Disney Movie Challenge: Lilo and Stitch (2002)

Disney Movie Challenge

Lilo and Stitch (2002)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 59 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Raya and the Last Dragon in 2021.

The 2000’s are not known for quality films in the Disney Canon.  One of the movies that defied the odds and became a beloved classic and actually made money was Lilo and Stitch. After making some expensive films that underperformed Michael Eisner turned to the 40’s for inspiration on what to do next.  After the financial disasters of Fantasia and Pinocchio, Disney cranked out the cheap and quickly made Dumbo in 1942.  The movie was a hit and saved Disney from financial disaster.  Along came Chris Sanders and his crazy idea about an alien that gets banished to Earth and learns about family.  Eisner looked to Lilo and Stitch to do repeat Dumbo's success and for the most part it did.

The film is about an alien Experiment 626 who was created to wreak havoc anywhere he went.  When an alien council discovers this unauthorized experiment they try to destroy him. But experiment 626 escapes and heads to Earth.  There we meet Lilo and her sister Nani who are trying to adjust to life without their parents. Hoping a dog will help, they go to adopt one at the local shelter.  Lilo decided she wants to adopt 626, who was pretending to be a dog to escape being captured by the alien council.  Lilo names the “dog” stitch and they bring him home.  Stitch brings nothing but trouble to the house but he begins to learn the concept of “Ohana” which is Hawaiian for family.  

Chris Sanders originally had an idea for Stitch as a children's book many years earlier, but that never came to be.  When Eisner was looking for a story that could be done quickly and cheap, Sanders pitched his idea.  Eisner liked it and it was greenlit.  Taking more inspiration from Dumbo, Sanders wanted to make the film using watercolors for the background.  Watercolors had been used in prior Disney films but Dumbo was one of the only features to use it extensively.  Since watercolors hadn’t been used in over 50 years and computer animation was becoming more prevalent the animators had to be taught the technique.  The film also had a distinctive look because the animation was based on original drawings made by Sanders.  

I didn’t see the film when it was first released but what I do remember is hearing about the changes it made after 9/11.  The time period after 9/11 saw movies being very careful how they depict certain things. Sony changed the ending of Spider-Man (2002) to  show New Yorkers coming together.  The series premiere of 24 was pushed back because it showed a plane being hijacked.  Disney is quick to avoid controversy so you know they were going to be very cautious with their first animated film released after the attacks.  The original ending had Stitch hijacking a 747 from an airport and flying it through the city of Honolulu.  This was changed to Stitch flying a spaceship through the mountains.  A late change to an animated movie that had already been fully animated is quite rare and only done a few times in Disney Animated history.  Here is a video of the original scene compared with the scene in the official release. https://youtu.be/F2uJvwiSZAQ

While I like the movie’s message about “Ohana” and that anyone can be family I find the two title characters annoying.  I get that Stitch is supposed to be annoying because that is how he was made and that Lilo is struggling after the loss of her parents but I can’t help just getting frustrated with them.   It’s hard to root for a character that is fighting and biting people. And while I know that the guy from family services is supposed to be an intimidating “bad guy” but I find myself rooting for him since the family clearly needs help.  While the end has some fun action scenes it almost feels like it wraps up the emotional journey too quickly.  

Overall: I know a lot of people love this movie but it’s a mixed bag for me.  It has some fun scenes and a good message but when you find the main characters annoying it’s hard to enjoy a film.  I do love that it has a distinctive look and stands out from other Disney animated films.  

Random Facts:

The same year Daveigh Chase voiced Lilo she also played Samara in the horror film The Ring.

 

Lilo and Stitch was nominated for Best Animated Feature Oscar but lost to Spirited Away.  Daveigh Chase also voiced a character in the American dub of Spirited Away.  

Lilo and Stitch is only the third Disney animated film not based on previously released material.  The other films are The Lion King and Dinosaur.  

Since Elvis is featured prominently in the film I remember there being a resurgence in Elvis fandom after the release as it was the first introduction to Elvis for a lot of kids. 

Ving Rhames character Cobra Bubbles is drawn to look very similar to his character from Pulp Fiction

The last Disney Animated feature for David Ogden Stiers.  He had previously been in Beauty and the Beast, two characters in Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. 

