After the disappointing performance of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Disney bounced back with what was to be their only big success for years to come: Lilo & Stitch. One of the few Disney films to be set in the modern day, Lilo & Stitch combines extravagant, sci-fi action with a heartfelt, emotional story about family and purpose. It does tread some old ground, but for the first time in a few years and the last time for quite a few more, Disney managed to connect with audiences on an emotional level in the way only they can do.
The art style returns to Disney’s more traditional, rounded,
smoother character designs, though the human characters of this movie do have a distinct look and the aliens all look very different and unique. The
animation is, unsurprisingly, excellent; the character animation is excellent,
sometimes kinetic and humorous, sometimes careful and used to express quiet emotion,
the action scenes are excellent, the computer animation is excellent, it’s all
excellent. The backgrounds are of particular note, returning to a watercolour
look that Disney has not used for quite some time; the colours and painting are
so soft, yet rich, the backgrounds almost seem to exist in a world of their
own, independent of the characters. This style reminds me of Studio Ghibli
movies, especially the later, 2009 film Ponyo,
which shares a similar setting; in both these films, the backgrounds are a true
work of art.
At first the story can seem rather tired, being about an
alien who finds himself stranded on Earth and has to insert himself into the
lives of a little girl and her sister, only to have them teach him the true
meaning of family and what it means to belong. We have seen this story of the
outsider who wants to find where they belong many times throughout the Disney
Renaissance, but rarely is it done as well as it is here; like Beauty and the Beast, Lilo & Stitch focuses not on pushing
its moral, but rather on developing its characters, allowing the audience to
infer the message and themes of the film from the struggles they go through.
Again, like Beauty and the Beast, the
film shows us two characters that are viewed as outcasts, simply because they
are different, who cannot reconcile their feelings about themselves with the
role that society has decided they should play – Lilo as the weirdo and Stitch
as the monster; initially, they seem to give into the roles they have been
given, but slowly come to realise that they are not a good fit. Unlike something
like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the
movie is not about proving this to others, but simply to themselves, they want
to feel like they belong to a family, something which Stitch has never had and
which Lilo has had tragically taken from her. Though the film addresses some
familiar themes, it does it so expertly and with such a unique cast of
characters that it probably does a better job than any of the previous Disney
movies that tackle this idea, except Beauty
and the Beast.
Creepy Lilo
The film’s Hawaiian setting is also of note, as not only
does it make sense within the context of the story – Stitch lands on an island
with no major cities and cannot swim, so he is trapped in a place where he
physically cannot fulfil his destructive purpose – but also allows for some beautiful
scenery, interesting uses of character and culture and great music, all of
which are completely new to the Disney animated canon. The film is also well
paced and well structured, with a solid character arc which remains
entertaining and consistent throughout; everything that happens makes sense and
each scene follows on logically from the one before. The movie is also very
funny! There is a great sense of comic timing here, the animators know just how
long a character should hold a stare, or pause before reacting, leading to a
lot of sudden jokes which hit hard and fast, catching you off guard. There are
also a lot of good character-based jokes, as all the major characters have very
specific personalities which afford for humorous dialogue and equally humorous
interactions with the other characters. Though it’s not as overtly comical as The Emperor’s New Groove, Lilo & Stitch is, in many ways, just
as funny and as a film which is not purely a comedy, it perfectly balances the
moments of brevity with the more serious, emotional scenes; from a purely
structural standpoint, Lilo & Stitch is
pretty much perfect.
