Lilo And Stitch (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [2005]

After months of dust-collecting, I finally got round to watching Lilo & Stitch, a film reputed as the 'best of the rest' in the lesser-known corners of Disney's feature animation output. Whilst a reasonable financial success in 2002, and a big-name franchise for a modern Disney thought by many to be going steadily downhill, the film nevertheless passed many by and continues to do so. As a 2D feature, it lost the academy award to the brilliant 'Spirited Away', and lost many an audience member to a climate that was increasingly hostile towards 2D animation at the peak of Pixar and Dreamworks' success. As such it passed many by, and continues to do so.

Inevitably, this is unfair and Lilo & Stitch fully certainly deserves its reputation as the best of Disney's recent output, perhaps even as the best Disney movie since The Lion King. This is because Lilo & Stitch isn't as much about Stitch's causing havoc (though the 'Aladdin' level of humour/mayhem in this is certainly welcome, and consistently punchy) as it is about the family unit that forms around Stitch, Lilo and older sister / mother substitute Nani. Despite being pivotal I didn't know this family conflict was in the film when I sat down to watch it, and it surprised me with how emotionally engaging it was, ensuring that I was weepy one minute, laughing the next, a maturely managed roller-coaster of emotion.

Along with the beautiful Hawaiian setting, when marketing for the original film, Disney has downplayed this family theme and highlighted Stitch as a sort of alien Bart Simpson, a whirlwind of havoc with full "BOLD ITALIC UNDERLINE ALL-CAPS!" surf-boarding radicalness. Yawn. Disney originally created an interesting marketing campaign in which Stitch was seen as the antithesis to Disney classics like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, but (clever as their alternate re-tellings of classic Disney moments were) after years of unsuccessful Disney productions they just served to cement the fact that Disney had changed to something unrecognisable.

And true, the film isn't a big-budget ani-musical and its Science Fiction setting basically a first in the Disney Animated Features Canon, but at its core is a sentimental and commendable message worth far more than the 'Saturday Morning Cartoon' treatment that Disney gave to Lilo and Stitch's promotional period. But of course, Disney weren't quite finished: because it DID become a Saturday Morning Cartoon, and it was subjected to as many Cheapquels as every other half successful Disney feature of the last 70 years and then some (and predictably, Stitch is the main focus of these stories, in full BOLD ITALIC UNDERLINE ALL-CAPS! glory). A shame that a decent idea should be recycled endlessly in this way, but frankly that's just the way Disney has been in this decade, and looks to remain if John Lasseter fails to turn them around...

So what of this 2-Disc DVD edition of Disney Animation's only 21st Century triumph? In a rare reversal of the norm, this 2-Disk edition has never seen a release in the US which is a shame for stateside Disney fans, because the second disk is great! So long as you don't expect impartiality (Disney documentaries typically make Chinese versions of 'What really happened at Tienanmen' look like a tear-drenched confession) you're in for a treat. The first disc contains the standard Disney DVD knick-knacks aimed primarily at kids: silly DVD games, a Disney-pedia feature on Hawaii and the obligatory inharmonious holocaust of some song or other by Disney's favourite regiment of audio assassins (The Mouseketeers aren't so called because their spiritual leader is a small, trouser wearing rodent, they've earned the name by violently filling DVD extras with enough cheese to stink out Cheddar gorge). There is an audio commentary which I haven't got round to hearing yet, but the second disk alone is enough for me to give a recommendation. Cleverly segmented into parts with optional 'footnotes' as you go along, the second disk is a comprehensive making-of adequately supplemented by material that all too often gets left off the disk despite being discussed in the documentary: complete deleted scenes, production sketches and scene / concept pitches are present. Particularly interesting are interviews with animation idols responsible for backgrounds in the first four Disney features, presented as supplements to detailed accounts of Lilo & Stitch's early development and unconventional use of watercolour backgrounds. The hours of content on these discs manage to put some of the more recent 'Platinum' editions to shame and are highly commendable.

Stitch is a destructive alien experiment that crash lands on Earth. He soon strikes up a friendship with a troubled young Hawaiian girl called Lilo (well, actually he gets mistaken for a dog and she adops him from a rescue home!). Meanwhile Stitch's creator (Dr Jumba Jookiba) and another alien (Agent Pleakley) are sent to Earth to capture Stitch. Lilo is cared for by her big sister Nani (since their parents passed away) who really struggles to keep things together and eventually ends up under the watchful eye of a social worker (Cobra Bubbles) who informs Nani that Lilo will be taken into care if she doesn't step up her game. Stitch's aggressiveness and destructiveness (and also his mad attempts at escaping capture) begin to have a massive effect on Lilo and Nani's lives and things soon take a downward spiral.

This film is good fun for children aswell as adults. It has an enjoyable and unique storyline. I loved the way you didn't know how things were going to pan out and was particularly pleased with the ending.

I loved Lilo's fascination with Elvis and her attempts of modelling Stitch on him. I also love the fact that even though Lilo and Stitch were both quite awkward and troubled characters, they were very likeable at the same time. The relationship between Lilo and Nani was played out well too - it wasn't rosy but you could see how much love they had for each other.

I enjoyed seeing how Stitch coped after there was nothing left to destroy and how he started to wonder about his own 'Ohana'. It was nice to see the softer sides of many of the characters but I also enjoyed some of the 'action' scenes (which usually involved Stitch trying to escape capture). It's a real story of family and friendship.

Nani also has a love interest (a young man called David) who features heavily throughout the film and it was nice to see their relationship develop.

The animation is great and feels like a Disney film should (not that I have a problem with CGI but all Disney classics are hand drawn animation). I also like the fact that the majority of the film is set on a Hawaiian island which means lots of sand, sea, sun, hula skirts and hibiscus flowers - very refreshing! The soundtrack is also good and features lots of Elvis songs.

Lilo and Stitch is rated U which means it's suitable for all ages and has a running time of 82 minutes which is just about the right length in my opinion.

Extras on the DVD include a tour around the Hawaiian islands, a couple of music videos, a game to create your own alien, a hula lesson and trailers. The second disk includes the making of Lilo and Stitch, deleted scenes and still frame galleries. The extras are okay, but nothing special in my honest opinion.

I recommend this DVD to all.

Our 5 year old was captivated by the Stitch show at Disneyland Paris and had not seen the film itself so on our return we purchased it for her. It has everything a family film needs, a good story that both children and adults can associate with, excellent animation and dialogue and laughs throughout. The special edition comes with the standard fare of additional content (making of, trailers, DVD games etc)but the price we paid was well worth it for the movie alone. We have now probebly seen this more times than I would like to count and it's still not got old. If you have not seen it and you enjoy a good animated movie, go buy it, worth every penny.