🔎👒 Download June's Journey for free here: pixly.go2cloud.org/SH2nd P.S. One small correction I overlooked when writing: Moana is Polynesian (Hawaii is just one part of Polynesia).
vi tu video y me encanto, seria curioso si llegaras a hablar de las otras peliculas, sobretodo de Leroy y Stich, se que es una pelicula algo infravalorada pero hay algunos como yo que sienten que tiene quimica el personaje de Leroy, quizas porque da una sensacion emotiva o psicologica para encariñarse con el? como si fuera un stich orientado por el mal camino basicamente, un personaje teniendo potencial para ser bueno pero no siendolo simplemente porque los buenos no le dan oportunidad, no se si me dejo entender
Argument relies on "Weirdness," ignoring "Cuteness" - Not recognizing that Adorableness will excuse ANYTHING. The Video Essay is well argued, with plenty of Pathos, but Lacking in Ethos and Devoid of Logos. E for effort.
It’s crazy when you realize that Nani was probably around 20-23 years old. She is around the same age of your average Disney Princess, only instead of running around a castle she’s raising a child and paying a mortgage.
Precisely, Nani is still young, and in her bedroom, you can see medals and trophies for surfing, indicating that she had to give up her dreams to care for Lilo.
It's why she's one of my favourite Disney characters. She highlighted a reality for so many people across the world in an accessible way. Young carers are incredible people and too overlooked.
Nani is great but why do you have to put down other disney princesses? Saying "running around a castle" like that's all they do and all there is to it. What difference is it to when you put down someone just because they're not a 20-23 year old who has to take care of a little sister. Surely everyone has their own struggles.
I always loved Nani and David’s relationship. Yes he wants to date Nani and did at one point joke that if he does certain things she might date him, but deep down he simply cares about her whether he dated her or not. He was helpful, attentive, and kind towards Nani and Lilo expecting nothing in return. He is genuinely one of the best Disney men and their relationship is one of the healthiest I’ve seen.
exactly. i hope young boys who watched lilo and stitch noticed that and internalized that friendship with girls is just as valuable as something more, whenever it is that they might develop interest in such
Nani and Lilo are his ohana. I love how he treats Lilo not like the typical “little sister,” but like his own. And despite Stitch having dragged Lilo down, when Lilo panics about stitch, he goes with no hesitation. This is my favorite movie ever.
@@TheDrexxus I wouldn't necessarily say Nani didn't give him the time of day, though I completely get what you mean. The creators gave equal attention to Nani. She didn't outright reject spending time with him. She didn't make fun of him for liking her or avoid him. She HAD to spend time with him later because of her circumstance. It was a nice touch as lesser films would have painted Nani as rude or prissy. When in reality she was a girl who lost her parents and was struggling to keep what little family she had left. David understood this. With that care that the writers gave it really shows in the final film. You can tell they know each other and were friends at one point. But due to circumstance just can't do what they want to do.
I love the pointing out that Lilo isn't quirky. She is weird. She makes people uncomfortable and it isn't in a minor way that can be brushed off. That is what really has been bothering me about new disney characters, thank you for putting it into words.
Now looking back on it, as a neurodivergent child this is exactly what spoke to me about Lilo's character. As a kid the "quirky weird yet accepted kid" trope made me angry, because it wasn't realistic. I was weird, shunned and isolated without the quirkiness. Lilo's character highlights the loneliness, feeling of disconnect with your peers that comes with being neurodivergent. She's realistic to a lot of children out there
Yes! This is what stood out for me the most about Lilo. I never really liked this new type of "adorably quirky" Disney princesses. I think they are like the manic pixie dream girl trope all over again. Pretty, perfect girls whose "flaws" are just stand ins to make them seem as if the creators wanted to make a real person, but without really alienating anyone. All of them aren't half as relatable as Lilo and Nani.
