Stealing a spaceship (the red one), he sets the
hyperdrive to a random location and shoots off into the ether. He
ends up crash landing on Earth
specifically, Hawaii. After a
freakish hit & run accident, he awakens in an animal shelter.
Hes been mistaken for a dog. On the lam from the galactic
authorities, he needs a place to hole up. He gets himself adopted
by a nontraditional Hawaiian family, Lilo & her older sister
Nani, who finds herself raising the girl after the untimely death
of her parents. Six Two Six, or Stitch, as Lilo calls him, is a
genetically engineered monster, and he's a long way from home. Hes
the ultimate orphan, really, and he becomes enamored with the idea
of having a family of his own. Theyll have to face down the
department of child welfare, an intergalactic police force, and a
host of bounty hunters if they want to keep their fledgling family
together.
Its an interesting story, and despite the science-fiction
elements, its perhaps the most realistic Disney flick. Ward &
June Cleaver dont really exist anymore, and Disney admirably
embraces the concept of a non-traditional family. Remember the
effect of ROSANNE on sitcoms? How stupid it made THE COSBY SHOW
look? This is the same thing. Along the same lines, Stitch &
Lilo are more realistic characters that we are accustomed to seeing
in Disney flicks. Theyre flawed, yet beautiful in their own way.
Stitch is a monster. He takes delight in creating a perfect San
Fransisco skyline, only to trounce through it like Godzilla. Lilo
just never fits in. Theres a scene with her and her doll
they
have a love-hate-relationship.. its just perfect. Nani isn't a
perfect mom. She tries, but
shes just not. The casting of Ving
Rhames as the voice of Cobra Bubbles, the child welfare officer.
Yeah, I know. But it works. These are real characters, with flaws.
You can empathize with them. I never felt like I was Simba, or John
Smith, or that Damnedable Donkey. But I can relate to these
guys.
The film has a touch of violence as well. Stitch uses guns. And
chainsaws. And cars. At times, this feels more like a Roadrunner
cartoon than a Walt Disney film. But its most often implied. And
its nothing Id be afraid to let my kids see, had I any kids.
Again, its just a reflection of the world we live in.
As I mentioned before, there really isn't any music in
the film. No breaks for introspective songs by Peabo Bryson. No
smash single for the radio mix. Its all Elvis, and its all
background. Parts of me want to think that Disneys moved past that
ATLANTIS didnt feature any music either - But the better angels
of my nature tell me that hit songs are risky, and hard to predict.
Why bother writing a hit single when you can just buy one that you
KNOW will work? In the end, you dont care. The Elvis music works.
It works well, its integral to the story, and Im very glad
somebody had the stones to cut the check.
The art of the film is amazing. For the first time since DUMBO,
some 60 years ago, Disney put down the acyclic, and returned to a
watercolor process. The results are astounding. Instead of trying
to compete on a technical basis with the wizards at Pixar, Disney
went back to what it knew best: Classic, hand-drawn animation: and
nobody does it better. Admittedly, Id been spoiled by the 3D
approach that modern technology allows. I didnt like the look of
the first 15 minutes of the film. The backgrounds are static, and
the picture looked
well
flat. But gradually, I warmed to the
look. By the end of the picture, I was simply in awe of what the
Florida studio had produced. Art, you see, is never a literal
representation. Its an interpretation of reality, not reality
itself. The Disney artists had created a world which was both more
and less real, in all the right ways, and at the same time. While
Pixar may overwhelm us by their ability to make CG animation look
real, Disneys ability to make art simply destroyed me.
Anybody can take a picture.
