A greatly satisfying Disney comedy....

Rating: 10/10 (17 August 2005)

'Lilo & Stitch' is truly one of the oddest Disney films you will ever see. It all started with the gut-busting ad campaign: The titular monster Stitch showing up in classic Disney movies and genuinely wreaking havoc in them. This offbeat charm shows up in the movie, and 'Lilo & Stitch' is Disney's strongest animated offering in years.
The story: Experiment 626 (voice of writer-director Chris Sanders) is a highly dangerous, highly disgusting, highly... tiny illegal alien experiment. He escapes a Galactic Prison and lands on Earth where he is mistaken for a very strange dog and adopted by a odd little Hawaiian girl named Lilo (voice of Daveigh Chase). Lilo is what you'd call a misfit; she listens to Elvis, makes strange dolls, and believes that a fish named Pudge controls the weather. When these two meet, trouble is sure to come. You see, Stitch has a highly aggressive nature, but sweet little Lilo tempers him, and the certified Disney happy-ending comes into play. After, of course, several movie references, lots of slapstick and verbal comedy, and tons of space action.
What really endears one to 'Lilo & Stitch' is it's highly quirky characters. Lilo is one of the few 6 year-olds who listens to Elvis, and Stitch has a high-pitched laugh that evokes movies like 'Gremlins' and 'Critters'. Another true joy of the movie is it's supporting cast. Nani is Lilo's big sister, voiced by Tia Carrere, and a surrogate mom (their parents died). She's not perfect, though, and is constantly at risk at having Lilo taken away from her by Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames), a disapproving social worker. Let's talk about him for a moment. In another movie, Bubbles would be the villain (and ostensibly he is), but here he's more realistic. When he tells Nani that Lilo has to be taken away, there is true sadness in his animated eyes. And then of course there's the bumbling duo of Jumba and Pleakley. Jumba (David Ogden Stiers) is the self-described "evil genius" who created Stitch with a Russian accent, and Pleakley (Kevin McDonald) is an alien officer who is an 'expert' on Earth. He believes that mosquitoes are the dominant life form on Earth (this is another odd character quirk).
'Lilo & Stitch' is an odd, skewed but hilarious Disney animated offering that is sure to entertain the whole family. Also, Disney gains a new animated hero in Stitch. You just can't help but like the little monster.