Back to Hawaii ! Alooooohaaa!

Lilo & Stitch

Released:  June 21, 2002

One of my favorite places on the planet happens to be about 2900 miles due south of Anchorage.  I first traveled to Hawaii when I was in college with a bunch of friends.   It was my first real adventure as adult in the late 80's.  Having picked the big island as the first place to venture out within the island chain, I was throughly amazed at its diversity, lifestyle and sheer beauty......all stuck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Ever since that first trip I have been going to the Kona side of Hawaii as my starting point for a tropical retreat from Alaska's cooler days.  

Having just returned from Kona over this past memorial day week, my trip reminded me of a Disney animated film that always delights me when I watch it, Lilo & Stitch.  This wonderful little film painted in the old animation style with watercolor backgrounds from the vintage days of Dumbo & Snow White, has a great story with real characters ....and the few odd Aliens through in the mix to make it more interesting.  So, I couldn't help but to pull something inspired from my recent visit.

As I posted in an earlier blog, Disney continued with a theme of setting one of their animated films uniquely in the USA.  Much like Brother Bear was loosely based upon my home state of Alaska, Lilo & Stitch centered on the state of Hawaii, our 50th in the union admitted shortly after Alaska in 1959.

Shown below are wonderful matched production drawings of Lilo & Stitch from a scene later  in the film (54min, 15 seconds), where both are feeling a little lost about what life is all about. 

Original Production Drawings, graphite & colored pencil on 16 field animation paper

Artist: Andreas Deja, Supervising Animator

Acquired:  January 23, 2004

First up is Lilo beautifully animated by Andreas Deja where she is watching Stitch hop out of her bed and asking if he misses his parents.   Andreas's drawing style typically feels light and clean and is characterized by his his use of graphite and blue colored pencil.    The timing chart in the upper corner shows the placement of this drawing in the sequence and denotes it as a key drawing  as well as being the very first to appear onscreen.  Lilo's subtle movement combined with her direct eye contact with Stitch very nicely conveys the emotion for the scene.   You can learn more about Andreas's work, style and art by checking out his blog. 

Original Production Drawings, graphite & colored pencil on 16 field animation paper

Artist: Alex Kuperschmidt, Supervising Animator

Acquired:  January 23, 2004

The matched drawing of Stitch animated by Alex Kuperschmidt captures without any dialogue his respect for Lilo and the his growing sense of awareness for family.  I particularly love the way he makes us all feel like he's a lost little puppy dog with his movement off Lilo's bed to his own and  as his butt wiggles just right to make his action feel real.  For added fun, I have included a screenshot of the final frame from the film and a composite of this drawing set.

This is a wonderful scene and a key moment in the film where the thoughts of family and "Ohana" really come out in the story.  

The animation is subtle but powerful and the real feelings of Lilo come out well in her character.  This sequence sets up the emotion that helps to convey the rest of the story and it's climactic but ultimately fun ending.