Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Lilo & Stitch arrived from Walt Disney Feature Animation in 2002, a hand-painted watercolor departure from the studio's late-nineties output, set against the backdrop of Kauai rather than a fairy tale kingdom. It paired science fiction with a story about family and belonging, earning acclaim for its visual style and its willingness to be small and strange within the Disney canon. The film's success helped revive interest in traditional animation techniques at a moment when computer animation was ascending, and it launched a franchise built on an unlikely blue alien finding his place among humans.
This cell centers on Stitch, the genetically engineered creature whose destructive instincts soften across the film into loyalty and affection, making him one of the most collected Disney characters of the 2000s. Naming him alongside David places this frame within Lilo's human world, the surfer and family friend whose presence in Stitch's story marks the alien's integration into island life. A cell like this, drawn from the 35mm print, preserves a single moment of that unlikely friendship taking shape.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Lilo & Stitch (2002).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly cut with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible on one edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip in the inter-perforation zone beside it, and a DTS timecode line also discernible, consistent with a tri-format release print.
Edge print
Not fully legible in this capture; faint edge markings are present but cannot be quoted with certainty.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-cyan tint typical of safety polyester stock; dye image reads as neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
Light longitudinal lines are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the characters visible are consistent with the animated feature on record.
Era check
The combination of polyester base, tri-format soundtrack layout (optical variable-area, Dolby Digital data blocks, DTS timecode) is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2002 release date on record.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063460
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
