Tech Review: Movie Capsule 3 stars Lilo and Stitch (PG) The latest Disney film is a sci-fi tale that conjures up echoes of E.T. and A.I. concerning a young Hawaaian girl (Lilo) and her friendship with a destructive alien (Stitch) and her relationship with her older sister. This likeable film is a pleasant reminder that classic two-dimensional animation still has much to offer. The movie is energetic and colorful, and although it doesn't go quite far enough, its emotional scenes are at times admirable in the emotional level they reach. Movie Review Lilo and Stitch Likeable Disney Fare By Fred Choi Written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois Voices by Chris Sanders (Stitch), Daveigh Chase (Lilo), Tia Carrere (Nani), Ving Rhames (Cobra Bubbles), David Ogden Stiers (Jumba), Jason Scott Lee (David Kawena), and Zoe Caldwell (Grand Councilwoman) There were many reasons to anticipate Disney's latest animated release, Lilo (pronounced "LEE-loh") and Stitch. After a long string of decidedly dull traditionally animated movies (including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan, and Hercules), Lilo and Stitch looked like something new and unique. The PG rating, a rarity among Disney animated movies, suggested the possibility the movie would feature more substance than so many recent ones relying solely on a formulaic plot, snappy one-liners, slapstick comedy, and pop culture allusions. Despite some truly admirable intentions, however, Lilo and Stitch disappoints by only hinting at the movie it could have been. The movie opens with a few adroit minutes of exposition in the form of a sci-fi scene in which a rotund mad scientist (voiced by the versatile Disney veteran, David Ogden Stiers, with a Russian accent no less) is tried before the Grand Council, led by the Grand Councilwoman (authoritatively voiced by Zoe Caldwell). The scientist has broken laws governing genetic experimentation and his creation, "Experiment 626", is a virtually indestructible, powerful, and highly intelligent six-legged and antennaed blue beast. Experiment 626 (given a memorably manic voice by Chris Sanders matched by frenetic animation by Alex Kupershmidt) is programmed to destroy everything in sight, and the scientist is sentenced to imprisonment and the animal to termination. Experiment 626 escapes, of course, and crashlands on Earth, prompting the Grand Councilwoman to send the scientist and another alien, this one one-eyed and fidgety, to retrieve him. The film moves quickly through the rest of the colorful opening sequence, which shows Lilo, the movie's young heroine, and her failed interactions with her peers and her older sister Nani. Lilo (voiced by a very talented young actress, eleven-year-old Daveigh Chase) is alternately violent, sullen, purposefully uncooperative, and quietly sad and we soon learn that the reason for her behaviour is due to difficulties dealing with the death of her parents and having to adjust to her older sister as guardian. The scene in which Lilo and Nani (sensitively voiced by Wayne's World's Tia Carrere) argue and eventually reconcile achieves a realism and emotional charge rarely seen in popular film or theater, let alone in a Disney movie. The opening of the movie is certainly worth seeing, with its sci-fi scenes filled with smooth, fast action complemented by the emotion in the scenes with Lilo and Nani, but unfortunately the movie refuses to go far enough in the latter realm and instead almost immediately returns to more familiar ground. Nani is visited by a burly Men In Black-esque social worker (voice by Ving Rhames) who tells her she has three days to prove that she is able to provide the care that Lilo requires. Stitch seeks refuge in a pound and is taken home by Lilo, who thinks he is merely a funny-looking dog. The rest of the movie is set up for plot twists reminescent of E.T. Lilo and Stitch become friends and Lilo shares her love of Elvis as Nani desperately attempts to prove herself, her efforts thwarted regularly by Stitch's sadistic bent towards chaos and destruction and his attempts to elude his would-be captors. Despite the glibness of the majority of the film, there are several key scenes which manage to give it some saving substance. Echoing A.I., Stitch learns new emotions from Lilo, including a regard for the movie's repetitive buzzword, the Hawaiian value of "ohana", that is, "family", a word which in the movie is almost always accompanied by the warm Hallmark refrain, "Nobody gets left behind". Stitch also comes across the story about "The Ugly Duckling", which prompts him to wonder if there are more like him, and also to begin to seek out more occupations than his penchant towards wanton destruction. The emotional loneliness of Stitch and his eventual desperation to be part of a family, matched only by Lilo's desperation for a companion, is never fully realized, which is a pity because of the bizarre wackiness of the flashy madcap final sequence. These fantastical scenes, in which the familiar reality of the Hawaiians collides with the sci-fi world of the aliens, leave an odd aftertaste that would have been more effective if accompanied by a grittier realism in the other scenes. Still, despite these shortcomings and the glaringly too-humanoid depiction of the aliens, a plethora of details make Lilo and Stitch a welcome change and a pleasant reminder that classic two-dimensional animation still has much to offer: energetic and sometimes emotional scenes, a lack of formulaic "What I Want" and "I Love You So Much" songs, a more realistic visual depiction of females (although the solidness of their tree trunk-like legs goes a little too far in the other direction), an exploration of sibling relationships, and a worthwhile incorporation of Elvis tunes, not to mention a nicely put-together Flash-based website and an only peripheral inclusion of a romantic relationship. Now we're only left to wonder how much longer it will be before Disney ups the ante again.