When I can remember them, I try to catch up on my Disney films.  Luckily, many of them are short.  The problem is that sometimes I forget their titles.  A few years back, during one of my first trips to Epcot with a good friend of mine, we were joined by his ex-girlfriend.  She brought with her this giant, blue stuffed creature.  She went on to pose it in a number or positions in the park, taking pictures of it as it was having the day at the park and not her.  It had to be explained to me then, and it sometimes still slips my mind, that it was a toy of Stich (voiced by Chris Sanders) from today’s film, Lilo & Stitch (2002).  For whatever reason, my memory of that afternoon resurfaced in my mind today.  Yet, when I went to go find it on Disney + today, my head kept saying Moana (2016).  Hey, they both feature Pacific Island peoples!  And then the word “Stitch” came back to me from that day at Epcot, and I was able to find Lilo & Stitch.

We first meet Stitch in Lilo & Stitch on a faraway planet.  The diminutive, but indestructible and powerful creature with an appetite for mayhem is the creation of Dr. Jumba Jookiba (voiced by David Ogden Stiers), calling it Experiment 626.  The rest of the galactic whatever governing body looks at Stitch as an abomination, and their leader, the Grand Councilwoman (voiced by Zoe Caldwell), orders the arrest of Dr. Jookiba simply for making the thing.  Stich makes it pretty clear that he is not having incarceration.  It breaks free, steals a ship, and jets off into deep space.  The place it lands is in Hawaii.  It is there that we find the second half of the title, Lilo Pelekai (voiced by Daveigh Chase).  She is swimming in the ocean, which means that she is not present for the dance practice at which she is supposed to be.  This is part of a whole host of problems for the little girl, who is otherwise a happy soul.  The cause for her acting out is the loss of her parents.  Though she means well, she immediately attacks one of her classmates.  This means that her older sister, Nani Pelekai (voiced by Tia Carrere), gets a call to come pick up Lilo.  Nani has been taking care of her younger sister since their parents passed away, and Lilo’s acting out does not make this task easier.  Neither does the arrival of Cobra Bubbles (voiced by Ving Rhames), a social worker that looks more like an operative of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  When Lilo goes home on her own after a rough day, Nani has to try to pry open the door that has been nailed shut.  This takes place while Cobra comes to examine Nani’s fitness for guardianship of Lilo.  He does not like what he sees and he gives Nani three days to get everything in order.  Her first order of business is to apologize to Lilo for their tense exchange.  As part of this endeavor, Nani takes Lilo to the local animal shelter to get a puppy.  After being run over by a couple of trucks, Stitch has been placed in the pound.  The alien, wanting to get away from Dr. Jookiba and his assistant, Agent Pleakley (voiced by Kevin McDonald), understands that it needs to look cute in order to be adopted.  It also helps that it scares all the other animals in the kennel into hiding.  Thus, Lilo comes out with the frightening Stitch.  Though it reverts to its genetic programming of breaking everything it touches, regardless Lilo shows it love and affection.  Stitch is also desperate to escape, but finds this difficult being on an island.  Thus, it goes along with Lilo and Nani while the elder Pelekai girl looks for a new job, the result of being fired from her last one due to Stitch’s antics.  Though Lilo is beginning to get through to the creature, especially after she explains the concept of “Ohana,” Stitch is having trouble blending in with Earth society.  As such, every potential place of employment they go to gets inadvertently ruined by something Lilo does with its dangerous curiosity.  What seems to really change the extra-terrestrial’s perspective is surfing.  On the heels of not receiving any job offers, Nani’s would-be boyfriend David Kawena (voiced by Jason Scott Lee) offers to take them all out on the waves.  It is the first time Stitch accepts Ohana, which means family.  It is while they are riding the board when Dr. Jookiba and Agent Pleakley make their move on Stitch.  It is David that intervenes, managing to retrieve Stitch.  Unfortunately, the hyper-vigilant Cobra (who, one could argue, is stalking the Pelekais) has seen enough and tells Nani that he will come in the morning for Lilo.  Before this can take place, however, the Grand Councilwoman sends Captain Gantu (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) to complete what Dr. Jookiba and Agent Pleakley could not accomplish: capturing Stitch.  With Dr. Jookiba relived of his duties, he decides to take matters into his own hands in trying to reacquire Stitch.  The result is the wreckage of the Pelekai house just as Cobra comes to take away Lilo.  It does not help that Nani had been away getting a job.  Lilo runs off, finding Stitch in the woods and blaming the alien for all their problems.  This is when Captain Gantu gets there, scooping up Experiment 626 and boarding his spaceship.  Stitch manages to get away and convinces Dr. Jookiba and Agent Pleakeley to help to rescue. With this accomplished, the Grand Councilwoman comes to earth.  Remember what I said about Cobra?  Apparently, they knew each other and make an agreement for Stitch to stay with the Pelekai family.  And all live happily ever after.

For a kid’s movie like Lilo & Stitch, there are some pretty heavy-duty themes at play.  I get that Disney has a thing about its animated characters losing their parents, but to have the threat of a government agency separating Lilo and Nani seems too far.  Anyway, the thing that people seem to remember about this film is the word “Ohana.”  Lilo and Nani may be orphans, but they remind each other that they are still a family.  What this concept trips over in my Catholic brain is the spirit of adoption.  Part of being a Christian is being made into brothers and sisters with our fellow practitioners as children of God.  Jesus tells his disciples this throughout the Bible, and many Christians to this day abide by this commandment.  Those that I spent last night with I most certainly see in this regard.  Like in the movie, with the exception of Lilo and Nani, none of those that end up together were born that way.  In other words, they form their bonds because God brought them together.  This might seem a strange way of describing something that is a cartoon and involves beings from another planet.  At the same time, there is a scene where Lilo prays for the exact thing she eventually gets.  These opportunities are given to us every day, we just have to learn to notice them.

Perhaps with the viewing of Lilo & Stitch I can put that afternoon out of my brain.  After all, my friend is happily married to somebody else, though I wish this other person all the best.  As for the movie, whatever.  I did not hate my experience seeing it, though this is probably because it is not a musical.  I did not totally understand Lilo’s thing about Elvis, but again, whatever.  So, that is my recommendation: whatever.