Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” continues to break records at the global box office. Over Memorial Day weekend, it made a record-breaking $183 million domestically and $341 million worldwide. The live-action film is a retelling of the studio’s 2002 animated feature, as its beloved characters are brought to life.
In true Disney style, the live-action film is filled with Easter eggs galore that pay homage to the original animated feature and Hawaiian culture. There are the obvious ones such as voice actors from the animated feature having parts in the film – Tia Carrere, the original voice actress for Nani, is playing the girls’ social worker. Amy Hill (Mrs. Hasagawa) is David’s grandmother, and Jason Scott Lee, who voiced David in the animated feature, plays Nani’s boss. Chris Sanders, the original Stitch voice actor, returns to growl and voice the CG version of the koala-like alien.
The film follows a lonely Hawaiian girl named Lilo, played by Maia Kealoha, who is longing for a best friend. After she sees a shooting star blast across the night sky, she makes a wish and then finds herself face-to-face with Stitch, a dog-like alien experiment whose sole purpose is to create destruction.
Production designer Todd Cherniawsky broke down some hidden nods and callbacks audiences might have missed.
Ohana
Matt Kennedy
Cherniawsky explained that the film is anchored in ohana and what family means.
“In Hawaiian culture, Polynesian culture, and in general, First Nations, people around the world, the extended family is a hugely important concept, and everybody grows up with it in those situations,” he says. “I wanted to layer in what that truly meant. So, there are a lot of family photos and items. The picture book that Lilo keeps of her family was something that evolved very much in Dean’s mind, which was changing it from a photo album of tourists that Lilo was very fascinated in the original movie to her love and almost curation of this family photo album.”
Cherniawsky says they constantly took photos along the way, in rehearsals and any opportunity they had.
The film allowed Camp to build on the story of who Lilo and Nani’s parents were. “He came up with a great backstory that the parents were scientists who worked for the state. So we made the decision that one of them was most likely a marine biologist, and then the other one was possibly a botanist.”
Cherniawsky littered science books and diving gear throughout the house to layer in that idea. “There was the idea that Nani can’t bring herself to tidy that stuff or give it away. So the clutter in the house is essentially exactly like the day that the parents passed away.”
Ode to ‘Lilo and Stitch‘ director of photography
Cherniawsky balanced paying homage to the original movie by adding individual Easter eggs, and paying tribute to contributors to the film. “Our director of photography, Nigel Bluck, is a magician, and he was constantly doing card tricks on set, and her mind was completely blown. So, when Lilo goes to her parents’ bedroom and pulls the Elvis record off the shelf, I made a record album that pays complete tribute to our DP and so you can see on the corner of the frame, a fictitious record album that has a deck of cards.”
Jumba’s Ship
Jumba, voiced by Zach Galifianakis
DISNEY
As it turns out, Jumba is a bit of a slob.
According to Cherniawsky, “We made fast food and candy wrappers, all from the Intergalactic Council World. Everything was a seafood of some sort, a little space creature here and there,” he says. But audiences don’t really get to see that detail.
“There’s a whole series of petri dishes (on his science table) that contain all of his next experiments. So he’s probably well into the 700 series. The 600 series was by far his most successful. But we wanted to indicate that he was continually progressing and pushing his own boundaries.”
If you look closely, the ship is blown up. “We might see some of that trash and garbage. A lot of it ends up just getting blown out when they jettison the capsule.”
Handprints at the Bottom of the Stairs
Stitch
DISNEY
In keeping with the meaning of ohana and family, art director Ann Costa came up with the idea of having handprints in the concrete slab at the bottom of the stairs. “She brought a photo and said, ‘Have you noticed that wherever we go in Hawaii, people put their hands in concrete?’ I thought it was a great idea, and I started to build on it,” says Cherniawsky. He thought it was a great way to show the physical presence of Mama and Papa and the two girls. Cherniawsky adds, “After the house is destroyed at the end, we can add Stitch’s and Pleakley (Billy Magnussen). I think it’s almost the final shot of the film.”
Stars
DISNEY
Cherniawsky wanted to build on the idea of Lilo’s parents being scientists and being respectful of the land. So, when it came to her bedroom, he says, “All of her toys are very reflective of all Hawaiian life forms from the island itself.”
Stars were important in the storytelling and a historical cultural aspect for the Hawaiians. He explains, “We really liked the idea that the stars provided a pathway for Nani and Lilo, and gravitating towards the Three Sisters constellation, and then essentially making Stitch the Third sister.” He continues, “I think it was a beautiful way to tie that all into the story, and have it be really integral. It was also a nice device to get the girls lying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling, seeing the chalk-drawn constellations that their parents had drawn. Then, reminiscing about the story, with Nani telling it. Right beside it is the skylight, and Lilo sees the falling star, which is 626’s ship.”
