I spoke to Silvers about the deleted scenes he worked on that were cut from the original film. “Lilo’s House” is based on the original background created in the making of Lilo and Stitch by William Silvers. Lilo was by far the calmest, sweetest character he’d ever worked on. He’s often more connected to villainous or dramatic characters like Scar, Jafar, and Gaston, but he also lended his expertise as supervising animator of Roger Rabbit. It was the great animator Andreas Deja who was the supervising animator for Lilo, which, he once told me, was quite a departure for him. He also worked on technical animation for Zootopia, Moana, and Raya and the Last Dragon.
Kupershmidt also had a hand in the design and animation of Khan and General Li in Mulan, and the Hyenas in The Lion King. Sanders supplied the voice for Stitch, who was animated under the supervision of Alex Kupershmidt. The voices of Nani, Lilo’s beleaguered and responsible big sister, and David Kawena, Lilo’s boyfriend, are played by Tia Carrera and Jason Scott Lee, actors who both grew up in Hawaii. That guide went on to explain the idea of family that extends way beyond blood, encompassing close friends and neighbors who support and love each other unconditionally, as is the case in many parts of the Hawaiian islands.
DeBlois said the tour guide seemed to know someone everywhere they went.
It was on a research trip to Kauai that DeBlois and Sanders learned about Ohana. DeBlois had co-written Mulan with Sanders, so he invited him on to co-write and direct Lilo and Stitch. It was decided early on to center the action in Hawaii, the look and feel of which went on to color the entire film. The original story was based on a children’s book pitch that Sanders had in the mid-80s, featuring the character of Stitch. Lilo and Stitch was developed by Michael Eisner, inspired by 1941’s Dumbo, which was famously less expensive than the studio’s first 2 films. He went on to direct HTTYD 2 and 3, both of which are glorious, and in their way also celebrate found family. The film was directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, which is 8 years before DeBlois brought us the first in the wonderful How to Train Your Dragon series as both screenwriter and director. It had the misfortune to be up against one of Hayao Miyazaki’s best, Spirited Away, which walked away with the award. Lilo and Stitch was met with positive reviews by critics, and enthusiasm from Disney fans, and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2003 Oscars. (Isn’t that what lots of puppies do, though?) Through the sweet story centered on found family as well as some pretty frenetic action, Stitch ultimately chooses to stay with Lilo and her sister, making the narrative a beautiful nod to larger groups, or wider nets of loving friends and blood relations. Stitch, as Experiment 626’s human friend Lilo Pelekai calls him after adopting him as a dog, has been genetically engineered to cause chaos. It’s the 20th anniversary of Lilo & Stitch! It seems like only yesterday Disney put out their 42nd feature film, introducing the world to the blue alien “Experiment 626” and the concept of Ohana.