More Elvis Presley Songs Appear in Disney’s ‘Lilo and Stitch’ Than in Any of His Own Movies
Lilo and Stitch are massive Elvis Presley fans, with several of his best-known songs appearing in the Disney animated film. In fact, Lilo and Stitch featured more songs by “the King” than any of his original movies.
Here’s what we know about the songs included in Disney’s 2002 movie.
Disney released their animated movie, ‘Lilo and Stitch’ in 2002
Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind. Viewers met these unconventional friends during the 2002 animated film Lilo and Stitch. Since then, this film and its soundtrack have become the favorites of many Disney fans.
During a 2002 interview with Animation World Network, creator Chris Sanders commented on the differences between Lilo and Stitch and movies like Spirited Away.
“One of the big reasons we didn’t have this film as a musical in the traditional sense is that the minute a character begins to sing, it places that film in a certain realm, a musical realm, which is great but it’s not really happening the way we wanted this film to feel like it’s happening,” Sanders said.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some musical elements in this production. The Lilo and Stitch soundtrack featured original instrumentals, with the film including songs popularized by Elvis Presley.
‘Lilo and Stitch’ included eight songs originally written and performed by Elvis Presley
Aside from the story of ohana, this animated film featured plenty of musical moments. Lilo and Stitch loved to listen to Presley, sometimes breaking out into dance or even using Stitch’s finger to play a record.
According to Buzzfeed, more Presley songs appear in Lilo and Stitch than any of the “Love Me Tender” singer’s own movies. Besides releasing legendary original music, Presley starred in several films, including Wild in the Country, It Happened at the World’s Fair, and Love Me Tender.
Though these productions featured some fan-favorite songs, they mainly featured Elvis as an actor. Lilo and Stitch, on the other hand, included “Burning Love,” “Suspicious Minds,” and “A Little Less Conversation,” among others. There were eight songs in total initially performed by the King.
Elvis Presley songs appeared in other movies and television shows
Songs by “The King” appeared in several other Disney-related productions. When the Full House cast traveled to Hawaii for a television special, Uncle Jesse ensured they visited some of Elvis’ iconic locations from his Blue Hawaii production.
In Forrest Gump, the title character, portrayed in part by Tom Hanks, interacted with “Elvis” with his leg braces inspiring the King’s iconic dance moves. One character from The Conjuring 2 broke out into an original rendition of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love.”
Lilo and Stitch and its spinoff television series originally broadcast on Disney Channel are available for streaming on Disney’s subscription service, Disney+. Movies created by and starring Presley are available for binge-watching with a subscription to Amazon Prime.
