June 30, 2002 -- "Lilo and Stitch" is an amusing Disney animated feature which works better for kids than adults. It has a warmhearted story with some edge to it, quirky characters and songs by the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley.

Lilo (voice by Daveigh Chase) is a young Hawaiian girl who has lost her parents. She is being raised by an older sister, Nani (voice by Tia Carrere of "The Relic Hunter" TV show). The two don't get along well and they don't have much money because Nani's job as a waitress pays poorly. Nani is befriended by David Kawena (voice by Jason Scott Lee), a native entertainer at the club where Nani works. Since Lilo needs a friend, Nani decides to let her adopt a dog from the pound. The dog she selects, however, is not a dog at all, but an escaped alien creature, created by a mad scientist. The creature, known as "experiment 626" is dubbed Stitch by Lilo.

Stitch (voice by Chris Sanders), created by Jumba (voice by David Ogden Stiers of the "MASH" TV show), was designed to be very strong, indestructible and to cause havoc. True to his design, he does create havoc in the household. Rather than being cute and lovable, he seems to destroy everything he touches. Nani and Lilo's precarious situation is made even worse. A social worker, Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames of "Mission Impossible II") threatens to take Lilo from Nani. When Jumba, Pleakley (voice by Kevin McDonald) and Captain Gantu (voice by Kevin Michael Richardson) among others, come to earth to capture Stitch, the situation gets even more chaotic and complicated until there is finally an intergalactic crisis.

The basic story is pretty simple. It is about family, particularly the Hawaiian concept of family, called 'ohana. Stitch is this frightening, destructive creature, who is alone and without purpose until he is adopted into a loving family. He, Lilo and Nani are all emotionally scarred, but together, they help heal each other. The message comes across as anything but subtle. The idea of forgiveness and acceptance is a familiar one for Disney studios. The studio has even been boycotted by some for its views. Coincidentally, there is a cross-dressing alien character in the movie. There is also the familiar romantic view of nature in the film. Stitch becomes mellow, for instance, because he is removed from an urban environment. The film makes an attempt to positively show Hawaiian culture. This effort was aided by several cast members who grew up in Hawaii, including Tia Carrere and Jason Scott Lee.

The idealized view of nature is enhanced by the artwork, which is highly unusual. Disney's Florida studios ("Mulan") did the bulk of the art work on the film. One unusual choice made by the artists was to use watercolors for much of the scenery in the film. Watercolors had not been used in this way since the 1940s. Watercolors were used in such films as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Pinocchio," "Dumbo" and "Bambi." Watercolors give the Hawaiian scenes rich, luminous colors. The characters in the film also have a distinct triangle bottom-heavy shape. Most Disney films feature thin, but shapely characters, while the ones in "Lilo and Stitch" are pleasantly plump. Several, like Cobra Bubbles, Captain Gantu, Jumba, and a teacher at Lilo's school are massive, imposing figures. These body shapes are far different than the cookie-cutter similarity of human body shapes (particularly women's body shapes) one is accustomed to seeing in most Disney films. While there are some computer-generated graphics in the film (notably in the surfing scenes), the majority of the animation is done the old-fashioned way, drawn one frame at a time.

While the story is pretty well constructed with some interesting twists, the two main characters, Lilo and Stitch, behaved like annoying brats during the first half of the movie, sort of like the kid who screamed and kicked the back of my seat in the jetliner from London for nine hours. There are enough spoiled brats in real life without paying to see them on the big screen as "entertainment." It takes some effort to warm up to those two characters. There is some complexity in some of the adult characters, however. Jumba, the mad scientist who creates Stitch, seems to have fewer socially redeeming qualities than Dr. Frankenstein. The enlightened Galactic Federation would just as soon destroy the earth as try to deal with Stitch. The reason the federation does not destroy the earth is truly funny. That joke is one of the few elements of the film directed at adults besides the geezer music of Elvis. There is also are humorous references to "area 51," the legendary Men in Black and Godzilla movies. All in all, however, this is more of a kids film. In addition to music by the King, there is a nice rendition of Aloha 'Oe' by Tia Carrere and two Hawaiian songs performed by members of the Kamehameha School Children's Chorus of Hawaii. Country singer Wynonna did a new version of Elvis' "Burning Love" for the film. Swedish teen group A*Teens recorded a new version of Elvis' "Can't Help Falling in Love" for the film. This film rates a C+ for adults, a B for kids.

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