A Mixed Outcome

Rating: 7/10 (14 December 2002)

One of the weirder Disney concepts: a genetically-mutated alien bent on destruction escapes to Earth, where he's adopted (as a dog) by a pair of orphaned sisters struggling to keep their family together. The younger sister, Lilo, is a friendless misfit, given to acting out rages stemming from parental abandonment and the bond she forms with her antisocial pet, Stitch, is natural, helping bind the family into a self-sufficient unit. (Her sister Nani's boyfriend David ultimately completes the set.) Perhaps the film's most interesting selling point is the elongated time it takes for the audience to develop affection for the characters; upfront, both Lilo and Stitch are maliciously irascible and the sentimental notions of family don't always seem to fit. (And the idea of Stitch's having no past--and thus no concept of family--due to his genetic engineering seems forced and oddly foreign.) But there are so many good absurdist comedy bits in writer/directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders' script that it's a relief when it loses its focus; when it doesn't have to be so ploddingly serious, it's very entertaining indeed. The setting is Hawaii, which means there are plenty of sunny color schemes in the animation; unfortunately, it's some of Disney's least interesting animation in years. The original songs by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu are just as boring. But the tribute to Elvis Presley that serves as both a running joke and running commentary is a delightful stroke of genius and proves that Disney still has the chops to be the hippest animation team in the business.