Friday, September 23, 2022

Lilo and Stitch

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Lilo and Stitch!


Original image located here. Accessed 23rd September 2022

I have to wonder where this movie fits in with the Disney canon. It's generally accepted that everything after Lion King is something of a hit or miss affair and it would take Disney some time (Tangled perhaps?) before it remembered how to make a runaway hit again. Still certain movies from this period have their fans and will stick up for them. So where does Lilo and Stitch fit in?
I'm not sure myself so best find my own perspective on this.

On paper this movie sounds awful: A celebration of Hawaiian culture that incorporates the music of Elvis and space aliens. Such a strange combination shouldn't work but somehow it does. Of course such elements are the window dressing: the real heart of this movie is the familial bond between Lilo and Nani and how the presence of Stitch effects this. And I will admit: the movies succeeds at this. I can't be the only one who sees said bond and compare it to that of my siblings.
Also, I appreciate that this movie seems to be aimed at slightly older audience: I don't get the impression it is once talking down or relying on 'cutesy' gimmicks to bring in the younger crowd. And Stitch is far from the atypical 'cute' animal sidekick - and is therefore all the better for it.
So in the end, despite an odd setup there is a lot going for this movie and I enjoyed it a lot. And yes consider me a freshly-converted fan of this movie

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