National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Walt Disney Animation Studios released Lilo & Stitch in June 2002, a deliberately smaller-scale production that returned the studio to hand-drawn character work with a warm, unconventional story set in Hawaii. The film found a devoted audience and stands as one of the more quietly distinctive features of Disney's early 2000s output. This particular cell originates from the promotional trailer attached to The Little Mermaid's 2002 theatrical re-release, placing it within a specific and narrow window of the film's marketing history.

The confirmed title for this cell is Stitch, and the three consecutive frames capture the blue alien character mid-air above churning water, riding a wave against an open sky. The tight sequencing across all three frames documents a single moment of action animation, offering a rare look at the incremental movement preserved across adjacent production frames from this promotional material.