Lilo & Stitch Characters - Just Awful

[Braque]

Truly a disappointment. After thoroughly enjoying the movie, I looked forward to seeing the characters in the park(s). This seems to be subjugation of the magic to the dollar in it’s worst form. These are horrible looking representations of the characters. Lilo’s head is too big and Stitch’s head is clearly much too small. Stitch’s body appears to be a loosely draped sack, equivalent to the most modest Disney Store Halloween offerings- or worse, standard Six Flags fare.

Why couldn’t Lilo be a real girl - this would have worked so well with the Stitch character. I’ve got a child on the verge of questioning the reality of ‘Mickey’. I’m glad we are not going to WDW this summer, because seeing this twosome would definitely have put her over the edge. I would not even know where to begin to defend these characterizations to her and salvage the
‘magic’.

Granted, I have not had the opportunity to see L&S in person and perhaps (hoping) this photograph is not a good representation. Any possibility that these characters will begin to morph into something more Disney appropriate - other opinions on this matter?

[All Aboard]

What photo?

[mickey4ver]

If my little ones got theirselves that worked up about how these characters look, I would most likely just say to them "get over it". I think they look ok. I think it would be hard to have Lilo represented in "human" form as it would most likely have to be a child doing it, and that I don't think we'll see. JMHO

[Walt's Frozen Head]

Greg...

Sometimes there's more in someone's sig than you might have expected when messing with your settings...

-WFH

PS: Smiley embargo still in full effect.

[Braque]

Toonfinder site: http://www.toonfinder.com/lilostitch.jpg

Mickey - Isn't Alice a young girl? I hope to preserve the magic with my kids for as long as possible. Telling them to 'get over it' at 7yo equates with telling them to 'go knock on Mickey's head' - C'mon!

As a parent of two young daughters, I say unequivocally that they are where my magic lies. And I will try to preserve that for as long as I can.

[YoHo]

Stitch is bad. Lilo. Eh, it's Okay.

[raidermatt]

They look the same in the park as they do in Braque's photo (or at least they did about a month ago...)

[All Aboard]

Mr. Head, I guess it's a tradeoff. I don't have to scroll past someone's list of every trip they've made since WDW opened, the entire script to Lady and the Tramp or 16 different photos of Buzz Lightyear. On the other hand, once in a while I make a gaff like this. PS, observing your smilie embargo.

Braque, I expected much worse from your description. Stitch is on par with Chip and Dale - same basic costume.

Lilo is 6 years old (I think), doesn't make much sense to have a girl that age play her. Plus, she's drawn as a bit of a characature in the film. Larger head, very wide eyes, large nose. Alice and Wendy are about 16 and drawn to look like they would appear in real life, different situation entirely.

[mickey4ver]

Lilo appears to me to be younger than Alice, and not as easy to replicate in "human" form as to the looks etc. Alice comes off pretty good as depicted at WDW in "human" form. I just don't see my youngsters getting that upset at how Lilo and Stitch are presented. They would just be happy to see them. Its not like they look nothing like in the movie.

7 year olds can understand sometimes much more than we give them credit for. If a character such as Santa, Mickey or whomever "lives" in their hearts in a special place, they will never stop "believing" even when they are at the brink of reallizing that these characters are "not real". To me, that is important, what is in our hearts and memories for years to come, not the issue if these charactes really "exist". I NEVER told my kids there is no Santa or Mickey, and of course they KNOW these are not real characters, but in their heart, they will always believe and therefore they "exist" in their hearts and they are carrying on the "magic", and with that the magic lies with ME.

[Braque]

Actually, after doing a modest bit of research: "Alice is a seven-year-old English girl" - I could still be wrong. I just thought that little girls would really relate to a young-ish sixteen year old Hawaiian native playing Lilo as a face character. The very small ones wouldn't notice. Just like they don't notice the 22YO playing Wendy - the relationships between kids and face characters is undeniably special.

Actually the depiction of Stitch bothers me more.

Mickey - I hope that when my kids corner me, at last, on the existence of Mickey and Santa, etc., I can remember your elogent words.

[mickey4ver]

I hope that your little ones keep these characters in their hearts always, even as adults! Its ok to know that characters are "make believe", but to still have that love in your heart for them even as you grow older is special.

Was not sure of Alice's true age, but I still just think she comes off a little better as a human, and Lilo just has that cartoonish look to her and is better of as they have done her.

Ok, done soap boxing....again all with me is JMHO.

[Amphigorey]

Oh my god, those are awful! I know Disney can do so much better, and as a costumer I'm embarrassed for them. Ugh.

[hopemax]

Well, since I seem to be persona non grata around here today, I should probably keep my mouth shut but...

If Disney were to make a more realistic size head for Stitch, I wonder what the effect would be on the CM inside the costume. I wouldn't want a CM to strain a back muscle trying to manuever Stitch's head.

