GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2002)

This movie was SO GREAT! I am so happy my son got me to go see it.

It really has everything: cute cuddly characters in idyllic settings, suspenseful chases, space aliens, Star Wars spoofs, social commentary, love, the frustrations of dealing with and also of being an ill-behaved child, family dysfunction, humor, sadness, adventure, romance, fabulous surfing, and a happy ending.
Somehow the movie managed to have very complex, subtle character development worthy of high literature and still remain appealing to children. This is totally different from your typical cartoons, which inspired the concept of "cartoonish characters." In "Lilo & Stitch," people are deep and believable. They actually suffer from poverty and have to deal with government bureaucracy.
CAVEAT: I still don't think that any Disney movies are suitable for pre-schoolers, because there is suspense and some violence. My kids are 8 and 11, which I think are ideal ages for most Disney movies.

The good thing here is that the suspense is different from most other kids' movies. There are not really any good or bad guys. There are just a bunch of fairly confused, bumbling people and aliens who all have their own points of view. Importantly, the movie carries the message that different and conflicting views can be reconciled, that problems do not have to be solved by killing major characters. This is the message that we want to give our children for how to live in our crowded world, not that we can kill off our enemies, but that we have to find a way to share space with them.

I guess it's really a girl's movie, like "Pocahantas" was, but my sons liked it anyway.