funny!

Disney's feature Lilo and Stitch might be more geared toward animation buffs than towards tykes on summer vacation. It's wonderfully hand drawn animation resonates with pop history, visual echoes to Dr. Suess, Chuck Jones, and others.

This feature shows a breathtaking view of Hawaii, which makes the movies all the more interesting. Unfortunately the story's holes and conventions grow even wider as the film progresses and finishes up as a lesser effort of Disney.

Lilo of the title pronounced ("Lee-Lo") is a small, odd girl (voiced by Daveigh Chase), who doesn't quite fit in with the others girls around. She shows up late for her dance class because it was her day to feed the fish their peanut butter sandwiches, but they were out of peanut butter and the dance teacher certainly didn't expect Lilo to feed the fish tuna sandwiches.

Later when all the other girls play with their perfect barbie dolls, Lilo whips out her hand made Frankenstein-like doll scaring her would be playmates away.

Her older sister and sole gaurdian Nani (voiced by Tia Carrere) has the job of raising Lilo single-handedly while trying to hold on to that ever elusive job.Despite the fact that she's raised a pretty smart little tyke and that she's not on drugs or selling her body for money, a tough social worker voiced by (Ving Rhames) comes around threatening to take Lilo away.

To help make Lilo happy, Nani decides to get Lilo a pet. She latches on to a blue creature she names Stitch.Unfortunaletely no one knows that Stitch is genetically engineered and recently escaped creature with unlimited destructive powers. Two odd looking aliens have been dispatched to retrieve him, and as is tradition in Disney movies everything boils down to a lengthy chase.

Lilo and Stitch works best in these early, funny, clever scenes that use the Hawaii backdrop to brilliant effect. The funniest scene is Lilo waking up Nani with her latest discovery that Stitch is a human record player. The laughs in this movie are both kid and adult friendly.

Luckily directors Dean Debois and Chris Sanders have chosen to dump the usual lite-rock, radio friendly schmaltz usually cranked out by Elton John or Tim Rice, or Bryan Adams, whose bloodless songs sunk the recent Spirit in favor of the vintage rock score by Elvis Presley and others as well as Hawaiian pop songs.

By elimination the bad music, Lilo and Stitch carries on the more amusing, lightweight Disney cartoons like the movie The Emperer's New Groove, designed for fun and laughs rather than preachy treacle like The Lion King.

Despite running out of gas and getting a little bogged down with its message, Lilo and Stitch provides a happy summer distraction. Though if it's recieved anything like Emperor, it's likely to fade away rather quickly.

Overall this movie was one of my personal favorites. I loved the fact that it was based in Hawaii and that the picture was so real and visual. I felt like I was really there even though it was just a cartoon. It was like going on a vacation in the T.V. My family all loves this movie, despite the difference in age groups. It's a great movie for people anywhere and anytime.