"Lilo" is a young and caring lass who dreams of owning a dog. "626" is the malevolent product of some illegal alien engineering at the hands of megalomanic scientist "Jookiba". He's sentenced to never see the light of day again and his creation to be abandoned on a lifeless moon. Luckily for "626", though, the captain of his transport ship "Gantu" isn't the most competent so he escapes and finds himself on Hawaii. Bemused and befuddled by his new surroundings, and rather hemmed in because he cannot swim, he ends up being mistaken for a stray dog and impounded. That's where he meets "Lilo" who has been promised a mutt of her own. What now ensues is a tale of bonding. "Lilo" is facing some domestic turbulence at the hands of social worker "Bubbles" but "Stitch" is still determined to make their lives interesting and, if necessary, use the people to protect him from the pursuing agents of the "Galactic Federation". The underlying moralising is all the same as usual - teamwork, loneliness, love and the values of family and sharing, but Dean DeBlois manages to dress that all up cleverly with plenty of enjoyable escapades, some frequently pithy one-liners and even the slightest hint of menace from the Grand Councilwoman who must have been inspired by Glenn Close! I didn't love the style of animation, too much eyes - but the colours and general look of the film are vibrant and the characters are engaging til the end.
