LILO & STITCH (2002) ***1/2

Reviewed 7/5/02

Disney’s animation studio has been in a rut of late.  THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME was awful and while HERCULES, TARZAN, and ATLANTIS might all be tolerable, only MULAN and THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE could even make a case for being worthwhile.   The more difficult-to-categorize LILO & STITCH, not based on a fairy tale or famous novel, then comes as a surprise in being involving, charming, and heartfelt.

Far away from planet Earth, four-eyed alien mad scientist, Jumba (David Ogden Stiers), has genetically engineered Experiment 626, a super-strong, nearly-indestructible creature the size of a dog that lives to destroy.  The intergalactic Grand Council condemns the little monster to exile, but it snatches a spaceship and escapes to Hawaii (not a bad choice all in all except that the creature’s kryptonite is water).  Jumba and one-eyed Earth expert, Pleakey (Kevin McDonald), are dispatched to recapture the beast.

In Hawaii, little orphaned Lilo (Daviegh Chase) is under the guardianship of her big sister, Nani (Tia Carrere), but the colossal social worker with the unfortunate name, Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames), threatens to remove Lilo from her care.  Despite being a social outcast from the other children, Lilo is a spirited child who plays by herself and listens to Elvis Presley when she feels dejected, which is often.  To alleviate Lilo’s loneliness, Nani decides to get a dog.  At the pound, Lilo picks out Experiment 626, mistakenly taken there after getting hit by a truck, and she dubs him “Stitch.”  At first, Stitch can’t stop himself from pursuing his destructive instincts, but he slowly learns from his fellow misfit, Lilo, what is means to belong somewhere, in this case, a family.

LILO & STITCH is not exactly original being a twist on E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL and IRON GIANT, but for once in a Disney film, one can actually relate to Lilo and Nani as human beings.  They have more personality than all recent Disney characters put together.  Lilo is a feminized version of Calvin from Bill Waterson’s justly celebrated comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes,” and she has Calvin’s self-absorption, incomprehensibility of the world, and need to escape.  As voiced by Daviegh Chase, an actual little girl, Lilo is convincingly precocious.  Stitch is voiced by Chris Sanders, who also happens to be the film’s co-writer and co-director.  Ving Rhames sounds like he’s channeling his PULP FICTION Marsellus Wallace persona.  If it’s a self-conscious joke it is neither inspired nor funny.

The current vogue of computer animation has left traditionally animated films like RUGRATS or THE POWERPUFF GIRLS reveling in their lack of sophistication.  LILO & STITCH’s traditional animation maintains a more stylish beauty while embracing animation’s strength – the ability to exaggerate movement and expression.  Both Lilo and Stitch are marvelously expressive.  Lilo’s stubby features are a welcome change to the lithe female body type of most heroines.  Stitch is all gigantic eyes and ears and teeth, and he has the most rapacious mouth since Homer Simpson.

The soundtrack is filled with vintage Elvis, worlds better than treacly latter-day Elton John.  Another plus is that the movie makes no big deal out of the characters’ ethnicity.  In the past, Disney has shoved multiculturalism down its audience’s throat, but the Hawaiin culture here plays nicely in the background.  The movie is plagued by an unexciting action climax and excessive sentimentality, marked by the oft-repeated dopey phrase, "Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind," but the film’s emphasis on character makes it Disney’s best effort in a decade.