42 – Lilo & Stitch
It's really interesting to see Disney
go back to themes they've tried before. It could definitely get
annoying if they try to do those themes the same way each time but
it's fine as long as they try to do them different ways. 2002's Lilo
& Stitch explores themes
we've seen before in Tarzan and
Dinosaur but present
them in a different way. The story is about a lonely young Hawaiian girl,
Lilo, who meets an escaped alien, Stitch. Stitch almost destroys her
and her sister's life but learns about the idea of family along the
way. Meanwhile, Stitch's creator, Dr. Jumba Jookiba, tries to hunt
him down and capture him while a watchful social worker, Cobra
Bubbles, scrutinizes Lilo and her sister's life to make sure Lilo is
being raised in a good environment.
Lilo
is a very strange little girl which alienates her from other girls
her age. On top of that, her mother and father have recently passed
away and she feels distant from her sister, Nani. She has a very deep
loneliness that she covers up by acting out. Nani is her much older
sister who is struggling to step into a more motherly role to raise
Lilo. They still fight like sisters and Nani has to find a way to
control Lilo while helping her overcome her loneliness. They have a
much more complex relationship than many characters I've seen before
in a Disney feature. They really feel unique and you see that they
really care about each other. You also feel really bad for Lilo as
they've never handled the idea of being an outcast and being lonely
in such a realistic way before. Similarly, Nani has to overcome the
very real problem of trying to relate to her sister and help her with
her problems while juggling her own life.
Lilo
connects immediately to the dog-like creature she names Stitch. In
reality, he is a new species of alien created by Dr. Jumba Jookiba
and is made to basically be a destructive weapon. His only motivation
in life is to seek things out to destroy and is drawn to large cities
to wreak havoc. He is very powerful and intelligent and escapes when
Jumba is put in jail for his creation. When he lands on Earth, Jumba
has been hired to hunt down and capture him so Stitch gets adopted by
Lilo to escape Jumba. He quickly finds that he can't escape the
island and there are no large cities for him to destroy. He almost
ruins Lilo and Nani's life by causing trouble, which leads Cobra
Bubbles to threaten to take Lilo from Nani. Slowly and gradually he
starts to want more than just destruction and finds that he wants a
family after he learns of the idea from Lilo. As they bond, he slowly
realizes that Lilo and Nani could be the family he wants. I really
loved the changes this character goes through. He starts as something
truly horrible and slowly morphs into one of the most likeable
characters I've seen so far.
Cobra
Bubbles is a really interesting character that feels a bit like a
villain at first but definitely isn't quite what he seems. He has a
very mysterious past and really pushes Nani to try to find stability
in her life for Lilo's sake. Despite threatening to take Lilo away
from Nani, he is definitely not a villain. He is introduced as very
cold and serious but you see that he really does care about Lilo and
only wants what's best for her. I'm really glad they decided to go
this way, instead of the obvious which would be to make him another
generic villain. David is another character that pops up from time to
time. He likes Nani and wants to date her but she has trouble
managing her life so she can't commit. He's otherwise a really great
guy that stands by Nani and Lilo and would clearly do anything for
them. He helps show Stitch that his actions aren't really helping
Nani and Lilo.
There
are quite a few characters, other than Cobra Bubbles, that could be
considered villains in this story but they really aren't at all like
past villains. Jumba is a standard evil scientist that creates Stitch
for destruction. He doesn't seem to have any real evil motivation,
however, and just seems to get enjoyment from creating dangerous
things. Agent Pleakley is an “expert” on Earth that is sent to
help and keep an eye on Jumba after Jumba is forced to go capture
Stitch in exchange for his freedom. He is much more timid than Jumba
and tries to keep him from needlessly destroying Earth. There's a
really funny subplot that involves Pleakley starting off loving the
Earth and then slowly gowing to hate it more and more as he stays on
the planet. Captain Gantu is the most obvious of “villains” in
this story but his motivations are not evil at all. He is sent in
after Jumba and Pleakley fail and is kind of a space cop kind of
character. He is ruthless and would do whatever it takes to capture
the dangerous Stitch. While he doesn't care that Lilo also gets
captured, he has no real reason to care about what he considers an
unintelligent species. Despite that, he isn't really a villain. In
fact, none of the characters here are real villains. They all have
reasons to capture Stitch and none of them are doing it for selfish
or nefarious purposes. Jumba wants freedom, of course, but he is so
quick to change his mind about it that he can't possibly be
considered a bad guy. I really like that about this movie. It never
feels any less tense because the characters still have clear
motivations and they really emphasize how this little girl can change
people.
Just
like with most other Disney features, this movie has fantastic
animation. There are some really great designs for the sci-fi
elements like the aliens and spaceships. This creates a cool contrast
when they switch to the tropical Hawaii. The music also fits the tone
of the movie really well. There are a bunch of references to Elvis
and his music which really work too. The biggest thing I noticed
about this movie was their attention to detail. Little things I kept
noticing which really added emotion to the scenes they were showing.
In one scene, Nani is scolding Lilo where we can see tears starting
to well up in Lilo's eyes. She tries to hide it and acts rebellious
but we can see that she is really hurt by the situation.
The
biggest theme in this movie is family and boy do they say it a lot.
Despite seeing a similar theme in other Disney movies, they really go
about it in a different way. We see family through how Lilo and Nani
act as sisters. We see how Lilo and Stitch become friends and how
Stitch learns about the idea of family. They really handled this
theme the most realistically I've seen, despite the strange creatures
and sci-fi story. You feel an actual sympathy for the lonely Lilo and
desperate Nani. Even Stitch, who begins as such a terrible character,
learns and changes through the power of family. You really understand
how he realizes that he is lonely too and you're happy when he
finally changes.
This
movie was really great. I feel like it doesn't really get talked
about enough. There are some really great heart breaking and equally
heart warming moments that elevate the movie to more than just a
story about an alien. Even with the heavy themes, there are some
really funny moments with a great style that follows through the
whole movie. On top of that, it's not nearly as overcomplicated as
Atlantis. When Disney
hits the right themes and finds the right pacing, they can really
tell some fantastic stories.
42
down. 11 to go.
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