Lilo & Stitch (2002) |
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Lilo & Stitch (2002) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Family |
Menu Animation & Audio Featurette-DisneyPedia: Hawaii-The Islands of Aloha (6) Game-Create Your Own Alien Featurette-A Stitch In Time: Follow Stitch Through the Disney Years Featurette-Hula Lesson Featurette-"Burning Love"-Behind the Scenes with Wynonna Music Video-"I Can't Help Falling In Love With You"-A*Teens Featurette-The Look of Lilo & Stitch Featurette-Animating the Hula Featurette-On Location with the Directors Deleted Scenes-3 Teaser Trailer-4 |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2002 | ||
| Running Time | 81:47 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Language Select Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By |
Chris Sanders Dean DeBlois |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Walt Disney Studios Home Ent. |
Starring |
Chris Sanders Daveigh Chase Tia Carrere Ving Rhames David Ogden Stiers Kevin McDonald Jason Scott Lee |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
| RPI | $36.95 | Music | Alan Silvestri |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Norwegian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Danish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.66:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.66:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English English for the Hearing Impaired Norwegian Norwegian for the Hearing Impaired Danish Danish for the Hearing Impaired Norwegian Titling Danish Titling |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes, closing montage | ||
Disney have been making animated feature films for a long time - I guess they must be doing something right. Their earliest features were based on fairytales (Snow White, for example), then they moved on to non-fairytale books (Peter Pan), then movies based on previous hits (like 102 Dalmatians) and then finally they had to start making animated features that were completely original, like this one.
The storyline in this film draws on some familiar material. There's a Galactic Federation with a central meeting chamber (which looks something like the Senate chamber in The Phantom Menace). We get to see the trial of a self-styled evil genius, a Dr Jumba Jookiba. He's accused of illegal genetic experimentation (there's a topical choice!). He has created a new creature whom he calls "Experiment 6-2-6". 6-2-6 is bullet-proof, fire-proof, incredibly strong, and is motivated only by the urge to destroy everything.
I was quite amused by the moment in the courtroom when 6-2-6 says something in alien speech that's so scandalous that everyone reacts, but the Councilwoman says "So naughty!". That's probably about as close as you'll get to swearing in a Disney animated film.
Meanwhile, on Earth (Hawaii, to be specific) we're introduced to Lilo and her sister Nani. Their parents, we discover later, were killed in a car accident. Lilo is a bit of a brat, and there's a social worker coming to decide if she should be left with Nani, or taken into care. I rather like the social worker, Mr Cobra Bubbles.
As you'd expect, 6-2-6 ends up on Earth, by accident. After a disagreement with a semi-trailer, he ends up in the dog pound, where he is adopted by Lilo, who calls him Stitch. So now we have a brat teamed up with the most destructive force ever created there's a match made in heaven!
Being a Disney movie, there is something of a moral involved in this case it's about the importance of family, called O'hana in the local language. Although it is emphasised repeatedly, it's not offensive, and it is a genuine part of the movie, rather than feeling tacked on.
One thing Disney is very good at is recruiting big name voice talent. In this film we get Tia Carrere as Nani, Ving Rhames as Cobra Bubbles, and David Ogden Stiers as Jumba. Their voices are recognisable, but this doesn't detract from the feature. Indeed, Mr Bubbles has been drawn to look a lot like Ving Rhames' character from Pulp Fiction. It's not the only allusion to other movies, either: there are plenty of references to spot (the Baywatch reference is the easiest). It's something to keep adults amused if they can't get into the story itself.
There's a lot to like in this film; although it starts a little weakly, it picks up pace and becomes quite enjoyable. Recommended.
This movie is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The little bit of overscan that's common to virtually all display devices covers the black bars that should appear on either side of this image.
The picture is quite pretty, with about as much sharpness as you can get from this form of animation. The backgrounds all look a bit soft, but that's because they are watercolours. Shadow detail is not a consideration in this kind of animation. There's no film grain (watercolours look like grain, but aren't), and no low-level noise.
Colour is excellent, with the whole palette of colours being rendered well; the palette is a bit restricted, but that's the choice of the animators, rather than a problem with the transfer. There are no colour-related artefacts.
There are no film artefacts. There's the occasional moment of minor aliasing, but the soft, rounded, lines mean that it's never more than minor. There's no moire and no shimmer. There are no MPEG artefacts.
There are subtitles in English, Norwegian, and Danish. Interestingly, and this is the first time I've seen it, all three languages are provided both as normal and hearing impaired subtitles, so there are a total of six subtitle tracks.
The disc is single-sided and dual layered, possibly formatted RSDL. However, there's no visible layer change, because they've managed to fit the feature onto the first layer and filled the second layer with extras. Very cool.
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The soundtrack is presented in three languages, all in Dolby Digital 5.1. I only listened to the English, because I understand neither Norwegian nor Danish.
