Lilo & Stitch (2002) - A human drama disguised as an intergalactic adventure!

Disney holds the crown on animation through it's revolutionary and inspiring work since the late 1930s. And while some of their other projects are more grandiose and ground breaking, the best for me has to be 2002's Lilo & Stitch, due to it's incredible ability to not only provide a thrilling intergalactic adventure, but also been able to home in on some brilliant human drama.

Nani and Lilo are some of the best human characters in Disney history, and it's because they are the most three dimensional and have the most expansive personas. Lilo's sense of longing to be accepted by the world, but using rage and bad behaviour to express herself makes her one of the most realistic child characters around. She doesn't intend to cause harm, but without developed social skills, and a broken family life, Lilo's emotions are as scattered as one would expect. But despite the world being seemingly against her, Lilo strives to see the best in everyone she holds close. Whether it be her sister or a creature she accepts in quickly as a family pet. As for Nani, not only is it great to see a demonstration of how strained relationships can be within broken families, especially those that lack parental guidance, but also, Nani's journey as a character demonstrates a vast range of realistic trials that an older sibling may face when forced into the role of parent. The more Nani is knocked down by the world, the more we begin to see the layered relationship she has with Lilo. It's not just about trying to raise her sister in the absence of their parents, it's also her pleading attempts to cling onto the final link she has to her family. While Lilo lost her parents prior to this story, it's easy to forget that Nani too lost her parents. Nani's pleads in the third act cement how she's finally reached the breaking point. The family home destroyed, and her sister seemingly lost to her for good. It's more than someone desperately looking for a job. It's a sister clinging to the past longingly.

The superb human drama doesn't just stick to Lilo and Nani. Stitch also has a brilliant humanised character arc in this story. Despite being the cute little creature who goes around smashing up stuff, Stitch also faces an internal crisis as he begins to see how meaningless his life is. Jumba even admits that he created Stitch with very little purpose beyond destruction. Upon discovering the ugly duckling story, Stitch begins to truly shut himself off as he begins to see parallels around him as Lilo and Nani's lives begin to collapse around them. He shoulders the blame, but doesn't even pause to consider matters when Lilo is put in jeopardy, he takes on the few lessons he did take in when he was around the sisters. He's able to see the true spirit of family, despite being one of a kind, and feeling no sense of belonging. You wouldn't expect an alien creature like Stitch to be so human like, but ultimately, he becomes a standout favourite character for more reasons than just being cute and fluffy.

Alan Silvestri pulls on the heart strings with some brilliant music pieces, such as the moment Stitch admits to himself that he's lost in the world, as well as the hammock sequence between Lilo and Nani. But additionally, Silvestri delivers some heart pounding action music, with the climax being a clear example. It's easy to pin point what would have been happening in the film, based on which part of the music you're listening to. That's a sure fire sign of incredible music. The original songs fit in with the tone and Hawaiian setting, and the use of Elvis Presley is a unique quirk for this film. It's hard now to listen to Elvis' back catalogue, without being reminded of this gem of a film. It's just a shame that only 3 pieces of Silvestri's music made it onto the soundtrack, alongside the original songs, a couple of pop tracks and the Elvis songs used. Thankfully, the full score can be found on YouTube, and is well worth a listen!

The design of this film's characters and locations helps add more uniqueness to an already astounding film. Disney animators had to begin drawing in the style of writer, director and voice of Stitch, Chris Sanders, simply because they loved the concept drawings he presented with his pitch for the film. The efforts to capture Chris' personal touch to drawing and animation was incredible, and shows what artists the team at Disney are. And even then, the fact that many sequences such as the opening and nearly the entire third act were redesigned and reanimated after test screenings, shows the passion that these animators had for this project. It's craftsmanship at it's finest.

While many will prefer the likes of Lion King, Beauty & The Beast or heaven help you, Frozen. Lilo & Stitch is high up among the classics, for it's unique blend of genres, beauty music and animation, and some of the best characters ever written for a Disney project. This is an animated feature that deserves so much more attention. It's a demonstration of Disney's strengths, and the wonderful work their teams put in day in and day out. Stitch may have felt he could never belong, but this film will always have a special place in my heart!!

SCORES

Story: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Animation: 5/5

Acting: 5/5

Music: 5/5

Total: 10/10