door is the Hawaiian word "kapu" that loosely translates as "keep out" and is also the Hawaiian version of the Tahitian word "Tabu"; more commonly known as "taboo."
- All of the license plates in the film (VW, Nani's car, the gas tanker, the fire engine, and Cobra Bubbles' car) are A113, the same as the number on Mrs. Davis's license plate in Toy Story and Mater's plate number in Cars; it's also used in many other Disney and Pixar films. It refers to a room number at California Institute of the Arts where many of the animators at those two companies received their education.
- The A113 license can also be seen during Stitch's reign of terror on his model of San Francisco.
- When Stitch is attacking the city of San Francisco he made out of blocks, he parodies Godzilla.
- The two hover car presents given to Lilo and Stitch make the same sounds as the flying cars in "The Jetsons".
- According to Stitch's dog license at the shelter, the adoption official is "Susan Hegarty", the name of the actress who voiced the character. Also per the license, Lilo and Nani's last name is "Pelekai".
- The words on Stitch's dog license at the shelter are part of a resolution thanking people for their support during the making of the movie. The words are difficult to make out, but the last part reads, "as well as our partners at Disney MGM Studios for their participation and support during the making of Lilo and Stitch." The viewer can see a close-up of them during the last few lines in the scene where "Susan" stamps the Seal of the State of Hawaii on the cetificate of adoption.
- In one scene, a pink jeep car can briefly be seen in the lower-left corner of the screen. This is a reference to the Elvis movie Blue Hawaii, in which he drove such a car.
- The scene where Stitch is walking down a path after leaving Lilo is taken from the Disney film version of The Ugly Duckling. The illustrations in Lilo's storybook are also based on scenes from that film.
- Near the end, the tracking screen Captain Gantu uses to locate Stitch on Hawaii shows the icon for the Disney theme park in Florida, Epcot - Spaceship Earth.
- Running gag: Every time Pleakley looks at or tries to show someone information about Earth, the device used is a "ViewMaster". ViewMasters create the illusion that the viewer is looking at a three-dimensional image, but it's actually created by each eye looking at slightly different pictures. The basic premise is that the person looking in it has two eyes to create the effect, but Pleakley is a one-eyed creature and therefore wouldn't see the 3-D effect. Adding to the gag is when he hands the ViewMaster to Dr. Jumba, a one-eyed alien handing a four-eyed alien a viewing device intended for two-eyed humans.
- When Stitch awakes at the dog pound, there are a number of dogs shaking in fear in the corner of his cell. They're the same dog breeds that Lady encounters in her trip to the dog pound in Lady and the Tramp (1955). Here, they don't know that Stitch is an alien, but they know he's not a dog. It could also be a reference to John Carpenter's "The Thing".
- The grocery store where Nani tries to get a job is owned by a "Mrs. Hasegawa", a reference to the famous "Hasegawa's General Store" in the town of Hana on Maui.
- After Stitch breaks the water gun apart, Cobra is shown looking disappointed, as a crowd of people run by in terror. The last two people to run by are cartoon versions of Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois- Chris is the one with blond hair and sunglasses, Dean is the big man with a beard.
- In the subtitles for the Chinese version, a line spoken by Stitch in his alien language is translated into Chinese despite it having no corresponding English meaning. The reason for this is thought to be because Stitch's line sounded a lot like Ni Qu De (Go to your place), an offensive Chinese phrase used to tell somebody to go away. The actual Chinese translation was a lot more family-friendly. This line is placed at an earlier point than the first understandable dialog spoken by Stitch in the English version of the film.
- The voice of Stitch was a difficult one to dub for other languages and that's why Dutch voice artist Bob van der Houven does the voice of Stitch in the Dutch, German, Flemish and Italian versions of the film.
- The original version of Jumba attacking Stitch in Lilo's home included Jumba using his plasma gun to shoot the ceiling instead of throwing dishes at Stitch. When revealed, Jumba's knife had weapons such as an ax, a saw blade, and other sharp objects instead of toothpaste, a comb and other small common essentials. Stitch had more action with the chain saw, including the chain saw cutting up the kitchen floor after Stitch lost control of it. Stitch tears out the stove and uses the broken gas line as a weapon by turning the gas on and filling the room with explosive vapor. Jumba fires his gun, causing a gas explosion that blows up the house, instead of Jumba and Stitch playing "hot potato" as Jumba's gun overloads and blows up the house. This scene can be viewed in the Special Edition 2-Disk set.
- The original version of the flying chase scene at the end movie included Stitch stealing a 747, not Jumba's space ship, flying through downtown Honolulu and passing near buildings. The sequence was already animated with voices added early in production, but the scene was cut after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The chase had to be re-written and re-drawn, except now taking place in the mountains. This deleted scene can be seen in the Special Edition 2-Disk set. Another scene that was deleted was one of Lilo's attempts to make Stitch into a model citizen by warning tourists on the beach about the tsunami warning sirens. When the sirens suddenly go off, everyone on the beach panics and runs away while Cobra watches (the animation created was instead used for when Stitch goes berserk on the beach) and Pleakley and Jumba flee thinking that Lilo has the power to control the water.
