Either way you turn it, Lilo & Stitch is a keeper. They truly don't make them like this anymore

Rating: 10/10 (23 July 2007)

2002 may seem a long time ago now, but in fact only 5 years have passed since then. Back at the time, I was a 21 year old soldier, serving my third and last year of obligatory service in the Israeli army, counting the days left until I could be a civilian again. Anyway, I remember coming home one Friday after two weeks at the army, and I was all tired and worn out. Luckily enough, my ex-Girlfriend (we just started dating at the time) insisted we go out for dinner and a movie. I could still taste the gourmet meal I ate, and smell the popcorn that greeted me upon entering the theater. Needless to say, I wasn't the film buff I am now back then, and I entered Lilo & Stitch without any previous knowledge about what to expect.
After all this time, I still don't know if it was the whole atmosphere of the brief vacation from the army or the fact it was an over the top animated masterpiece from the get go. As anyone would tell you from personal experience, it's all subjective anyway. Fact of the matter is, I instantly fell in love with the film and its lovable characters. The story of an alien being (cute and cuddly as he may be) who is stranded in a place miles away from home made me relate to my own personal status, having to serve in the hot and humid southwest area of Israel, hundreds of kilometers from my own home. Once I was there, feeling for the ridiculous looking Stitch, I soon developed a gradual empathy to Lilo, the little girl who adopted Stitch after mistaking him for a dog, as I myself am an orphan, and I can see why she needed a dog to share her emotions.
Now mix all this with the hilarious animation, numerous likable side characters, beautiful Hawaiian setting, refined Elvis Priestly soundtrack, and you got yourself a winner. Lilo & Stitch manages to be silly and intelligent both at once, and to this day makes me laugh and cry simultaneously (I obviously own it on DVD). It's the last traditional animation outing that was a big hit at the box office as well (if memory serves me right, it earned nearly 150 million dollars in the US alone), and there's an obvious reason for that. Like Shrek 1&2, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and other 3-D CGI animation films, it keeps its plot simple and easy to follow, when all the while manages to pay gestures to older films and themes us grown ups can relate to; thus really living up to the cliché that insists a G rating is for everyone from 4 to 90 9or something like that).
As you can tell, I first and foremost fell in love with this film for sentimental reasons, but at the end of the day, what made me watch it again and again over time was its original mix of Sci-fi and traditional animation, unbelievable funny scenes (try watching Stitch running over the toy model of San Francisco and tell me you didn't laugh) and simple morals of family and friendship. Either way you turn it, Lilo & Stitch is a keeper. They truly don't make them like this anymore.