[DisneyKidds]

max........

there you go, offending aliens by making comments about their head sizes. Are you not aware that that is a no-no. How can you be so reckless as you are sure to start an intergalactic feud. I'm sure the first place they go after will be a Disney Store as all that light colored plush will make an outstanding target and no one will be wearing a Stitch costume to throw them off.

[April76]

Stitch looks like Timon with a dye job and funny ears. His head does need to be bigger. I assumed he would be shorter.

Lilo could use a little work, and I agree that it wouldn't be possible to find a "human" to portray her very well... would have to be a human with a really big nose, muppet mouth and short squatty body.

If they do find that many guests are upset by their appearance, I'm sure you'll see changes (hopefully there will be changes even if no one gets upset).

[kamgen]

I think Stitch looks terrible. I love Stitch and think he is the coolest character in years! But, I don't like the "costume".
He should be smaller than her and have a bigger head.
Disney did a great job with Scully and Mike from Monsters Inc. So why couldn't they do better here??
JMHO.


Kamy

[AllisonG]

Isn't Stitch supposed to be the size of a dog anyway? Can't a 'height challenged' person play that part? It looked like Mike from Monsters was the appropriate size.

[eeyorefanatic]

I have not seen them in person, but from the photos Lilo is ok I guess but Stitch looks awfull. I loved the character in the movie as well. I think with as many cm's and as many people they can draw to a casting call, they could get someone of a better height.

Has anyone seen them in person yet? Is Stitch good or bratty? I would think that one could have a lot of fun behaving like Stitch on coffee even if only for 30 min a day ;)

[Samirella]

Originally posted by Braque
Actually, after doing a modest bit of research: "Alice is a seven-year-old English girl" - I could still be wrong.

Alice is thirteen.

[Amphigorey]

Alice is thirteen.
Disney's Alice or Lewis Carrol's? She was quite young, about seven, in the book.

[Kuzco]

I couldn't get the link to the photos to work. Does anyone know where there are pictures of Lilo and Stitch?

[wdhatter]

Disney's Alice is older than seven.

In designing a costume, many of you are not taking into account that if Stitch's head were bigger, the performer would be hurt. You are all wanting a shorter person with a bigger Character head. Are you all so adamant in having that in your Character you see maybe once a year that you would sacrifice the poor, small performer's health who is in the costume everyday?

As it is, Stitch is in the lower height range that Disney has for performers. Point blank, that costume would kill a more vertically challenged person than is already in it.

[Kuzco]

My thoughts exactly, wdhatter. Well said!

[SnackyStacky]

Originally posted by Braque
This seems to be subjugation of the magic to the dollar in it’s worst form. These are horrible looking representations of the characters. Lilo’s head is too big and Stitch’s head is clearly much too small.

As someone said, there are a lot of mechanics involved in designing these costumes. I have worked with theatrical costumes, and a huge consideration that must be taken is the mobility, and "comfort" of the performer. And I use the latter term IMMENSELY loosely...comfort can simply means that the person doesn't experience any real pain, but it doesn't mean that the performer won't be hot, uncomfortable, or tired.

Originally posted by Braque
Why couldn’t Lilo be a real girl - this would have worked so well with the Stitch character. I’ve got a child on the verge of questioning the reality of ‘Mickey’. I’m glad we are not going to WDW this summer, because seeing this twosome would definitely have put her over the edge. I would not even know where to begin to defend these characterizations to her and salvage the
‘magic’.

The logistics of trying to get a girl the appropriate size for Lilo is absolutely impossible. Think about how tired your KIDS get when being in the heat too long. Then put a 6 or 7 year old out in that heat.

There is going to come a time when your child understands what's going on with those characters. If it weren't this summer, it would come at some point. I have 25+ year old friends who still want their picture taken with Mickey, and Rafiki, and others. Just because your child knows what's going on doesn't mean you'll have to "salvage" any magic. And anyway, Disney World is plenty magical without the characters.

Originally posted by Braque
Granted, I have not had the opportunity to see L&S in person and perhaps (hoping) this photograph is not a good representation. Any possibility that these characters will begin to morph into something more Disney appropriate - other opinions on this matter?

Let me preface my opinion by saying that it is mine, and I don't believe it makes yours any less valid. I simply believe that this really isn't a big deal. When I'm at Disney World, I tend to be too happy and engulfed that something like this just wouldn't bother me.

[Braque]

http://www.toonfinder.com/dlresort/dca/pp/pp-stitch01.jpg

Here’s is a more ‘acceptable’ picture of Stitch. You can find more pictures of Lilo and Stitch at the Toonfinder website.

