Lilo & Stitch's 'home'? It's Hanapepe

HANAPEPE, Hawaii - Hanapepe is the Roswell, N.M., of the tropics. A place portrayed as secretly inhabited by dozens of alien beings who have crash-landed on Earth and now call Kauai their home.

At least that is the story in the world of "Lilo & Stitch," the Disney movie and TV franchise starring a Hawaiian girl named Lilo and the odd, stray "dog" she adopts from the local pound. The puppy, Stitch, is actually an alien experiment on the loose - and soon he brings dozens of his kindred space creatures to live on the Garden Island.

In creating "Lilo & Stitch," Disney jumbled the geography of Kauai. The craft is shown landing on the lush North Shore, all the better for the many surfing and beach scenes. But when the illustrators wanted to find inspirations for a sleepy town to model Lilo's home upon, they found it on the opposite side of the island.

"In the small town of Hanapepe, I found all the usual homey details, ranging from rusted-out bridges to homemade mailboxes," wrote Paul Felix, the film's production designer, in the official Disney "making of" book on the movie.

The town that inspired the Disney team's watercolor movie backgrounds has been little changed by its years of cinematic and cartoon fame. It remains a town that literally has been passed by. Highway 50 loops around it, speeding visitors between the resorts in Poipu and the road to Waimea Canyon.

Hanapepe retains its pre-World War II look. It feels off the beaten path, a place of clapboard houses with tin roofs, old storefronts with wooden sidewalks and a shuttered movie theater. Dogs lope through town and roosters bob in the crosswalks.

The town's stores have long ago been turned into artists' studios, cafes and bookshops. But Hanapepe is beyond sleepy; it's practically catatonic in its pace.

Californians Roger and Stephanie Strickland brought their twin daughters, Naomi and Sara, 7.

"They love 'Lilo & Stitch,' " Roger said. "The two places we try to go as often as possible are Kauai and Disneyland, so there's a match here."

Most of the ties to the movie have to be left to your memory and imagination.

Yes, "Home of Lilo and Stitch" is painted on the side of the abandoned and decaying Aloha Theater, with its ALOHA neon sign begging for restoration.

But outside of a few posters, there's no overt attempt to capitalize on the Disney franchise.

Visitors can have a vegetarian lunch at the Hanapepe Cafe. Or, at J.J. Ohana, buy necklaces and other jewelry made from shells brought from the nearby island of Niihau.

The big draw, if you can call it that, is the Hanapepe Swinging Bridge. It's the re-creation of the original, which was blown down by Hurricane Iniki in 1992. The bridge of wooden beams and steel cables sways, creaks and moans. There's not much on the other side, so most visitors simply turn around and come back.

The Talk Story Bookstore at the west side of town is a good place to learn more about Hanapepe. Three store cats - Chada, Celeste and Ciera - snooze in the shelves of the old storefront.

Ed Justus, a transplanted Virginian, runs the place with his wife, Cynthia Powell. There's a good collection of Hawaiiana books and local art.

Talk Story also has books on local history, which isn't always as upbeat as little Lilo's cartoon hometown. This side of Kauai was dominated by sugar plantations. The last one, Gay & Robinson, closed in 2008 after 119 years.

And locals still talk of the Hanapepe Massacre. In September 1924, mostly Filipino immigrant workers had been on strike for 165 days, demanding $2 a day and limiting the workday to eight hours. The McBryde plantation brought in strikebreakers and, in a showdown with police, 16 strikers were killed.

Before leaving the area, circle around on Highway 50 to Lappert's Ice Cream factory store, where Kauai's best cold stuff is made. There are the classic ice cream flavors, along with a few island treats like guava and mango.

If you want to keep the Lilo theme going, visit the Kilauea Lighthouse on the North Shore, which is frequently seen in the movie and TV series. Visit the Hyatt Kauai in Poipu on Tuesdays or Saturdays to see the keiki hula group, much like the one that Lilo belongs to. The children sway to Hawaiian music, and if you have kids, there is a chance to come out and dance with the troupe at the end of the show.

On your way back to the airport in Lihue, you'll pass the Humane Society. If you stop in and find a strange little blue dog with huge teeth, take it back to Hanapepe. It will feel right at home. *