I went to see it today, 'cause I'll be busy most of the rest of the weekend.
I was definitely pleased with it--it's a lot closer story-wise to something you'd expect Pixar to do than what you'd expect post-
Pocahontas Disney to do (which is a good thing, in this theatergoer's opinion). Stitch is one of the most original protagonists in Disney canon, despite his somewhat generic exterior--he's genetically designed to be evil incarnate. But the twist is, he's dumped in a place where he has no opportunity to be evil. When you can't fulfill your sole objective, and you have no past to refer back to, what the heck do you do?
There are very few characters (the cast list is the shortest I can recall seeing on a Disney film, with the possible exception of TENG), and this serves it well--rather than falling into the
Atlantis trap of introducing a dozen relatively flat main characters, this film takes the few characters it does have and lets them all grow in unexpected ways, even the most minor ones. It's a vast improvement over a film like
Tarzan, which strictly followed the formulaic "one lead character is foisted into the world of the other main character, they each teach each other about their worlds, at the end neither can ever look at themselves the same way again" plot. Stitch very slowly adjusts to the ideals of family Lilo introduces to him, and tries to pursue them in various ways. I thought the character lost a bit of his charm when he jarringly gained the ability to talk, and I thought the "ohana" line was overused. Minor quibbles--the rest of the time, the emotion and ideals underscoring the action onscreen are conveyed through the characters' actions, without them blatantly telling us. The change in Stitch is subtle and slow--you get it more from watching his face and the way he looks at the others than from anything anyone actually says out loud. Basically "acting through animation"--in the style of
Dumbo or
Bambi, and the same sort of thing that makes Pixar's characters so easy to identify with.
The other characters are wonderful too. Lilo in particular has several quirks that are humorous and let the audience enter her isolated world (Elvis, taking pictures of fat people, and *ahem* voodoo
). Again, the relationship between she and her sister is a lot less touchy-feely than one expects in a Disney film. It's there, it's understood, but they're more or less nonfunctional (or semifunctional, at best). Flawed characters are a devil of a lot easier to fall in love with (platonically) than idealistic ones. Even the big ol' social worker evidences plenty of depth, instead of being a cardboard representation of authority.
It's basically a "fun" film--no one dies, there's no earth-shaking moral--which is how I likes 'em. The two aliens trailing Stitch were the least interesting characters, with very little to do in the script besides stir up trouble for our heroes and provide a bit of comic relief. The way they just sort of get written off at the end is a testament to the fact that they're not really integral to anything. The animation's gorgeous, the Elvis stuff is a much appreciated touch. The out-there sci-fi stuff and the tangentially more down-to-earth elements were blended nicely, and the result is a film with a broader scope than any other Disney film to date, that still manages to have an uncommonly keen eye for the small things. The ending was vaguely disappointing (especially with the traditional Disney drawn-out "characters stand in a circle and decide what happens to everyone" post-script), but as a whole, the film is charming, entertaining, and just a lot of fun. I liked it.
Did anyone else notice that ALL the main characters were essentially misfits? 
