Aliens, hula dancers, spaceships, Elvis, social workers and surfer dudes! How on earth do you pitch this idea to studio executives with a straight face? If you're writer Chris Sanders, you don't need to do much other than point to your resume scoreboard with its writing credits of Mulan and its production design repute of The Lion King. "Whatever you think will work, Mr. Sanders", must have been the response of the studio suits.

Lilo & Stitch, as hard as the concept is to imagine, works in a big way. A genetic mutant, experiment #626, is exiled to a prison asteroid. However, the situation goes awry and #626 ends up landing on planet earth in a fiery crash on the island of Hawaii. He is adopted and named Stitch by a broken Hawaiian family consisting of an older sister, Nani, trying to convince social workers that she is capable of taking care of her little sister, Lilo. We learn that Lilo has an offbeat vision of life and has a difficult time fitting in socially. But she instantly bonds with "Stitch" when she sees him at the local animal shelter and notices that he is different from all the other dogs. Trouble and mayhem ensue immediately upon taking Stitch to his new home. He tears up the house and causes Nani to lose her job, all the while, avoiding the eventual capture by the Galactic Federation police force sent to return him to exile. In a wonderful triple parallel, we begin to sympathize with the ugly Stitch as he notices similarities between himself, the Mother Goose tale of The Ugly Duckling, and Lilo's family.

Behind the wild, exotic pretense is a movie with a wonderful message about learning manners, accepting responsibility, having tolerance of others and dealing with the deep pain of having lost a family member. The plot does not get too bogged down in this fuzzy, feel good message though, and promises to entertain and enlighten its viewers in an emotionally charged, fast-paced manner that will keep you giggling. There are a few smart devices thrown in that only the adults will understand like the MIB dressed CIA operative turned social worker, who worked on the Roswell project many years ago and the revelation as to why mosquitoes are so prevalent on Earth. Although the ending gets a bit out of hand with its rocket-ship chase sequences and its plasma-blaster proton guns, Disney has done it again creating a heart-warming, loveable little story that, like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, makes kids feel good about themselves regardless of any physical shortcomings or emotional backgrounds that they may harbor.

Frank Wilkins
©2002, Frank's Reel Reviews