- Producer Clark Spencer has revealed that the story location was originally an isolated town in Kansas, rather than on Kauai. Coincidentally, Stitch can be said to vaguely resemble the spined aliens of the Critters series, which took place in Kansas, and also had a hunter dispatched to stop them.
- When Jumba is ripping up the newspaper, some of the pictures look like past experiments: one next to the bed resembles Sprout (509), another Woops (600) and one looks like a white Loch Ness Monster.
- When the film was released, it was praised as an accurate portrayal of Hawaii, its people and their lives, not only for the dialogue using accurate Hawaiian slang (on the advice of Jason Scott Lee and Tia Carrere), but also for the realistic animation of the characters (i.e., realistic body shapes, noses, skin tones, etc.) and other touches in the film.
- The Grand Councilwoman recognizes Bubbles, who responds by saying "CIA. Roswell, 1973", referencing supposed alien and government activity in Roswell, New Mexico.
- When this film's production began in 1992, Stitch was originally going to be shown looking like a tuatara.
- After the scene where Lilo's house explodes and Stitch flies out of it, he comes out of the rubble with his spines and extra two arms protruding, but when Nani's legs rushes past him, his spines disappear and he has two arms instead of four. This could be because he quickly retracted them before she could see, and exploit him.
- At the beginning of the movie, the Grand Councilwoman seems not to know the Planet Earth (since she doesn't recognise it and doesn't know it's almost completely covered in water). However, in the end of the movie, she claims she has already been on Earth in the Roswell incident, and she has met Cobra Bubbles.
- When Stitch throws Nani's VW Beetle at Jumba the horn goes on and it sounds like Herbie's horn as seen in The Love Bug.
Home Media
The film was released on VHS and DVD December 3, 2002. In 2003, a 2-disc DVD version was announced alongside Alice in Wonderland and Pocahantas, which were released in 2004 and 2005, repectively. A 2-Disc Special Edition DVD of Lilo and Stitch was released in the UK on August 22nd 2005, alongside the UK release of Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, but a release in the US has suffered from continuous delays. It has now been announced that it will finally be released on March 24, 2009.
Teaser trailers
Teaser trailers for this film parody trailers for other Disney films (two of these were animated by Sanders) from recent years. These are called "Inter-Stitch-als" and are featured on Disney's official site. The original actors were brought back to reprise their roles and were shocked when asked to act negatively towards Stitch. The trailers also include the AC/DC song track Back In Black.
- Beauty and the Beast. The 'Beauty and the Beast' ballroom dance sequence begins as normal. However as the camera pans to the angels on the ceiling, Stitch is seen crawling across the painting. Watching Belle and the Beast, he crawls onto the chandelier, which falls, the Beast pulling Belle out of harm's way. The moment ruined, Belle announces she will be in her room. As she departs Stitch wolf whistles after her, to which she replies 'Get your own movie!'
- The Little Mermaid. Ariel is singing the reprise of 'Part of Your World', when a huge wave, which is being ridden by Stitch, 'dumps' on her. As the ocean settles, Ariel pops up and throws a starfish at Stitch, saying 'I was singing here!' This trailer was the most difficult to parody, as it wasn't animated in the CAPS system and had to be cleaned up by hand.
- Aladdin. Aladdin and Jasmine are interrupted in the middle of the 'A Whole New World' sequence by the protagonist, Stitch. Stitch flirts with Jasmine and she drives off with him in his spaceship, leaving Aladdin sitting alone on the carpet, yelling at Stitch to 'get his own movie'.
- The Lion King. There are two versions of this commercial. In one of them, clips of past Disney classics are shown, with a voiceover saying 'For over seventy years, the Walt Disney studios has won the hearts of audiences with the most enchanting, delightful and lovable characters the world had ever known. On June 21st, the tradition.', and is suddenly cut off as Rafiki thrusts Stitch into the air in the manner of the presentation ceremony in the original film. A warthog cries out "Hey, that's not Simba!". All the animals flee, leaving Stitch alone on Pride Rock. Stitch clears his throat and roars unconvincingly. In the other commercial, the end of the song "Circle of Life" plays, Rafiki raising Stitch into the air on the last note. The rest of the parody plays out as the previous one, except that in this commercial, Timon (sitting on Pumbaa's back) is the one who yells "Hey, that's not Simba!".
Spin-offs
In 2003, Disney expanded the Lilo & Stitch franchise to include a TV series titled Lilo & Stitch: The Series. It ran for 65 episodes between September 20, 2003 and July 29, 2006. The series carried on where the movie left off and charted Lilo's efforts to capture and re-home Jumba's remaining experiments.
In March 2008, Disney announced that it is to produce a reimagined version of Lilo & Stitch, titled Stitch! and aimed at the Japanese market. The show, which began in October 2008, features a Japanese girl named Yuna (formerly referred to as Hanako) in place of Lilo, and is set on a fictional island in Okinawa prefecture instead of Hawaii. The series is produced by the Japanese animation house Madhouse LTD.
See also
External links
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