When you talk about the classic Disney movies, Lilo & Stitch is generally forgotten about. Most Disney fans don’t it on the same level as the other Disney movies we watched while growing up like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Mulan, Hercules, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, etc. But I believe Lilo & Stitch was just as important as those movies, if not more so. It was an original idea that Disney developed instead of being a retelling of a fairy tale or some other story, which all of those other movies are. It was also set in a place that does not have a lot of mainstream stories to call its own. Hawaii is almost a forgotten state in the United States, due to the fact that it is not on the “mainland.” To see a story set there was really interesting and different to me.
Not only was the story very unique and different, but the music was different as well. The movie used native Hawaiian music, which was something that I had never heard before. The animation also almost looked like a cross between standard 2D animation that had been so popular in previous Disney movies, as well as the 3D animation that was beginning to take over. I couldn’t get enough of it.
In this list, I thought it would be fun to look at the many interesting secrets in Lilo & Stitch that most fans missed, and to educate the readers on one of my favorite Disney films.
25 Boeing 747
In the climax of the movie, Jumba can be seen flying around in a huge red spaceship that looks very similar to an airplane. This is because in the original edit of the film, it WAS an airplane! In the original edit, the writers and animators had Jumba hijacking a Boeing 747 from the Lihue airport and crashing it into buildings throughout Honolulu.
Unfortunately, the movie came out right after 9/11/2001. The animators felt this was much too close to the attacks that happened on September 11th, so they remodeled Jumba’s spaceship to look a bit different than a Boeing 747, and also changed the buildings to mountains. Can you imagine the backlash if this scene was allowed to remain in its original version? Changing it was definitely a good idea.
24 Travelling To Hawaii
Since Lilo & Stitch had a very unique setting in Hawaii, it makes perfect sense that the animators would want to showcase this as much as they could. In doing this, they used real life Hawaiian backgrounds during the movie that can be easily recognized by people in the know.
All of the landscapes in the movie are recognizable locations in Hawaii!
The animators also included a scene of Lilo and Stitch riding a bicycle around the island in the beginning of the movie, and during this scene is one of the best instances of viewers being able to see all the beautiful Hawaiian landscapes that were used as inspiration for the movie. You can also see many recognizable locations during the closing sequence of the film.
23 Pulp Fiction
In the movie, there is a very intimidating CIA agent named Cobra Bubbles. Cobra Bubbles is assigned to Lilo as a social worker, since her older sister is the only one who can look after her. Cobra Bubbles also has the backstory of being involved in the Roswell alien incident when he was in the CIA, which definitely makes sense for Lilo & Stitch. The voice actor for Cobra Bubbles is none other than Ving Rhames.
You may know Ving Rhames from a small film called Pulp Fiction in which he played a hardened gangster named Marsellus Wallace. You may also realize that Cobra Bubbles bears a striking resemblance to Marsellus Wallace. This was done on purpose! Cobra Bubbles was modeled after the character that Ving Rhames played in Pulp Fiction, even down to both characters having the same earring, in the same place!
22 Classic Trailers
Not only was the setting and plot of the movie unique, Lilo & Stitch was also very unique in the way that Disney promoted the movie. Disney released a set of trailers in which they inserted the character of Stitch into some of their more “classic” films.
I remember seeing these trailers as a kid and absolutely loving them!
Some examples of the movies they inserted Stitch into, are as follows: The Little Mermaid; Stitch surfs on a wave that crashes down onto Ariel. Beauty and the Beast; Stitch can be seen loosening the chandelier during the ballroom dance scene and it almost lands on Beast and Belle. Aladdin; he steals Jasmine away during their magic carpet ride. The Lion King; Stitch is on Pride Rock instead of Simba. Now that’s clever marketing!
21 The Disney D
We all know that Disney loves hiding “easter eggs” in their movies, and of course Lilo & Stitch is no different. In the beginning of the film, Stitch is taken to a trial because his creator is arrested for illegal genetic experimentation in creating him. It is during this trial that we can see a hidden Disney logo!
Disney just loves hiding their own logo in their movies, don’t they? During the trial, when the main council woman asks Stitch if he knows what is going on, and to provide a sign that he does, Stitch responds by licking the inside of his glass cage. The saliva trail that he leaves behind on the glass cage is in the shape of the “D” in the world famous Disney logo!
20 No Pupils?
The character design of Stitch actually made it hard for the animators of Lilo & Stitch, because he was designed without pupils. This caused Stitch to be hard to read. You could not tell what emotions he was feeling because you could not read it in his eyes.
