National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Walt Disney Animation Studios released Lilo & Stitch in June 2002, a film that marked a deliberate return to intimate, character-driven storytelling after the studio's more elaborate productions of the late 1990s. Set in Hawaii and built around themes of family and belonging, it became one of the most beloved entries of the era and performed strongly at the box office.

This cell, titled Stitch and Ariel, is drawn from the film's promotional trailer produced to accompany The Little Mermaid's 2002 theatrical re-release. The 35mm frame captures a continuous shot of Stitch surfing across open ocean water on Ariel in her mermaid form, blue sky and clouds stretching behind them — a playful crossover moment that existed only in this brief piece of Disney marketing history.