Posted on: Friday, June 28, 2002

'Lilo' not for real but pretty close

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

After all the "Lilo & Stitch" hype and the sound bites from the creators talking about how they made such a great effort to get Hawai'i right, I have to admit I was bracing for the worst.

We hear the same stuff from just about every film and television crew that lands here, hires three locals as extras and gets a tax break from Calvin Say and his friends. Then we go see the movie and leave with eyeballs sore from rolling them so much.

The "Lilo & Stitch" "special" on ABC last week certainly added to the sense of dread. It was unwatchable. I know because I tried to watch it. It was called "Lilo & Stitch: Aloha From Hollywood," and the whole concept went downhill from there. Put it this way: Kelly Ripa was interviewing Priscilla Presley. I didn't just change the channel; I turned the TV off, unplugged it and sealed off the room.

But the movie itself is nothing like the hype. It is, in its own way, sincere.

I asked around, and people who have seen the film have declared it "close" — as in they didn't get Hawai'i exactly right, but pretty darn good. "Close" is better than any of us could hope for. "Close" is miles away from most of the things we've seen.

So what's off the mark?

For starters, how many local girls do you know named Lilo Nani, sure. Lots of Nanis. But Lilo? I suspect the writers got hold of a Pukui and Elbert dictionary and looked up the Hawaiian word for "lost" so that they'd have something that fit the theme. Hey, but if that's the case, at least they got hold of a Pukui and Elbert dictionary, right?

And there are other little things, like the reference to getting rabies, and the ostentatious 'Iolani Palace-style four-poster bed and the koa furniture in Lilo and Nani's otherwise humble home.

But you have to give the filmmakers credit for trying. Especially notable are details like making the point that the climactic volcano scene takes place on the Big Island and not Kaua'i; a handwritten "kapu" sign taped to Lilo's bedroom door; and dialogue with a phrase like "'a'ole wala'au" that is left just as it is, with no obligatory translation into English, only the context clues to let general audiences know what it means.

The film also pays more than lip service to the concept of 'ohana.

If you want to look for cracks in the storyline, there are fault lines to be found.

If you want to get ticked about ethnic stereotypes, you can find fodder for a pretty good snit.

If you want to nit-pick about what they got wrong about Hawai'i, you could start a nice little list.

But if you just want to enjoy a sweet little movie and not get bounced out of the story line by cultural references that are just messed up, you can do that, too, because "Lilo & Stitch" comes pretty close.

Which means there is a new high-water mark for Hawai'i-themed Hollywood films. If an animated feature can get this close, we can only hope that other filmmakers will set their sights on getting closer.