Screenwriter Chris Kekaeniokalani Bright’s first experience with “Lilo & Stitch” was when he was nine years old. His mother, Lynell Bright, led the Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus in singing “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride,” and “He Mele No Lilo,” for the movie’s soundtrack.
“I was too young to be in the choir, which I was really bummed about,” Bright told Aloha State Daily. “But I did get to go watch them do the recording, which was amazing because I was sitting in the recording studio watching through the glass. And then cut to 23 years later, and I was doing the same thing, watching my mom with the choir now — from a different role.”
Bright was one of the screenwriters for Disney’s live action version of “Lilo & Stitch,” which premieres May 23. He is also a graduate of Kamehameha Schools.
“It just feels like it's Christmas morning, and you've wrapped the present, and you know it's going to be really good, and you can't wait for everybody to see it,” Bright told Aloha State Daily. “I feel like we made something special, and I can’t wait for the world to see it.”
Compared to the original animated movie, the story is “similar in the sense that the heart of it, we've kept the same,” Bright said.
The live action story explores more of the relationship between Nani, who is 18 years old, and Lilo, her little sister, who falls under her care after their parents unexpectedly die in an accident. There are some new characters and different relationships, he added.
“We really had to dissect the original movie to figure out what is at the heart of this, what makes it work so well? Why is it so emotional?” he said. “And of course, it's about ‘ohana, and it's also about being broken but still good. There's so many wonderful themes in there.”
Bright previously wrote “Conviction,” which made the 2018 Black List, an annual survey of Hollywoodʻs top unproduced screenplays. It was sold to Warner Brothers. Although he now has multiple screenplays to his name, he never intended to be a writer.
He wanted to be a drummer for Broadway musicals. He planned to major in music at Chapman University until a serious hand injury derailed his plans. Bright took six months off and when he returned to classes, he “just couldn’t play in the same way,” he said.
“I just so happened that semester to be taking a screenwriting class — screenwriting 101 — and I loved it,” he said. “The teacher knew of my situation, and she was really sweet, and she was like: Have you ever thought about making this a career?”
He switched his major to film studies.
“It was a blessing in disguise — one of the hardest things I went through in my life, but ultimately ended up getting me where I am now,” Bright said. “But it was never the plan.”
Currently, he is working on a television show. He also wrote a script centered around family which takes place in Hawaiʻi. He will be directing that next year.
Being able to work on the live action “Lilo & Stitch” at the same time as his mother was “pretty cool and pretty full circle,” Bright said.
What was the hardest part of writing this screenplay?
“Knowing that so many people love this — including myself — feeling the pressure of that and wanting to just do it right, was the biggest challenge,” he said. “It was really wanting to honor the movie before it, honor the heart of it, honor how much it means to so many people all around the world, especially people from Hawaiʻi.”
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
