Merry Christmas with Lilo and Stitch

Even a little monster like Stitch can get all excited about the holidays! Here are two holiday-themed art pieces from LILO ADN STITCH. The watercolor backgrounds in this film are extraordinary.

This first image is a simple screen cap. The characters don't move, so there was no way to digitally erase them. But savor the gorgeous background art... as good as any of Disney's best.

This image is a from the closing credits slide show. Charming!

LILO'S ROOM

Here's another installment of wonderful background art from LILO AND STITCH. These feature Lilo's bedroom.

First up, her bed and nightstand. Gotta love that hula dancer lamp!

Here's another bedside view:

This digitally re-created pan B/G took a long time to piece together, but it was worth the time. Lilo is a quirky character, and her room is a perfect match. It's filled with so many wonderful eclectic details: glow-in-the-dark moon and star stickers, a sea shell, a windowside lei, miniature trucks, a toy sailboat, a yo-yo, even a hockey stick...

Here's a close-up of the right side of the pan....

Here's a complete view of the easel...

Finally, a lovely rendering of the view from the foot of the bed looking toward the door. Notice the woodgrain in the bedposts, the casual draping of bedspread fabric across the bed's frontpost, and the way light illuminates the edges of the woodwork...

LILO AND STITCH: Home

LILO & STITCH: More Hawaiian Paradise

LILO AND STITCH: Hawaiian street scenes

LILO AND STITCH continued

As has been stated here before, the background art from LILO AND STITCH is among some of Disney's finest. Compasrison's even to SNOW WHITE are fair... just look at these digitally re-created background paintings.

Look at the woodgrain texture, even wear marks on these stairs, as well as the perspective and use of shadow and light.

Love the tropical flowers and leaves on the left:

Such an interesting design, so real and cartooney at the same time:

This composition of the kitchen and stovetop is incredibly rich in detail. Smoke effects and simmering pot are "digital cel" overlays.

Note the subltlety of the landscape views in the "background within a background."

LILO AND STITCH Pan Background #75

This lovely LILO AND STITCH digitally re-assembled pan background is captivating for several reasons. I love its lushness... the little white flowers blooming in the wild, the leaves with white filigree...

The bush at the far left, a "digital cel" overlay, reminds us we're in a cartoon environment.

In case you're wondering, this is number 75 of 94 LILO AND STITCH backgrounds in my files. Each one is as beautiful and interesting as the next.

LILO AND STITCH: Pan Background

Looking at the lush pan background, it's hard to imagine it as the background for alien induced bombings and explosions! (The only giveaways are the yellow pieces of house timber and the pink chunk of corrugated tin roofing in the midst of the greenery.) Also notice, on the right side, the power of the explosion blows the trees and flowers to the left (the direction in which the characters are propelled). Where Lilo finally lands (in front of the corrugated tin) looks calm. It's a very clever fusion of story line into the background art - one of the best examples I've ever seen.

Unbelievably, this is only about one-half the pan!

The right half was so obscured by smoke and flying debris that I could only digitally composite the left side. It's still a pan BG of considerable length!

Stylistically, the art reminds me of an unlikely combination of SNOW WHITE with JUNGLE BOOK plus HAWAIIAN HOLIDAY.

The far left side darkened significantly as the "camera" panned left, so I had to build that part with nearly one frame at a time. I think the end justifies the means.

Bravo to the contemporary artists who were responsible for the lavish excellence of this recent Disney film.

LILO AND STITCH: Hawaiian Paradise

Is this gorgeous or what??!!!

LILO AND STITCH: Hawaiian Kitchen

The background artwork from LILO AND STITCH is among the best Disney ever produced. A big statement... but it's true! This kitchen pan B/G took a really long time to digitally restore but it is a beauty, reminiscent of Disney's background art from the late 1930s.

More LILO AND STITCH artwork is forthcoming!

LILO AND STITCH

This contemporary Disney film was one of the last successful "traditional" Disney animated features. These first few backgrounds show a definite stylistic link to the classic Disney style. There are definite tropical echoes of "Hawaiian Holiday" (1937) and "The Jungle Book" (1967) in the artwork. The lush, native Hawaiian landscapes are beautifully rendered, immediately invoking the warmth and charm of the Polynesian islands.