National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Lilo & Stitch was released by Walt Disney Animation Studios in June 2002, arriving during a transitional period for the studio between its celebrated Renaissance era and the shift toward computer-generated features. This promotional trailer, which reimagined scenes from The Little Mermaid with Stitch inserted as an uninvited guest, became a memorable piece of Disney marketing history and demonstrated the studio's willingness to play with its own legacy in inventive ways.

This cell captures Ariel mid-expression, her red hair set against an open blue sky, her mouth parted in what reads as a moment of song or pure delight. Drawn from a brief but culturally resonant piece of promotional animation, the frame preserves one of Disney's most iconic characters in a context that exists entirely outside the original 1989 feature.