Lilo & Stitch is a story about family and pulling together, even if one of those family members is a four-armed, blue koala-thing that loves to destroy everything around it. Stitch (the little blue guy) is the latest experiment of a mad scientist, Jumba (David Ogden Stiers). When the alien scientist is put on trial for his perversion of nature, Stitch (Chris Sanders, who is also the creator of the character as well as Writer and Director) is sentenced to death. But the intergalactic government can't seem to keep him contained and when he escapes, he heads straight for Earth ... Hawaii to be exact.
There he gets adopted into a small family. The only members of this family are Lilo (Daveigh Chase), a little outcast of a girl, and her big sister/guardian, Nani (Tia Carrere). While Stitch has some very violent tendencies, Lilo immediately accepts him, since she sees a lot of her own problems in the little guy. The two form a fast friendship, but that could all come crashing down when the alien government sends several personnel to Earth in order to retrieve the escaped creature. Among those tracking Stitch are Jumba and an alien bureaucrat, Pleakley (Kevin McDonald). But they are trying to remove Stitch peacefully and with as little affect on the intergalactic mosquito wildlife reserve (aka Earth) as possible. Stitch also has to worry about the cop that he escaped from, since he, Captain Gantu (Kevin Michael Richardson), isn't all that worried about keeping a low profile and will do whatever it takes to clear up his reputation.
Of course, this DVD wouldn't be the "Big Wave Edition" if it didn't offer more than simply the movie. On the first disc are all of the special features that were previously available. This includes features like trailers, music videos, an interview with Wynonna Judd, a couple of DVD games and a cute documentary that shows how Stitch has actually been on the Disney lot for a very long time. But it is the second disc that really makes this release stand out. At first glance, it doesn't seem like there is a lot on it. The DVD menu simply states "Documentary", "Documentary Footnotes" and "Deleted and Early Scenes." But that documentary is a whopping 2 hours long and it goes into great detail about the origins of the movie and what went into making it. I was especially interested in this because I didn't realize the man behind Stitch's voice, Chris Sanders, was also the one who came up with the story and characters as well as the unique art style of the movie.
The "Documentary Footnotes" section isn't lacking in depth either. Here you get to see everything from sketchbooks by Sanders, to interviews with various crew members to a look at the film's style book so you can see the detail that went into making sure the different animators stuck to the movie's style. Quite frankly, I would be surprised if a later release of this movie could actually have any new special features because this 2 disc release is jam-packed with goodies.
Ultimately, Lilo & Stitch really is a great story whose message of "Ohana" or family is loud and clear. If you haven't already picked up a copy of this great Disney movie, then go for the Big Wave Edition. The 2 hour long documentary that appears on the second disc is really good and the tons of supplements that back up the documentary really add a lot as well.
Clips
Model CitizenUgly Duckling
Wishing Star