The characters are a colourful and naturally likeable
bunch; there are very few stereotypes here and the ones that at first seem to
be old clichés are actually used in a way that we’re not used to seeing in
Disney movies. Like Beauty and the Beast,
the two title characters of Lilo &
Stitch share the role of protagonist, as the movies devotes equal time to the both
of them, as well as their growing friendship. Lilo is, without question, the
best child character Disney has ever done; kids in Disney movies tend to either
be overly cutesy and annoying, or just bland and... well, still annoying. Instead
of a stereotype of a kid, Lilo actually behaves like a real kid – she can be a
brat and pushes her sister in terms of what she can get away with, but it doesn't
mean she’s a bad kid, she’s just acting out for attention; she’s cute, but without
being too saccharine, her behaviour and mannerisms are just naturally sweet; she’s
curious and insightful for her age, but is still naive and inexperienced. Most
notable is how she’s a weird kid that doesn’t fit in with her peers, but not in
a generic “outcast in a Disney movie” way; we are expected to accept that
characters like Hercules and Pocahontas don’t fit in, for very superficial and
undeveloped reasons, but Lilo’s mannerisms are so realistic and skilfully conveyed
that we immediately and completely understand why she’s an outcast. Everyone knew
a kid like this growing up (and if they didn’t, it’s probably because they were
this kid), she’s always just a little off from everyone else – she can’t afford
the same dolls that all the other girls play with, so she makes her own, but it
just doesn’t look right; she starts fights with little provocation, but then
tries to be friends with the very same person she just attacked, seemingly
unaware of the fact that these people don’t consider her their friend; she is
not a freak or a bad person, she is just a very confused little girl. There is
a scene where Lilo tells Stitch that she knows that the reason he wrecks things
and pushes people away is because he is lonely; she may as well be talking
about herself, her character is a heartbreakingly truthful deconstruction of
the idea of the “weird kid”. Lilo has a lot of personality, her weird ideas and
off-kilter wit are charming and her awkward reactions and sense of timing are
legitimately very funny. Daveigh Chase does a fantastic job in bringing this character
to life, especially considering how young she was at the time; consequently,
Lilo sounds just like a real little girl and it’s impossible not to grow to
care about her.
Stitch runs afoul of Earth’s most dangerous predator
Stitch is also very likeable, he’s just a ball of crazy
energy that’s always doing weird stuff and often in very strange and inventive
ways, such as moving around by sticking his legs into his mouth and rolling
around like a ball. He’s such a little monster and he’s always causing trouble,
but that’s why he’s so much fun to watch; even when he becomes a “good guy”, as
it were, he still mocks and taunts his enemies and seems to derive an almost
sadistic glee from humiliating and hurting them. He also shares a sense of
awkwardness with Lilo, as well as the obvious fact that he doesn’t fit in on Earth because he’s an alien; they are both weird, misunderstood and undervalued, but do have things
they are good at, even if they are a little unusual or
unexpected – from Lilo’s sense of imagination and creativity, to Stitch’s skill
with a guitar – and deep down they just want to be loved. Stitch also spends
about half of the movie in a state of legitimate depression and existential
crisis, questioning his purpose and place in the world and whether or not he should
be alive at all; this is conveyed very seriously, delicately and mostly without
even any dialogue, with a level of depth and honesty rarely seen in films
intended for children. It never gets too heavy or melancholy, but you really
feel for Stitch as you can see just how much pain and confusion he’s in; for a
character who is so wild and crazy and who barely has any dialogue, Stitch is
very well-rounded and both sides of his personality are equally interesting – when
he’s a monster, he’s a REAL monster and a ton of fun, but when he’s more tender, he’s genuinely endearing
and sympathetic and like Lilo, you really feel for him.
The side characters are also well constructed; Nani is
another character that could have easily been poorly handled, but is instead presented
so sincerely that she avoids becoming the very obvious and easy cliché she
could have been. She can be a bit of a kill-joy and is bossy towards Lilo and
Stitch, but only because she has to be; she is frustrated that Lilo seems
incapable of understanding just how close her behaviour has brought them to
being separated, but at the same time, she understands that it’s unfair to
expect Lilo to understand – after all, she’s only a kid and she shouldn’t have
to deal with this kind of stuff, yet. But of course, Nani is barely more than a
kid herself and it’s implied that she’s had to skip at least part of her
childhood to raise Lilo, after they lost their parents, which isn’t fair on
her, either; her struggle is believable and incredibly sympathetic, as all she
wants is to do what’s right for her sister, but the world just keeps putting
obstacles in her way. Like Lilo and Stitch, she finds it difficult to play the
role that the world has forced on her, that of a mother: as Lilo says, ‘I like
you better as a sister than as a mom’; she isn’t ready for that kind of responsibility
yet, but because of what happened, she has no choice. Her interactions with
Lilo are also refreshingly realistic, from their sisterly quarrels to their
moments of playfulness and understanding, with little quirks and reactions that
we can imagine built up over the course of their lives; there is a great scene
where Lilo runs away from Nani, who instantly knows that she is hiding in the
tumble dryer and very carefully lays out a trap for her sister, tricking her
into catching herself. Small things like this go such a long way in developing genuine
relationships and back stories, I cannot stress this enough; it is such a short
scene, but it tells us so much about these characters, how well they know each other and what their lives have
been like before we met them. The character of the bossy older sister is so
rarely done well in kid’s movies and Nani is one of the very few that is done
so perfectly.
