Lilo & Stitch

Lilo & Stitch – When a genetically engineered alien creature escapes from the Galactic Federation (who wish to exile him), he lands on a Hawaiian island and is adopted by Lilo, a little girl who is herself adopted. Naming the creature ‘Stitch’ and believing him to be a strange-looking dog, Lilo finds Stitch to be destructive and chaotic but desperately tries to find a place for him within her dysfunctional family. But with a social worker threatening to take Lilo away and Stitch’s creator trying to re-capture his ‘abomination’, will this little family be able to stay together?

Lilo & Stitch (2002) – Director: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders

Rating: U

Running Length: 85 mins

Starring: Daveigh Chase, Chris Sanders, Tia Carrere

Genre: Animated

REVIEW: ‘LILO & STITCH’

One of Disney’s last hand drawn features, ‘Lilo & Stitch’ follows two unconventional outcasts as they stumble around the world trying to find their places within it. Making Lilo a young adopted child with only an older sibling to look out for her is an unusual central dynamic for Disney and it is even more unusual to have the two constantly at loggerheads. While it is believable that a child in Lilo’s situation would struggle to adapt to a relatively ‘normal’ family life, her unending bratty behaviour quickly begins to grate, especially when it is made clear that she will be taken away if she is unable to control her negative emotions.

The journey that the pair go through is enjoyable to watch and Stitch’s transformation is enough to bring a smile to your face but this is largely drowned out by the negativity as well as the distractingly poor animation that makes the movie look more like a cheap ’70’s cartoon rather than a more recent offering from the world’s leading animation powerhouse. Nani, Lilo’s sister, is by far the most sympathetic character in the movie, her desire to provide a loving home for Lilo in the absence of her parents is clear but her inability to deal with Lilo’s temperament makes her both frustrated and guilt-ridden, especially when the constant threat of having Lilo taken away is ever-present.

Lilo & Stitch isn’t a ‘bad’ film by any means, it is just disappointing that when such a good concept was brought to the table, it wasn’t handled more carefully. The potential for a fun but thought-provoking tale of adoption and belonging was pushed aside for in-your-face characters that are hard to warm to. Ultimately, ‘Lilo & Stitch’ is one of the weaker Disney movies and with so many other, better animations available, this is a movie that will struggle to stand the test of time.

CONTENT: IS ‘LILO & STITCH’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The movie opens on an alien world where a scientist is on trial for genetically engineering a violent creature (Stitch). This creature angrily utters some alien gibberish which causes several other creatures to gasp in shock and one to bend over double to vomit.

Stitch is captured, a large needle is injected into his brain and a pink liquid is extracted. This simply annoys him, causing him to angrily thrash about so no suffering is hinted at but kids may be upset that such an invasive thing is done to Stitch.

When Stitch’s stolen spaceship heads towards Earth, the aliens who are trying to recapture him say ‘We have to gas the Earth’.

A girl calls Lilo ‘crazy’ which causes Lilo to become angry and attack the girl, hitting and biting her. This girl clearly doesn’t like Lilo and is often a bit mean to Lilo, avoiding her and upsetting her.

Lilo has a doll which she has made herself and tells some other girls about it saying ‘I pretend she has bugs in her ears and she’s upset because she only has a few days to …’

Lilo lies to a social worker saying that her sister ‘disciplines (me)…with bricks…in a pillow case’.

The alien scientist that created Stitch goes to Earth with another alien to try to retrieve Stitch (or kill him if necessary). They are constantly on the verge of capturing Stitch; one time the scientist drags Stich underwater, he grabs hold of Lilo so she gets dragged under as well. They are both saved but this becomes a little scary as the moment of being pulled underwater lasts around 10 seconds.

Because of Lilo’s inability to settle with her sister, Nani, their social worker tells Nani that Lilo will be taken away the next day. That evening, both girls become emotional; Nani sings Lilo a soothing song which makes the scene even more touching. The next morning, Nani tries to hide her tears from Lilo.

An alien spaceship captures Lilo and flies away, seemingly never to return her to her family. For several minutes, other characters are distraught because they believe she will never be seen again and although events change, children are likely to be upset by Lilo’s predicament.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘LILO & STITCH’ OK FOR KIDS?

‘Lilo & Stitch’ is one of the more disappointing Disney movies with little light relief and characters who are difficult to warm to until too far into the story to count. While the content of the movie is fine for all ages, we feel many younger kids will struggle to remain interested past the first act, we therefore recommend ‘Lilo & Stitch’ for kids aged 7 and over.

Violence: 1/5 (Stitch is beaten against a tree and stepped on)
Emotional Distress: 2/5 (Lilo throws herself face down onto her bed because she is depressed and says ‘Leave me alone to die!’)
Fear Factor: 1/5 (the aliens, one of which is quite aggressive, could be scary)
Sexual Content: 1/5 (a young man takes a shine to Lilo’s sister; Lilo tells him ‘she likes your butt and fancy hair, I read her diary’)
Bad Language: 0/5 (other than Stitch’s angry gibberish!)
Dialogue: 1/5
Other Notes: Deals with themes of adoption, family, finding someone who changes your character for the better, negative emotions, the threat of being taken away from family, friendship, illegal science, alien beings and unconventional love.