Good harmless Disney Fun

Its kind of funny. I don’t normally seek out Disney films. Don’t get me wrong I love cartoons. For my money it doesn’t get any better than Bugs Bunny and Foghorn Leghorn. I do like the old Disney movies too. There is something classy, and even something dark and mysterious about some of those old cartoons created by Walt Disney himself. I remember being creped out by the mirror on the wall in Snow White. And those seven dwaves? There is something that ain’t right going on there that I just can’t put my finger on. Recently, however, the movies became too ‘kiddish’ for me. I know that is the target audience but I haven’t been to thrilled to see one of their movies. Until Lilo and Stitch came out. “Damnit that little guy is funny looking” I said to myself. “I gotta see this.”

Lilo and Stitch starts out in a galaxy far, far away. Does that sound like Star Wars? Funny it looks like it too! In the opening scene there is some sort of galactic meeting that looks like and infinite Congress of George Lucas’s imagination. They are there, in part, in part to discuss a new creature that was made by a mad, four eyed (without glasses) scientist. The creature looks like a koala bear with four arms and a gallon of drool. This little guy is supposed to bring destruction to large cities much in the way Godzilla would… on a smaller scale. Before you can say, “give that thing Ritalin,” they instruct the scientist to be locked up and his creature to be destroyed.

The little teddy bear of death escapes to (where else) Hawaii. What a great escape right? Mistaken for a dog he is put in a kennel and picked up by a troubled little Hawaiian girl (Lilo). Laughs ensue as he destroys everything insight and looks adorable doing it. And of course, it wouldn’t be Disney if they didn’t reference (both directly and indirectly) a fairy tale to mirror the film. Poor little guy feels lonely as he doesn’t know who his real family is, but in true Disney family finds a new, surrogate one and lives happily ever after.

One draw to this movie over other Disney movies is the fact that no one busts out into a song because they are feeling blue. I don’t have to fast forward through some Emmy Award winning Beauty and the Beast track. I also don’t have to go mad trying to get A-Coo-Na-Ma-Ta-Da out of my head. This movie has a soundtrack that includes a lot of Elvis. This I can live with. I want to put Elton John soundtracks behind me and move on to the funny jokes and beautiful animation.

I won’t lie; I saw this movie because of the little monster, Stitch. Damn, that is a cute little something-or-other. He puts his claw on the record player, opens his mouth and music plays... I am in love. He picks his nose with his tongue… I can’t get enough. He crawls on the ceiling… where do I get one of these things! Whats even better is he doesn't take crap from anyone. Homeboy is on the lamb and taking the whole party down with him. He is stealing ships, blowing up homes, shooting lasers, and even throwing VW Beetles at the bad guys. Little guy must work out.

This is pretty much what you would expect from a Disney movie. It has great animation, a few funny jokes for the kids, a moral to the story that the parents can digest, and a happy ending for the whole family. You can’t expect much more from Disney than that, and your really can’t ask them to stray to the left or right of it. They are Disney and they are established for making cutesy movies. This is one of them, and the kid in me enjoyed it.