Newest candidate for most amazing shot in film history
Jumba and Pleakley are the biggest source of comic relief
and are, in some ways, a pretty traditional villainous double-act, though they
too break tradition by not really being bad people and eventually becoming
friends with the heroes. They play off
each other well and at times function almost like an old married couple, with
the more masculine, impulsive and reckless Jumba constantly being nagged by the
more feminine, anxious and rational Pleakley, especially evidenced by the fact
that Jumba disguises himself as a man and Pleakley as a woman. They both have
good voice actors behind them, especially Pleakley, who is voiced by Kids in the Hall member Kevin McDonald,
who brings a sense of fervent panic and laughable incompetence to the
character. Cobra Bubbles is cool and intimidating and his serious and
unflappable demeanour makes for a lot of good gags, particularly the fact that
his ridiculous name is so at odds with his tough exterior that he is visibly
embarrassed saying it. Despite essentially being an antagonistic force towards
Nani and Lilo, as he threatens to split them apart, he is not a bad guy; again,
in most kid’s movies, this guy would be a stuck-up, stuffy bureaucrat who seems
obsessed with splitting up the sisters just to be mean. However, Bubbles is a
reasonable and good-intentioned authority figure who is clearly upset by the
idea of taking Lilo away, as he knows Nani cares about her sister, he just has
legitimate concerns about her ability to take care of her; neither Bubbles nor
Nani are in the wrong and neither of them are the bad guy, they’re just two
good people in a bad situation trying to do what they think is right and they
both have very valid points. Similarly, the Grand Councilwoman is an
antagonistic force towards Stitch, but only because she is trying to protect
the galaxy; like Bubbles, she is only trying to do what she thinks is right and
when she is eventually convinced that Stitch has good in him and deserves to
live, she allows him to do so.
Gantu is the closest the film has to a legitimate villain,
but even he is not really evil, like Bubbles and the Grand Councilwoman he is
just trying to do his job, though he does seem to take a little too much joy in
capturing Lilo and Stitch. Unfortunately, though it is mostly interesting to
have a Disney movie where the heroes are faced by antagonistic forces who are
not especially villainous, in the case of Gantu, it does kind of work more to the
film’s detriment than its credit, as though Stitch’s rescue of Lilo is
exciting, Gantu’s lack of development as a real villain means that his defeat doesn’t
really feel all that satisfying or conclusive; still, this is one of, if not
the only real time that the film stumbles, so it’s very easy to forgive. The
film doesn’t really need a specific villain, as one of its messages seems to be
that there is no such thing as good or bad people, just good and bad situations
and when people find themselves in the latter, they just have to make the most
of things and do the best they can, which will sometimes bring them into
conflict with others. As said before, none of the characters who oppose Lilo
and Stitch are especially bad people, they’re just doing what they think is
right and ultimately, are persuaded otherwise, when the titular duo prove to
them that, despite what appearances might suggest, they are a part of a happy
and functional family that doesn’t need outside interference.
Jumba and Pleakley, about to finally kiss
Lilo & Stitch is
once again not a traditional musical, but instead features a number of songs
which play over the action, some original and some pre-existing. Unlike Tarzan, for example, the songs do not
exist to describe the action, but instead exist purely to evoke emotion and
create atmosphere; thankfully, this means there are no goofy lyrics or redundant,
simplistic narration, they’re just nice songs. The use of Hawaiian music, as
well as the songs of Elvis Presley, compliment the film’s setting and style
appropriately and work well for a number of montages, as well as an especially powerful section of the film where Lilo, Stitch, Nani and their friend David go surfing, a sequence
which runs a gambit of emotions, from apprehension, to childlike wonder, to pained
loneliness, to ecstatic joy; truly one of the movie’s best moments, which could
not exist without the great song “Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride” behind it. The
score is by veteran composer Alan Silvestri and at times sounds suspiciously
similar to his score from Back to the
Future, but of course, this is in no way a bad thing; Silvestri is a master
of his art and his music fosters empathy, hope and exhilaration as well here as in anything he’s ever done.
9/10
Next Week: Treasure Planet!
Email: joetalksaboutstuff@gmail.com
Twitter: @JSChilds
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