Lilo & Stitch

You can really feel Disney trying to find their foothold in the animation world in the early 2000s.  Lilo and Stitch comes out in 2002, one of two movies they would release that year.  After the less than stellar performances of Dinosaur, Fantasia 2000, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire Disney takes a note from their competition and tries to release a children’s movie.  Lilo and Stitch is the shining pearl in the middle of a not very impressive era of movie making.  As they continued to cut their budgets for animation, Lilo and Stitch managed to bring in nearly 3 and a half times their budget.  Today Stitch is a regular character you will see in the theme parks.  He has had rides made from his IP as well as become somewhat of a mascot for the Polynesian resort.

This movie is a cute film with a science fiction storyline that is really geared towards kids.  Stitch is very lovable and fun while Lilo, the outcast of her town, is constantly getting into trouble.  It is another Disney created storyline as opposed to a classic fairy tale, but one that really hit with the audience. 

The animation and music are where you see the lack of budget.  The backgrounds are beautiful water color paintings while the cel art is weak.  It is on the level of some of the Disney direct to video animations.  It feels like a cheap cartoon and is luckily saved by its charm and heartwarming story.

The music is largely Elvis songs.  They worked Elvis into the storyline allowing them to utilize a few of his songs to build the entire soundtrack around.  Not really the same thing as the years before when they would contract the biggest musicians in the world to create original music for their films. 

Although the music and animation are lacking and the story being science fiction, something of a trend in the early 2000s for Disney, the movie manages to create that Disney magic that so many of the recent ones were missing.  I think it goes a long way to see how much they worked to make this one a family friendly affair as opposed to the heavier themed Atlantis that came out just twelve months before.  At least at this point Disney was making generally good movies even if they lost their audience.

Run Time – 85 Minutes

75th Academy Awards – 1 Nominations

Best Animated Feature Film - Nominated

Disney Animated Canon so far in order of Quality

1. Beauty and the Beast 9-29-1991

2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 6-21-1996

3. Lady and the Tramp 6-22-1955

4. Aladdin 11-25-1992

5. Tarzan 6-18-1999

6. Mulan 6-19-1998

7. Peter Pan 2-5-1953

8. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 3-11-1977

9. One Hundred and One Dalmatians 1-25-1961

10. The Lion King 6-15-1994

11. Hercules 6-13-1997

12. The Emperor’s New Groove 12-15-2000

13. Lilo & Stitch 6-21-2002

14. Dumbo 10-23-1941

15. Atlantis: The Lost Empire 6-15-2001

16. The Fox and the Hound 7-10-1981

17. Oliver and Company 11-18-1988

18. Cinderella 2-15-1950

19. The Little Mermaid 11-17-1989

20. Pinocchio 2-7-1940

21. Sleeping Beauty 1-29-1959

22. The Adventure of Ichabod and Mr. Toad 10-5-1949

23. The Jungle Book 10-18-1967

24. The Great Mouse Detective 7-2-1986

25. Fantasia 2000 6-16-2000

26. Robin Hood 11-8-1973

27. The Rescuers Down Under 11-16-1990

28. Make Mine Music 4-20-1946

29. Fun and Fancy Free 9-27-1947

30. Dinosaur 5-19-2000

31. The Aristocats 12-11-1970

32. Pocahontas 6-23-1995

33. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 12-21-1937

34. Saludos Amigos 8-24-1942

35. The Sword in the Stone 12-25-1963

36. The Rescuers 6-22-1977

37. Alice in Wonderland 7-26-1951

38. The Black Cauldron 7-24-1985

39. Melody Time 5-27-1948

40. Bambi 8-13-1942

41. Fantasia 11-13-1940

42. The Three Caballeros 12-21-1944