Walt Disney Animation Studios Announces “Lilo & Scratch” Short That Combines Traditional Hand-Drawn Animation And CGI Animation.

Walt Disney Animation Studios unveiled a brand new animated short-film “** Lilo & Scratch**” as part of their Annecy Film Festival presentation, the new short was part of the studio’s showcase.

The short directed byFawn Veerasunthorn (“Wish”, “Hexed”) and Malcom Pierce (“Versa”, “Moana”) mixes hand-drawn animation with CGI animation in a new production pipeline that will be used in future films & shorts.

Chris Sanders returns to voice Stitch while Maia Kealoha will voice Lilo for the short-film. The presentation further demonstrated the project’s hybrid approach as the short embraces Disney’s modern CG production pipeline while preserving the watercolor aesthetic that defined the 2002 feature. Veerasunthorn and Pierce recreated the film’s iconic vinyl record scene, pairing hand-painted 2D backgrounds with CG versions of Lilo and Stitch that were nearly indistinguishable from their hand-drawn counterparts. with an animation test featuring the CG Stitch interacting with the hand-drawn Scratch.

Original Lilo & Stitch supervising animator Alex Kupershmidt returned to animate scenes for the short on paper. “He was always reminding us to push the animation very, very far, saying, ‘What are you afraid of?‘” Veerasunthorn said.

“Lilo and Scratch” gollows the pair as their peaceful home life is disrupted by a rescue cat named Scratch. The filmmakers screened the opening minutes of the short, which begin with Stitch lounging on the couch watching slapstick comedies before escalating into a frenetic battle between Stitch and Scratch. Packed with physical comedy, the footage showcased fluid, energetic animation that beautifully recreates the look and feel of the original film.

“Lilo & Scratch” premieres this Thanksgiving in front of “Hexed ” marking the studio’s return to theatrical short films since “Far From The Tree” in 2021.