One of the best films Disney has made in decades

Rating: Null/10 (3 January 2016)

Lilo & Stitch is something of an oddball for a Disney film. After Emperor's New Groove and Atlantis had failed to bring in the kind of money needed to make them successful, Lilo & Stitch was given a much smaller budget, but also a lot more freedom when it came to story and style. The end result is something you almost wouldn't recognize as a Disney film if you didn't know better. But I mean that in a good way.
The story goes that an extra-terrestrial space government sentences a dangerous lifeform simply known as Experiment 626 to an exile on a lonely asteroid. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on the point of view, the lifeform, about to be known as Stitch, escapes and ends up in Hawaii on planet Earth. There he meets a little native girl known as Lilo, who ends up adopting him as her new "dog". The story shifts between the two story lines about Stitch being hunted by the space government and Lilo being potentially taken away by social workers because her parents have died and her sister is struggling to take care of her.
The plot alone would make this an intriguing film, but what really makes this such a wonderful movie is its warmth and maturity. Nani, Lilo's older sister, is not a bad person, despite being unable to take care of her sister properly. Instead she's shown as being a very brave young woman who has been pushed into an impossible situation. I like the maturity that shows on the film makers's part a lot. Lilo and Stitch are also very good characters, shifting effortlessly between typical Disney antics and surprising bouts of tangible maturity.
The story itself is rather basic, given the ludicrous setting. Nothing all that surprising or unexpected happens, but it doesn't have to. It's not that kind of film. It's a film you see for the characters and the emotions. For the message. And all those are spot on.
I also really like the visuals. It's not animated in the usual Disney style, but you can see enough of it for it to feel familiar. And all the new stuff being brought in works very well for the film's advantage, giving it a lot of energy and soul. Sure, it's not on bar with, say, Tarzan or Sleeping Beauty in terms of animation, but given the small budget, I'm more than impressed. The score is also nice, featuring songs by Elvis in addition to some new songs that evoke the feel of Hawaii.
This is a great film no matter how you look at it. Its heart and warmth will stay with you for a long time and it was one of the first signs that Disney could still make great films even in the new century. See it, if you haven't already.