Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 American computer animated action-adventure comedy-drama family film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation (uncredited) and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 21, 2002. The 42nd animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon series, it was written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, co-directed by Peter Sohn and features the voices of Sanders, Daveigh Chase, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Kevin McDonald, Ving Rhames, Jason Scott Lee and Kevin Michael Richardson. Lilo & Stitch was the second of three Disney animated features produced primarily at the Florida animation studio located at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. The film received positive reviews and was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, which ultimately went to Studio Ghibli's film Spirited Away, which was also distributed in the United States by Walt Disney Pictures.
The 2002 film eventually started a franchise: a direct-to-video sequel, Stitch! The Movie, was released on August 26, 2003. This was followed by a television series, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, which ran from September 20, 2003 to July 29, 2006. A second direct-to-video sequel, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, was released on August 30, 2005. A third direct-to-video sequel, Leroy & Stitch, was released on June 27, 2006 as the nearly conclusion to the TV series. Unlike Lilo & Stitch, its sequel features and series were produced by Walt Disney Television Animation.
Plot[]
Dr. Jumba Jookiba is arrested and put on trial by the Galactic Federation for "illegal genetic experimentation", as evidenced by his Experiment 626, a living creature which is capable of creating untold chaos. Jumba is imprisoned while Experiment 626 is taken on a ship to be exiled on a desert asteroid. During the trip however, 626 manages to escape from the spaceship, hijacks a police cruiser which gets damaged by a fleet of ships causing its guidance systems to malfunction. He then uses the police cruiser’s hyperdrive to make a huge jump through space and randomly set a course for Earth. The Grand Councilwoman dispatches Jumba and Agent Pleakley, the Council's Earth expert, to the planet to have 626 captured discreetly. 626 lands on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, but is knocked unconscious by a passing truck and taken to an animal shelter.
On Kauai, Nani has been struggling to take care of her rambunctious younger sister, Lilo. A social worker named Cobra Bubbles expresses increasing concern that Nani has not been able to take adequate care of Lilo. Seeking a change, Nani decides that she will allow Lilo to adopt a dog and they go to the animal shelter, where Lilo immediately takes a keen interest in Experiment 626, who is secretly impersonating a dog in order to escape. Lilo names 626 "Stitch" and shows him around the island. As Nani attempts to find a good job, Lilo tries educating Stitch about Elvis Presley, whom she calls a "model citizen". Despite this, however, Stitch's antics, including foiling Jumba and Pleakley's attempts to capture him, ruin Nani's chances of getting a job every time.
David, a friend of Nani's, invites Nani and Lilo to take a break and enjoy a day of surfing. While Nani, Lilo, and Stitch ride on a huge wave, Jumba makes one final effort to capture Stitch from underwater, causing Nani to wipe out, and Stitch unintentionally pulls Lilo down with him. Although everyone gets safely to shore, Cobra witnesses this unfortunate event, telling Nani that although she means well, Lilo's best interests mean she has to be placed with a foster family. After seeing how much trouble he has caused, Stitch leaves. Meanwhile, the Councilwoman relieves Jumba and Pleakley of their assignment, freeing Jumba to pursue Stitch using less covert methods.
The next morning, David tells Nani of a job opportunity, which Nani rushes to pursue. Stitch, hiding in the nearby woods, encounters Jumba, who chases Stitch back to Lilo's house. The two fight, destroying the house in the process as Nani returns and Cobra arrives in his attempt to collect Lilo and take her away. As Nani and Cobra argue, Lilo runs away and encounters Stitch, who reveals his true form just moments before they are captured by Captain Gantu, who has been given the task of recovering Stitch after Jumba and Pleakley are unable to do so. Stitch manages to escape before the ship takes off and is confronted by Nani, who had witnessed Lilo's kidnapping. Before he tries to explain everything, Jumba and Pleakley capture Stitch themselves. Nani demands them to bring Lilo back, although Jumba insists they only came for Stitch. Though Nani breaks down over losing her sister, Stitch manages to tell her about ohana, a term for "family" he learned from Lilo, in order to convince Jumba to help rescue Lilo. As Jumba, Pleakley and Nani give chase in Jumba's spaceship, Stitch is able to drive a tanker truck full of fuel into a lava flow and use the exploding tank to launch himself into Gantu's cockpit, distracting Gantu enough to crash-land the ship and rescue Lilo.
Back on land, the Grand Councilwoman appears and is about to take Stitch into custody and retire Gantu, but when Stitch explains that he has found a family in Nani and Lilo, she discovers that he has become a civilized creature; Lilo also shows her the adoption paper, declaring she owns Stitch and that taking Stitch would be theft. The Councilwoman, before leaving, decrees that Stitch will be exiled on Earth and entrusted into the care of Lilo and Nani, and asks Cobra, whom the Councilwoman seems to have met before, to keep an eye on them. Together, they rebuild the house, and Jumba and Pleakley stay on Earth and become members of Lilo and Stitch's family as well.
Voice cast[]
| Actor | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Chris Sanders | Stitch |
| Daveigh Chase | Lilo Pelekai |
| Tia Carrere | Nani Pelekai |
| Jason Scott Lee | David Kawena |
| David Ogden Stiers | Dr. Jumba Jookiba |
| Kevin McDonald | Agent Pleakley |
| Ving Rhames | Cobra Bubbles |
| Kevin Michael Richardson | Captain Gantu |
| Zoe Caldwell | Grand Councilwoman |
| Miranda Paige Walls | Mertle Edmonds |
| Kunewa Mook | Moses Puloki |
| Amy Hill | Mrs. Hasagawa |
| No voice actor | Elena |
| Erica Beck | Teresa |
| Erica Beck | Yuki |
| Susan Hegarty | Rescue Lady |
Danske Stemmer[]
- Amin Jensen - Shrek
- Sarah Juel Werner - Lilo
- Trine Pallesen - Nani
- Torbjørn Hummel - Cobra Bobbels
- John Hahn-Petersen - Dr. Jumba
- Peter Mygind - Pleakley
- Paw Henriksen - David
- Kirsten Olesen - Øverste rådskvinde
- Stig Rossen - Kaptajn Gantu
- Morten Staugaard - Hula-Lærer
Additional Voices[]
- Thea Iven Ulstrup
- Helene Wolhardt Moe
- Peter Secher Schmidt
- Thomas Mørk
- Jens Jacob Tychsen
- Trine Appel
- Mille H. Lehfeldt
- Jette Sievertsen
Production[]
Development and writing[]
After Bambi was released, claimed to Walt Disney that "we [The animation departement] can do more interesting animal characters" and suggested that Rudyard Kipling's Lilo & Stitch could be used for the studio's next film.[1] Disney agreed and Peet created an original treatment, with little supervision, as he had done with Fantasia and (1940) Pinocchio. However, after the disappointing reaction to The Sword in the Stone, Walt Disney decided to become more involved in the story than he had been with the past two films,[2] with his nephew Roy E. Disney saying that "[he] certainly influenced everything about it. (...) With Lilo & Stitch.
Legacy[]
Elements of Lilo & Stitch were recycled in the later Disney feature film Hercules due to that film's limited budget, declaring The Jungle Book "boasts possibly the best character animation a studio has ever done". The animators of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Mulan claimed to have taken some inspiration from the design and animation of the film.