Originally the film was supposed to take place in Kansas, but Sanders decided that the colors of Hawaii would benefit the story and when taking a tour of the island of Kauai learned about the concept of Ohana it changed the whole story of the film.

Along with Treasure Planet the first Disney Animated Films to be nominated for Best Animated Features at the Oscars, both lost to Spirited Away. This was only the second year that category existed. The first year no Disney Animated films were nominated (Pixar's Monsters Inc. did get a nomination the previous year but lost to Shrek.)

Disney Movie Challenge: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Disney Movie Challenge

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 59 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Raya and the Last Dragon in 2021.

For some reason this movie is not one many people talk about.  When it first came out I remember it was marketed as a “boys” move. Like Disney was trying to prove it made more than just “Princess” movies.  I also feel like the title with the colon and subtitle made it feel like a sequel to a movie that didn’t exist.  For whatever reason the film didn’t do well when it first came out and feels like most people have forgotten it exists.  Which I find really unfortunate since it’s a good movie.  

The movie centers around Milo (Michael J. Fox), a linguist, who is book smart but lacking people skills.  His grandfather was a great adventurer who had searched for the lost city of Atlantis.  Milo wants to continue his grandfather’s search but no one will fund an expedition.  That is until a mysterious man says he found the lost book that will guide them to Atlantis and they need Milo to translate it.  A team is assembled lead by the gruff Commander Rourke (James Garner) who has ulterior motives.  Eventually the team gets to Atlantis where they meet Princess Kida (Cree Summer). They learn that the Atlantean culture is dying because the King (Leonard Nemoy) refuses to reveal the “Heart of Atlantis''.  Since Kida doesn’t know how to read Atlantian she asks Milo to translate some ancient texts so she can learn how to save her people.  It is then that Milo learns about the Heart of Atlantis and shortly after Commander Rourke reveals that his true intention is to steal the Heart of Atlantis to sell it for lots of money.  Milo knows that if the Heart of Atlantis is stolen everyone in the city will die. He must convince the rest of the crew and the Atlantians to stop Rourke.  

The movie was directed by Gary A. Trousdale and Kirk Wise who had previously done Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Moving away from the Musical format they wanted to do an action adventure movie.  They also took inspiration for the look of the film from comic books and hired Mike Mignola (Hellboy) to be part of the production design.  Famous linguist Marc Okrand was brought in to create the Atlantean language.  He had previously created the Klingon language for Star Trek. At the time this was also the most CG used in a hand drawn animation film.  The amount of thought and craft put into the film should have made it a must see film.  But, the  different direction from previous Disney films coupled with fully computer animated films taking over the animation landscape severely hurt the reception of this movie (didn’t help that it came out about a month after the juggernaut computer animated Shrek). And like I mentioned before the marketing of the movie wasn’t very good.  After a decade of producing hit musicals audiences just wanted more of the same. 

Maybe it’s because I love action adventure movies and it’s been 20 years since it’s release and a lot of the baggage surrounding the film has gone away, but I really enjoyed this film.  They set out to make a Jules Verne like action film and I think they succeeded.  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was one of my favorite Disney films growing up and Around the World in 80 Days was one of my favorite books.  So a Jules Verneesque film is my sweet spot.  I thought it was a fun movie with great characters.  There was some great banter back and forth between the characters which I loved, and the cast was perfect.  The score by James Newton Howard (his second film for Disney) was really good.  That’s not to say it’s a great movie.  The mythology of Atlantis and what the “Heart of Atlantis” and crystals  actually do is very convoluted and confusing.  Rumor has it that the original script was 155 pages.  So a lot of story was cut out which maybe could have helped clear things up.  But no one wants a 2 plus hour animated film.  What they did leave was a quick paced film that hit most of the action beats.  

Overall: A fun action movie that doesn’t do a great job of explaining the world it’s creating.  There is a bit more death in this film than one would normally expect in a Disney film but fits with the action genre.    

Random Facts:

While Disney had played in the realm of Fantasy this would be Disney’s first Sci-Fi film. 

Jim Varney’s final role. He played the check “Cookie” in the film.  He died in 2000 prior to the film being finished and never got to see the film. 

After the disappointing reaction to both The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Atlantis: The Lost Empire Gary A. Trousdale and Kirk Wise would never direct another animated feature film. This despite directing the first animated film to be nominated for an Oscar with Beauty and the Beast.