Revisited - Lilo & Stitch (2002)

So for this week in Revisited, I'm going to look back on a feel good movie that everybody needs right now. Lilo & Stitch was a big part of my childhood and was one of my favorite animated movie and still is. I remember loving the first film and it's sequels as well as the tv series. I loved it's unique art style, characters, and simple message/theme that every feel good animated movie has.

Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 American animated adventure science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures.Disney's 42nd animated feature film, it was written and directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders (who is the voice of Stitch), and features the voices of Daveigh Chase, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Kevin McDonald, Ving Rhames, Jason Scott Lee, and Kevin Michael Richardson. It was the second of three Disney animated features (the others being Mulan and Brother Bear) produced primarily at the Florida animation studio located at Disney's Hollywood Studios (known as "Disney-MGM Studios" during production) in Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida.

It was released on June 21, 2002, to positive reviews and was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. That Academy Award was won by Studio Ghibli's 2001 film Spirited Away, which was also distributed in the United States by Walt Disney Pictures, and also starred Chase and Stiers in the English version. The success of the film spawned a franchise. A direct-to-video sequel called Stitch! The Movie was released on August 26, 2003. This was followed by a television series, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, which ran from September 20, 2003, to July 29, 2006. A second direct-to-video sequel, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, was released on August 30, 2005.

A third sequel, a television film titled Leroy & Stitch, was released on June 23, 2006, as the conclusion to the TV series. An anime series that succeeded the original television series called Stitch! ran in Japan from October 8, 2008, to June 19, 2011, with TV specials broadcast in 2012 and 2015. A Chinese animated series succeeding the Stitch! anime, Stitch & Ai, ran from March 27 to April 6, 2017.

Other animation studios produced the sequel films and series: Stitch! The Movie, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, and Leroy & Stitch were all produced by Walt Disney Television Animation; Stitch Has a Glitch was produced by Disneytoon Studios; Stitch! was produced by Madhouse for its first two seasons, and then Shin-Ei Animation for its third season (and two post-series specials); and Stitch & Ai was produced by Anhui Xinhua Media and Panimation Hwakai Media.

In the deep reaches of space, Dr. Jumba Jookiba, an extraterrestrial mad scientist, is arrested and put on trial by the Galactic Federation for illegal genetic experimentation, as evidenced by his creation "Experiment 626", a small blue sentient alien with unparalleled intelligence and strength, but also a propensity to cause chaos. Jumba is imprisoned while the alien is sentenced to exile on a desert asteroid. 626 manages to escape on a red police spaceship, and activates the hyperdrive, causing its guidance systems to malfunction and randomly set a course for Earth.

626 crash-lands on Kauaʻi, Hawaii, only to be knocked unconscious by three passing trucks and taken to an animal shelter. The Grand Councilwoman dispatches Jumba and Agent Pleakley, the Council's Earth expert, to the planet to have 626 captured as discreetly as possible, as Earth is the habitat for the supposedly "endangered" mosquito population, and humans are described as being unable to handle an alien encounter formally.

On Kauaʻi, a young woman named Nani Pelekai is having trouble caring for her rambunctious, disobedient, and lonely younger sister, Lilo, following the death of their parents. A social worker named Cobra Bubbles expresses increasing concern whether Nani is able to take adequate care of her sister. Since Lilo has been ostracized by her hula classmates, Nani decides to let her adopt a dog. At the shelter, Lilo immediately takes a keen interest in 626, who is impersonating a dog. In spite of Nani's doubts, Lilo calls 626 "Stitch", and shows him around the island.

That evening, at the restaurant where Nani works, the aliens Jumba and Pleakley try, but fail every time, to capture Stitch. The indescribable chaos is blamed on Stitch, which results in Nani getting fired. The next day, Cobra warns her that unless she finds another job, he will have to place Lilo with a foster family. However, Stitch's antics, which occur in the course of his evasion of his two pursuers, persistently ruin Nani's chances of finding work.

Nani's friend David invites her, Lilo, and Stitch to enjoy a day of surfing. While Nani, Lilo, and Stitch ride a huge wave, Jumba makes one final effort to capture Stitch from underwater, causing Stitch to unintentionally pull Lilo underwater. They survive, but Cobra witnesses this event and tells Nani that, although she means well, Lilo has to be taken away unless Nani finds another job. Seeing how much trouble he has caused, Stitch runs off into the night.

The next morning, the Councilwoman fires Jumba and Pleakley from their assignment and gives it to the galaxy's oversized militant captain, Captain Gantu (incidentally freeing Jumba to pursue Stitch using less covert methods). Meanwhile, David informs Nani of a job opportunity, which she excitedly rushes off to pursue. Stitch, hiding in the nearby woods, encounters Jumba, who chases him back to Nani's house. A fight ensues which destroys the house; Cobra arrives to collect Lilo and take her away.

As Nani and Cobra argue, Lilo runs away into the woods and finds Stitch, who reveals his alien identity just before they are captured by Gantu. Stitch manages to escape from Gantu's ship and is confronted by Nani. Before he can explain, Jumba and Pleakley capture Stitch themselves. Nani demands that they help her rescue Lilo, but Jumba insists they only came for Stitch. When Nani breaks down, Stitch reminds her about ʻohana, a term for "family" he learned from Lilo, and convinces Jumba to help rescue Lilo. Jumba, Pleakley, Stitch, and Nani all board Jumba's personal spaceship and chase after Gantu, rescuing Lilo.

Back on the shore, the Grand Councilwoman arrives on Earth preparing to take Stitch into custody and is forced to retire Gantu for putting Lilo in danger and blames Jumba for the mess. However, Lilo insists that because Stitch is her pet under local law, he cannot be taken away. The Grand Councilwoman is so impressed with Stitch's newfound civility and empathy that she goes against the prior decision of the Federation and decrees that Stitch will live in a peaceful exile on Earth. He will be entrusted to the care of Lilo and Nani, and the Councilwoman asks Cobra, who is revealed to be a former CIA agent that she previously met in 1973, to watch over them. Lilo, Nani, and their newfound friends rebuild their house, and Jumba and Pleakley become members of Nani, Lilo, and Stitch's family, and they all build a new life together.

So during this quarantine, why not put on a feel good film. There will be times for action pack films or romantic comedies but nothing is better than a animated movie like Lilo & Stitch when your down in the dumps. This has been Revisited, thanks for reading. Ricardo signing off