The dialogue is clear, and the English is easy to understand the occasional phrase of Hawaiian language (not sure what that language is called) sounds clear. Being animation, audio sync is difficult to judge, but there are no obvious blunders.
The score comes from Alan Silvestri, a very experienced film composer, and a master of his craft. It blends traditional Hawaiian music, Elvis Presley rock'n'roll, and conventional orchestral music, to make a distinctive and attractive whole. This film is a pleasure to listen to.
Your surround speakers are gonna love this one! There is constant use of the surrounds for ambience and score, and some delightful directional sound (especially early in the film).
The subwoofer gets to support the score, and lets loose for some explosions and some nice ominous footsteps. No sleepy time for the sub on this disc.
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As is not uncommon on a Disney disc, there are a stack of extras.
The menu has a nice transition, animation, and music. The only criticism I can make is that the sound bite behind the main menu is short enough that you may readily tire of it.
This is a short section about Hawaii, presented by the voices of Lilo (Daveigh Chase) and Nani (Tia Carrere). If you select Play All, you'll get all six segments, totalling 8:35 probably the best choice.
This is a combination of a trivia test about the movie with a guessing game. Each round (there are three rounds) consists of three questions about the movie (easy enough to get right). After you answer the questions correctly you get to guess the order of mixing three chemicals. There are only six possible combinations, and you can try again as many times as you like, so it isn't hard to exhaust the possible combinations and trigger the "prize". The voice behind the game is the mad scientist Jumba (David Ogden Stiers).
Also narrated by David Ogden Stiers, this is a comic little piece showing Stitch inserted into a variety of older Disney films.
This is a discussion of hula dancing, including a demonstration of the basic steps and how they are combined. Rather interesting, but quite short.
This is a quick glimpse of the face that goes with the voice singing the last song in the movie proper.
About as long a music video as I can stand! This looks like a typical manufactured singing group: two girls, two boys, polished choreography, shiny hair, overproduced sound...
This is an interesting piece discussing how the drawing style in this film differs from other animation, and why. Well worth watching
Shows the amount of effort they put into ensuring that their animation of the hula was accurate to the style of dance. They take pains to emphasise that they didn't rotoscope it, but rather hand-drew it from detailed film of the dancers. There are some split-screen sequences showing how accurate they were.
This is a making-of, but one of the better efforts. It shows the voice actors at work (funny!), the orchestration, the school-child choir, the animators it's quite thorough.
Three scenes that were changed dramatically, or deleted. Each is introduced and we're told why the scene was deleted or replaced.
Four teaser trailers that poke gentle fun at classic Disney films by inserting Stitch and having him wreak havoc very funny stuff.
There's a mail-in offer inside the DVD for a free hardback storybook just pay postage and handling, and get added to a mass-mailing list... There is an opt-out box, though.
There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 1 disc was released December 2002. It's very similar to the Region 4, having essentially the same front cover and menus, but a completely different back cover.
The Region 4 disc is missing:
The Region 1 disc is missing:
The Region 1 disc only has subtitles in English (for the Hearing Impaired); these subtitles are presented in an attractive serif font, with Foley and music cues in a sans serif font quite pretty, but really no more readable than the subtitles on the Region 4.
The featurette that's missing from the Region 4 is a short (but interesting) look at the children's choir, but most of its content is covered in the On Location with the Directors piece. You're not missing much there by going with the R4.
The advertisements at the start of the R1 are irritating, but in case you want to know what they include, they are short trailers for Jungle Book 2, Country Bears, Atlantis II, 101 Dalmatians II, Inspector Gadget 2, Stitch's new movie, and Sleeping Beauty Special Edition. There are also advertisements for Walt Disney World Vacations, and a Disney Channel programme called Kim Possible.
Both discs are supposed to be 1.66:1, 16x9 enhanced (yay!), which would mean that there should be slim black bars down the left and right of the picture. However, most display devices have sufficient overscan to the sides so that the image you see with either disc may not have any black bars on the left or right do not adjust your set, this is normal behaviour.
The discs have equivalent transfers, although the R1 seems a tiny bit sharper in the foreground, but suffers from a tiny bit of colour bleed. I prefer the look of the R4.
You could be happy with either disc, but the free hardback book offer in the R1 is only redeemable in the US and Canada. Add the advertisements at the start of the R1 disc, and I'm voting for the R4.
Disney have produced a fun little film with heart, and given us an excellent DVD of it.
The video quality is very good.
The audio quality is excellent.
The extras are extensive, and interesting.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-S733A, using Component output |
| Display | Sony VPH-G70 CRT Projector, QuadScan Elite scaler (Tripler), ScreenTechnics 110. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Denon AVC-A1SE |
| Speakers | Front Left, Centre, Right: Krix Euphonix; Rears: Krix KDX-M; Subwoofer: Krix Seismix 5 |