"your head looks swollen" "Actually she's just ugly" Lilo and Stitch is greatness

Now I’m really getting off my usual topics but you know what? I’m a different man (teenager) this month. Wonder why? (I bet you don’t) It’s because of the new Disney movie out there. Yes, you assumed right, Walt Disney’s Lilo and Stitch has changed my life. Never have I had such feelings toward a cartoon. Never had I seen a movie in the cinemas this many times. Never had I purchased more than one McDonald’s toy. I mean I almost friggin’cried during this movie. If you knew what a heartless mean motherf^^cker I was this would shock you. Dear God I actually purchased the soundtrack. Do you know what it felt like for a proud 18 year old male like myself to bring that CD to the Best Buy register. You’ll never know…

Now, let’s get to the movie itself. As you know this movie comes from our friendly Disney folk. These people have entertained kids and adults alike with classics like Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. Recently, they broke out of the whole hand drawn animation look and went on to computer graphics. Toy Story, Monster’s INC and Ice Age all represented the new look for Disney. So Disney returns to the old school formula (I’m overlooking Atlantis and Tarzan because I had no interest to see them) for their brand spanking new classic Lilo and Stitch.

Trust me, classic is the proper classification for this movie. This movie is just amazing from beginning to end. The story, the characters, the music all just grab you and stick to your head for days. Every element in this movie comes together wonderfully.

The Story and It’s Characters

I really don’t know where to start praising this movie but I’ll start with the core of any movie: the story. I really liked the plot: an alien designed to destroy everything learns about love and family from two sisters that are struggle to stay together as a family. Stitch is a troubled alien that was so sure about his purpose at the beginning of the movie but then he begins feel lonely and looks for that little more that everybody wants. Lilo is another troubled character that just wants a friend. Nani (Lilo’s sister) is trying to keep her sister in her custody after the death of their parents.

Like every Disney movie there is a lot of conflict but unlike your typical Disney flick there is no real villain. Jumba, Stitch’s creator, is sent to capture Stitch but is by no means a villain. The fight scene between Stitch and Jumba is incredibly funny and they actually seem to have fun while exchanging physical and verbal blows. Cobra Bubbles, the menacing social worker, is trying to see if Nani is a fit guardian for Lilo. While a scary character he is by no means a villain as he is just doing is job and looking out for Lilo’s safety. The only real bad soul is Captain Gantu but he’s in the movie for like three seconds. a huge alien who also is hunting Stitch

It’s just a great thing to watch all these characters and their different agendas interact with each other with insane results. Despite the fact that this is a very funny movie there are also many, many depressing scenes. Nani, the poor girl, is surrounded by drama. See just never seems to win as Cobra Bubbles shows up at the worst times. Stitch’s quest to find a family is just a severe tear-jerker. The “I’m Lost” scene hit me really hard. The middle of the movie is just non-stop drama. And you just start loving these characters so much by that point that you really feel for them. That’s what made this movie so great. It’s balance of comedy and struggle.

The Visuals

Though classified as the weakest part of the movie I actually really liked the animation on this move. While the animation was really simple it fit with the movie perfectly. It captured the lush and vibrant colors of Hawaii. I mean what do you want a 3D computer generated palm tree? It does the job and it does the job well.

The character designs are also really good. Stitch is friggin’ cute. That’s all there is to it. I mean when you see him in a little apron packing lunches you just have to giggle. There are plenty of these scenes where Stitch just does adorable things. Lilo is also really well designed. Her big nose and chubby exterior are also really warming. All the other aliens aren’t really all that amazing but the move isn’t about them so it wont matter much.

Do not expect any fantastic landscapes or backgrounds. The real goldmine is in the characters. Not really getting the respect it deserves the animation is really strong.

The Voice Acting

Another really strong part of this movie the casting is absolutely great. Daveigh Chase is just fantastic as Lilo. She just captures that whole cute little girl thing and goes perfectly with the character design. Chris Sanders who wrote the story also does the voice of Stitch and a fine job at it. He has a completely alien sound and is just hysterical when delivering those witty lines towards the end of the movie. Every scene that Stitch is in is just classic. Ving Rhames comes in and delivers a sinister and yet caring performance as Cobra Bubbles. Wow he is really creepy during the beginning of the movie while delivering lines like “I am the one they call when things go wrong, and things have indeed gone wrong”. Tia Carrere does Nani and does a fairly good job at it.

The aliens aren’t really as impressive looking and their voices are equally unimpressive. They have your basic human voices. In fact David Ogden Stiers gives Jumba a Russian accent. He does a relatively good job, as Jumba is a funny character. Kevin McDonald does my favorite voice in the movie of great voices. He does the voice of Earth expert Agent Pleakley. While this character is extremely slept on he is just great and really, really funny. The best way to describe his voice is like the loser pimply teenager in the show of the Gods: The Simpsons.

The Music

Once again this movie strays from the normal Disney formula n this department. Unlike the normal Disney movie the characters don’t sing. There are some great Elvis songs thrown in at perfect times. Alan Silvestri comes and composes some great background music, particularly during the more dramatic moments. Just pay attention during the scene where Stitch is in the forest calling for his family and notice a fantastic piano melody that just stabs you in the gut. There is also some native sounding Hawaiian music that is very cool.

Overview

This movie is absolutely great. It is my favorite Disney movie of all time. While not everybody will share this opinion everybody will agree that it is extremely entertaining. I’ve seen this movie a lot of times, A LOT of times. In fact I’ve seen it twice since I started writing this review. Since this is running a bit long I’ll finish this on this note: This movie is greatness