Guest Blogger: Nicole 1

Disney’s cartoon adventure, Lilo and Stitch, tells the story of a little blue alien experiment that has been sentenced to exile because his creator, Jumba, illegally constructed him. However Experiment 626 (aka Stitch) was made with quick wits, super strength, and instincts to destroy everything and wreak havoc. Experiment 626 uses his genetic enhancements to escape from the aliens trying to exile him and crash lands on Earth, in Hawaii. Because Earth has been named a sanctuary for the mosquito species (which is “endangered”), Jumba and a galactic Earth expert, Pleakley, are sent to capture Experiment 626, but must stay hidden and cannot harm or be seen by any humans. At the same time, Lilo and her sister, Nani, are faced with the dilemma of staying a family after the death of their parents, while social worker Cobra Bubbles tries to take Lilo away. Experiment 626 uses Lilo as a human shield to evade Jumba by becoming her pet “dog” and is renamed Stitch, but he is very rough around the edges and needs training to be a model citizen (according to Mr. Bubbles), so Lilo teaches him to be like her idol, Elvis Presley. Lilo and Stitch is a “charming tale of intergalactic friendship” according to A. O. Scott in his film review of Lilo and Stitch titled “Escaping Deep-Space Exile and Making Friends in Hawaii” and viewers cannot help falling for the loveable monstrosity Stitch or the head-strong and often rebellious Lilo. Stitch is voiced by Christopher Sanders who does a stunning job at playing the maniacal but fluffy extraterrestrial. Stitch’s character speaks in alien gibberish for a majority of the movie and the rest is spent with Stitch learning English and sounding childlike, but Sanders arises to the challenge and delivers a spectacular performance rivaled only by Daveigh Chase voicing Lilo. The character of Lilo is very temperamental and intelligent Chase supplies the movie with the charm and charisma the story needed. Both Stitch and Lilo have a certain stubbornness and roughness around their edges that provides the film with a comic effect as well as a drives home the theme that true friendship can conquer all obstacles. A. O. Scott stats in his article mentioned earlier that “The film strives to be more soothing than thrilling, which is kind of thrilling in its own way” and I agree that this film has taken a different approach to action than most movies and that is one of the reasons I adore this movie. I highly recommend watching this movie if you have not already seen it as Lilo and Stitch is a fascinating tale with whimsical and action-packed traits.