I believe that Stitch’s head needs to be appropriately sized to his body. Many characters in the parks have much bigger heads than the current ‘Stitch’ incarnation. Just take a look at Chip and Dale - or even, Mickey. These are much larger heads for a similar size body and do not represent unusual requirements so as to ‘sacrifice the performer’s health’. Look at the photographs of Chip and Dale again and try to tell me Stitch’s head is sized right.

On another note: I find it extremely interesting that many critics, reviewers and posters exclaimed how great it was that Disney was finally portraying girls with a more realistic body image instead of the impossible perfection of the princesses, and yet now, Lilo could not possibly be played by a real girl because she is too ‘Muppet-like’. I never claimed that Lilo would have to be portrayed by a seven year old! If Peter Pan's Wendy (a twelve year old girl) is played by a twenty-something young lady and she comes off just fine - could Lilo be played by a younger looking College intern - of course she could! Would it be better? That's up for debate.

I hope you will indulge me in a bit of historical context on Alice in Wonderland:

“In Carroll's original (1862-1864) manuscript for the story, Alice's Adventures Underground, which he personally illustrated, Alice was not the little blonde girl in a pinafore we have come to know from subsequent illustrations. Instead, she was originally a winsome, dark haired child, whose likeness had been patterned after ten year old Alice Liddell, the child of a church colleague, for whom the Alice stories had been originally created. . . . There have been any number of illustrators whose work has graced this popular tale over the years. The characters appearance tended to vary, according to each artists' style. In some cases, it's thought that more than one artist may have drawn Alice to resemble his own daughter.

Regardless of artistic liberties taken, (Lewis Carroll’s final manuscript Alice is seven years old). . . . Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland is based on both Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and the subsequent book, Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There.

An English illustrator and satirical artist, Sir John Tenniel is perhaps best remembered for his illustrations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872). Because Sir John Tenniel's illustrations for the Carroll books were so well known, Walt Disney acquired the rights to them as the basis for the visual style of Alice in Wonderland. When the illustrative style proved a hindrance to animation, the character designs were freely adopted for the animation form, though still making reference to the well-known Tenniel drawings”.

[Amphigorey]

I was looking forward to the Stitch costume because I wanted to see him with six legs, or at least his antennae. As a costumer, I understand the difficulties in designing a character like Stitch, but I also believe that Disney can do a better and more interesting job.

Lilo should be a face character, I rather think. Mowgli, Wendy, Peter Pan, and Alice are all face characters, so it would have worked.

Thanks for the bit about Alice, Braque.

[wdhatter]

Disney's Alice is portrayed as older than seven. Again, I repeat that.

As for Lilo being face....let's see....hmmm...do you see Tarzan out on set at WDW? Other than the summer of the movie of course, and that was only 5 days a week....STAFFING is a HUGE issue. If we can only find ONE Tarzan after all this time to do Meet and Greets, tell me how easy will it be to find a 16+ year old girl who looks 6 and has a Hawaiian look? And don't tell me that it would be easy for WDW to find with all the people who audition for them, because again, I say look at the case of Tarzan.

As for the person who STILL wants Stitch to have a bigger head because other characters have bigger heads...Chip and Dale are larger people to help carry the extra weight of the heads. A performer in Beast or Sulley (the biggest costumes I can think of) are 6'2" and above males to carry that around and even then they get hurt. To make Stitch's head bigger, other things proportionately need to be considered such as making the ears larger as well. Then you get into if the head will "center" properly (balance) on the performer's head. Bigger ears also lead to many tugs on the ears by unthinking Guests. Poor, injured, small performers galore.

I'm done! I respect your opinions because everyone is entitled to one, but I'm just playing Devil's Advocate.

[doombuggy]

I could not view the first photo, but the second one seemed ok to me. I really like Stitch as a dog (the plush sits on my bed), and really did not like the way his "paws" were drawn in the movie. They look more like claws.

DisneyKidds' sarcasm was a bit much.

[Samirella]

When I say Alice is thirteen...that is taken from the training literature.

[J&D]

Has anyone seen them in person yet? Is Stitch good or bratty?

Stitch was good with the kids, but he would pick on the adults. For example, he pretended to pick DH's nose and eat his boogers. When I approached him, he patted his stomach as if he wanted to eat me. He took off one man's hat and wouldn't give it back. Stitch also liked to dance and sing to the music that was playing.

I will try to post pictures after they are developed.

[*Robin*]

It looks like Disney said something like "Oh My God!! It's a hit!! I can't believe it, it's actually a hit, make a character for the parks, quick, before they forget, we can make more money...HURRY!!!!!!"


:(

(By the way, I think this is the best movie they've made in Years!)

[Braque]

Another picture:

http://www.orlandorocks.com/full_photo.asp?fname=mgm_sztick_greet.jpg&caption=Lilo%20and%20Stitch%20pose%20with%20an%20a doring%20fan%20at%20Disney%20Studios.