The way the animators fixed this problem was very creative.
They decided to make Stitch a very physical character. And to express himself through his slapstick style of comedy. This largely got around the problem of Stitch not having pupils, because you could now tell what emotions he was feeling through his body language and physical characterization. I have to say it worked perfectly! It’s never good to have a character, especially a main one, to which people can’t relate.
19 Life In The Mob
Stitch originally had a much different role in the first edit of the script of Lilo & Stitch. Stitch was planned to be an intergalactic gangster who flees to Earth, and Jumba was planned to be a disgruntled member of Stitch’s crew who chases after him after being left behind during a heist gone wrong! The movie would have been vastly different had this been the case.
The writers, however, felt that Stitch was not a very sympathetic character as a hardened gangster. So they changed him to be much younger, and also changed him into an experiment instead of a criminal. They also changed Jumba from a disgruntled gang member into the scientist who created Stitch. I think the movie is much better because of these changes.
18 The Children's Book
Did you know that the character of Stitch was actually created way back in 1985? It’s true! Most people think Lilo & Stitch was created all at one time by Disney, just for the 2002 film, but that’s not the case. Stitch was created by one of the directors of the film named Chris Sanders for a children’s book he was writing.
The children’s book was never published, and Stitch was made into a movie 17 years later.
Chris Sanders was not only one of the directors of Lilo & Stitch, but he was also a co-screenwriter, a co-character designer, and also provided the voice acting for Stitch. I think it’s amazing that a character Sanders created in 1985 made it all the way to 2002 and had a movie made about him! It just goes to show, never give up!
17 Trying Something New
After the classic Disney movies had released, Disney found themselves in a downturn as far as successful films go. They released large budget movies like The Emperor’s New Groove, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which now are basically seen as cult classics. But when they were released, they were not very popular. Disney decided to try a much different tactic.
They decided to try a lower budget film with a much smaller scale. This film was Lilo & Stitch. They had actually already done this before with the movie, Dumbo, and it worked flawlessly. Dumbo was released with a smaller budget and smaller scale than previous movies, Pinocchio and Fantasia. The idea was very successful and Lilo & Stitch has been a popular movie ever since.
16 Learning The Hula
Since Lilo & Stitch is set in Hawaii, the animators wanted to use native Hawaiian dances in the movie. The native Hawaiian dance is called the hula, and it is a very complex dance form with many hand motions, hip sways, and chants. The animators had trouble getting the dance right, so they decided to travel to a hulau, a hula school in Hawaii.
The animators studied the hula dancers closely at the hulau.
They then animated the dances in the movie based on the sequences they captured at the hulau. I think this made the movie much more authentic. Rather than just trying to animate it the best they could, they actually filmed native Hawaiians for the film, which made it look much more realistic.
15 Keep Out!
During the film, you can plainly see a sign on Lilo’s bedroom door in their house. The sign has a word written on it. The word is kapu. Kapu is actually a Hawaiian word which has origins in other Polynesian languages such as the Fijan word tabu, from which the English word taboo originates. Kapu, generally translated, basically means “keep out.”
I think it’s a pretty fun detail that the animators included this in the movie. I remember watching Lilo & Stitch when I was younger and not knowing what kapu meant. Now that I know it means “keep out,” it makes much more sense. I may have even written kapu on my own door if I had known what it meant while growing up!
14 The Significance Of A113
Here's a fun fact that occurs in almost every recent Disney film. Most of the license plates in Lilo & Stitch have A113 on them. During the movie, it can be seen on a fire engine, gas tanker, Nani’s beetle, as well as in Lilo’s room. This reference was also featured as the license plate in Toy Story and in Cars as Mater’s license plate. It has also been featured in many other Disney and Pixar films.
A113 is the room number at the California Institute of the Arts where many Disney and Pixar animators studied.
During the 1970s, executive John Lasseter, directors John Musker and Ron Clements, and Pixar director Brad Bird all studied in this famous room. Of course they would also add it as an easter egg to Lilo & Stitch!
13 The View-Master
Here’s a fun fact about Lilo & Stitch you may have missed. During the film, there is a running gag with one of the characters, Pleakley, who is an alien and Jumba’s partner on Earth. The running gag is that whenever Pleakley tries to show someone information about Earth, he uses a device called a View-Master.
A View-Master is a device that creates an illusion that the person using it is looking at a 3D object inside the device. This illusion is accomplished by each eye of the viewer looking at slightly different images in the View-Master. But to create this effect, the viewer must have two eyes, which Pleakley does not! The joke is that the effect of the View-Master would be lost on Pleakley, but he keeps using the device anyway.
