We are family
Lilo & Stitch is a raucous, quirky adventure, focused on
little girl Lilo (voice of Daveigh Chase) and alien creature
Stitch (Chris Sanders, also writer and director of the film).
Lovably unconventional, they have some trouble fitting in with
their peer groups -- regular kids in Lilo's case, multi-limbed
aliens in Stitch's -- their coming together to form a new kind
of family makes this film an unusual one in the Disney pantheon.
For one thing, it opens far away from earth. Mad scientist Jumba
Jookiba (David Ogden Stiers) stands before a Galactic Federation
tribunal, accused of a terrible crime, the unethical
bioengineering of a new species. Next to him, trapped in a jar,
bounces his dangerous creation, Experiment 626, designed to
destroy everything with which it comes in contact. Jumba is
expelled to an outer space prison, but 626 escapes to earth,
Hawaii, specifically. Jumba is released on the condition that he
recapture 626. He's accompanied by another, decidedly wimpier
alien, the one-eyed Pleakley (Kevin McDonald), sent along to
ensure that Jumba reports back to Galactic Federation HQ.
Meanwhile, 626 ingeniously disguises himself as a dog, and soon
finds himself adopted from the local animal rescue by Lilo, who
renames him "Stitch." She sees something in the demonically
aggressive, very toothy creature, stemming from their shared
loneliness.
Even before she meets Stitch, you see that Lilo, an orphan
living with her older sister Nani (Tia Carerre), has "issues."
She wants to be friends with the other girls in her hula-dancing
troupe, but can't bring herself to conform to their girly
standards. So, while they all have matching, beautifully
outfitted Barbies, Lilo (without the money to buy toys) has made
her own doll, stitched together out of rags, with an extra-large
head that she explains as the result of bugs laying eggs in its
brain. This story does not sit well with the other girls, and
they mock Lilo's difference from them.
Her sense of alienation appears to be exacerbated by the fact
that she's a huge Elvis fan, not the expected musical taste of a
little girl, manifesting sadness and feelings of alienation not
by whining or pouting, but by lying on her floor singing along
to "Heartbreak Hotel." This scene is fairly heartbreaking,
suggesting just how lonely Lilo is -- none of the other little
girls want to listen to Elvis.
Bighearted Nani does her best to help her sister cope with her
various heartbreaks, but she's not quite ready for parenthood --
especially when the child she must care for is as energetic,
eccentric, and rebellious as Lilo. Nani is part responsible
parent and part bossy, irksome older sister. She works nights at
a tourist "luau" restaurant, decked out in what tourists want to
see as "native" garb (her preferred "native" garb is t-shirts,
cutoffs, and hiking boots). Much like her sister, headstrong
Nani is no angel; they are family, after all.
And "family" is a central theme in Lilo & Stitch. In
order to remind each other where their priorities lie, the
sisters repeat the phrase, "Ohana means family, and
family means nobody gets left behind." But unlike some other
recent animated flicks (Ice Age, for example), Lilo &
Stitch is not determined to reinforce the usual nuclear
unit, but instead, celebrates a nontraditional grouping, one
culled from surprising sources, including Stitch's alien-lab
origins.
The film offers up various lessons about difference, using
stereotypes to point out that while pineapples and hula dancing
are important to Hawaiian history and its tourist industry, they
are only part of a rich amalgamation of cultures on the islands.
Tourists appear as if they are aliens, to be tolerated and
appreciated, depending on their attitudes. Most of the white
folks who appear in the movie tend to do so from a distance, as
extras, seen mostly through Lilo's hobby of photographing
squishy, light-skinned tourists on the beach. She tapes her
photos to her bedroom wall, as if they are lab specimens to be
observed.
At the same time, native Hawaiians here recognize and know how
to use a stereotype when it's useful. For example, one scene
shows a jeans-wearing Hawaiian truck driver, with a hula dancer
bobble doll on his dashboard. In another contrast, Lilo's troupe
clearly works toward preserving a cultural tradition, while the
restaurant where Nani works features the more crassly commercial
version: leis and grass skirts and cocktails served in coconuts,
catering to tourists who have no idea of that culture from which
such "exotic" elements arise.
Actually, the film's most "exotic" and alien character is not
even a space alien; it is Mr. Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames), the
large human social worker who checks in on Lilo and Nani.
Bubbles is black, wears a suit, sunglasses, and carries himself
with a stiff, Men In Black-sh air. His severity is both
funny and strange when contrasted with Lilo and Stitch's
mischievous natures, not to mention Nani's seat-of-her-pants
parenting style. Even the other visitors from another galaxy,
who come in all colors, shapes, and sizes, seem more in tune
with the bright colors and spontaneity of the islands than Mr.
Bubbles.
But in this movie, it's not how you look that makes you part of
a family. Instead, what's important is how generously you view
your world and the people in it. Ultimately, Bubbles, Nani,
Lilo, Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley find they have more in common
that meets the eye. And for viewers who know that families and
affection come in a variety of shapes and sizes, Lilo &
Stitch is a welcome change from the usual fare.
— 20 June 2002