12 Present Day
Did you know that Lilo & Stitch is actually one of the only Disney movies that takes place during the present day of when the movie came out? It seems like a farfetched fun fact, but it’s actually true. Think back on your favorite Disney movies. Can you come up with the ones that were set in the present day? It’s harder than you think.
Most Disney movies take place in some other setting than the present.
The movies that take place in the present day include Dumbo, Bambi, 101 Dalmatians, The Rescuers, The Fox and the Hound, The Rescuers Down Under, Oliver & Company, The Lion King, and Bolt. That’s not a lot of movies considering how prolific Disney is and how many movies they have produced.
11 Secret Stuffed Animal
Many people don’t realize that Lilo & Stitch uses quite a bit of inspiration from another Disney film featuring a misunderstood outcast. That movie is Dumbo, which debuted in 1941. In addition to my previous point about the producers of the movie using the idea from Dumbo to make Lilo & Stitch on a smaller scale and with less budget, they also put in a reference to Dumbo the elephant!
You can see this reference in Lilo’s room in the beginning of the film. When Lilo and her sister are looking at what they believe is a fallen star (it’s actually Stitch crash landing) a Dumbo stuffed animal can be seen off to the side on the shelf of an art easel. That’s a pretty cool secret!
10 The Famous Lighthouse
Did you know that in the movie, we can actually figure out where specifically in Hawaii it is supposed to take place? According to the projected landing site of "Experiment 626" in the film, the movie is located on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. There are also other clues that confirm that this is the location where Lilo & Stitch takes place.
Kauai is an island in the Central Pacific part of Hawaii.
During the film, when Lilo and Stitch are riding a bicycle around the island, the famous Kilauea Lighthouse can be seen. This famous lighthouse resides on the island of Kauai, further confirming that this is the location of the movie! Kauai is nicknamed "The Garden Isle" thanks to the tropical rain forest that covers it.
9 That Other Disney Film
There are many references throughout Lilo & Stitch to another Disney animated movie. This movie is, surprisingly, Mulan. This is because Lilo & Stitch was the second animated movie produced by Disney's Orlando Studio. The first one? You guessed it. Mulan!
It makes sense then, that this movie would reference Mulan. During one scene, after returning from picking up Stitch at an animal shelter, the characters can be seen passing a store called "Mulan Wok." Nani also has a poster of Mulan on her bedroom wall! This is most likely because the voice actress who plays Nani was also considered for Mulan's voice as well. The poster can be seen when Lilo and Stitch enter Nani's room to show her the trick he can do with the radio.
8 Ah, Marine Life
During the animation stage of Lilo & Stitch, the animators made a conscious effort to design the "alien" aspects of the film a certain way. Since the movie was going to take place on the island of Hawaii, they decided to design all of the alien aspects of the movie to resemble marine animals.
This makes sense, since Hawaii is famous for its diverse marine plant and animal life that resides on the island.
If you look closely, you can tell the all of the aliens and their spaceships are definitely designed with marine, water-loving plants and animals in mind. You may not have noticed it while watching the movie because the animators did a great job of only subtly designing the aliens that way!
7 Gotta Find 'Em All
Just like in many other Disney animated films, the animators of Lilo & Stitch hid many secret drawings of their famed mascot, Mickey Mouse. It is basically a running gag in all Disney properties that there are hidden Mickeys everywhere, and they encourage fans to find them. It is no different with Disney films!
Not only did the animators hide references to other Disney films, they hid references to their parent company as well! One hidden Mickey can be seen in the Grand Council scene on Jumba's platform. Another hidden Mickey can be found in Lilo's room, on the shorts of one of the people she photographed. And yet another hidden Mickey can be found on one of the screens of Gantu's spaceship. Can you find them all?
6 Fighting For Best Feature Film
Did you know that Lilo & Stitch was actually nominated for an Academy Award? It was nominated for the award for the Best Animated Feature Film at the 75th Academy Awards ceremony in 2003. Lilo & Stitch went up against other movies such as Spirited Away, Ice Age, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Treasure Planet.
Lilo & Stitch lost the award to Spirited Away.
Ironically, the lead voice actor who played Lilo in Lilo & Stitch was also the actor for the main character in Spirited Away. Her name is Daveigh Chase and she is an American actress, singer, voice actress, and model. That was quite a year for her career! And quite a year for animated movies as well. Those are some of my favorite movies of all-time!