@@littlepinkcactus Which Princesses are we talking about exactly? Just curious as I always seem to find relatable characteristics to most of the animated Disney gals... maybe I'm missing something? 🤔
I always loved this movie, especially Lilo and Nani's relationship, and Nani worrying about losing custody of her little sister. They both find the transition hard after losing their parents, with Lilo even saying "I like you better as a sister than a Mom." You don't really catch these elements as a kid, but as an adult, it's more clear.
And she takes on the added responsibility of a pet when she’s already dealing with more than she is sure she can handle, just because she thinks it will help her sister
“I’m the only one who understands her! If you take that away she won’t stand a chance!” Hits so freaking hard realizing how much Nani fiercely loves her sister and knows full well that Lilo needs more than she can provide alone and but will never come close anywhere else.
“Lilo & Stitch aren’t fundamentally trying to change themselves, but rather the way they communicate.” “When Stitch […] comes back, he is not a better person, he just has understood family”. How powerful
One thing that I treasure so much about this movie as an indigenous person is that it has a story outside of just being native. Part of the reason this movie sounds "out there" as a pitch is because we're so used to stories about native people being ABOUT them being native or about traditional culture. If you pitched a movie about aliens and found family for a white family it wouldn't sound nearly as odd. BUT the movie maintains their identity as part of the story, it's not also just a story about this family that just so happens to be native, their experiences being indigenous are still built into the story.
Kind of reminds me of what I like about Soul they’re is Black culture all over that movie and it’s respected but it’s not necessarily required for the main character to be black it’s a movie that celebrates black culture but has a story anybody can either connect with or at least appreciate.
Yes. As I watched the movie as a kid. She is just a kid main character. Who happens to be Hawaiin. I mean, it was my first awareness of some authentic Hawaiin culture outside hula hooping car dashboard decor(wc im not sure if offending to Hawaiins or not). And the presentation was amazing and not in a forced way. I love lilo for being lilo.
So many in the autistic community headcanon her as autistic because so much of her relates to so many of us as children and not being understood, being othered and alienated etc. And her behaviours are very much autistic behaviours too
Beautiful discussion on one of my favorite movies ever. It's true that this movie technically couldn't be called "underrated" due to its success and cultural impact. But I never really felt like people understood the DEPTHS of this movie's quality. Just WHY it was so phenomenal. A job well done!
As someone who really loves Lilo and Stitch this franchise does not feel underrated at all what I do think that does feel underrated is maybe the straight to DVD sequels I mean yeah you have merchandise for for the other experiments like Angel Stitch's girlfriend but I don't really see a lot of merchandise for the others like Reuben or sparky I know it exists but don't really see it in stores.
One thing I really want to add on as a layer to the storytelling is Mr. Bubbles. On a meta level he's an antagonist to Nani and Lilo in the sense of being a threat to their continued family, but the movie never makes him evil or unreasonable, each point he brings up feels valid and it at least feels like he wants them to succeed.
Kind of reminds me of Beerus from the Dragonball battle of gods movie. Beerus presents himself as a world destroying villain, litterily stating he will destroy the earth and dares the people to try to play hero and stop him, making Beerus seem arogent and egotistical The twist however was that Beerus was just looking for successor who had the potential to surpass him and the desire to keep improving for him to pass his knowledge on to and Beerus finds it in the warrior known as Goku. And although Goku loses against beerus at the end of the movie beerus spares Goku and the earth, Beerus simply destroys a rock and says he did in fact destroy the earth, just not very much of it.
@@viskar1477 Butterflies are often seen as cute, delicate, non threatening and carefree and catching butterflies is seen as a childish thing. Bubbles are often associated with cuteness and playing with and blowing bubbles is seen as childhood past time. Both would be a very non threatening, fun, and delicate name. Which is very ironic for a large intimidating man in a black suit, built like an athlete to have that name. I think that's the joke/premise they were going for.
I also like how Cobra Bubbles becomes part of the family - it shows his ideal role as a social worker to help the welfare of the child, and since Nani was obviously giving it her all he's probably there to help her maintain the family unit.
@@jbark678 I mean you'd probably have to be a hardened ex-secret agent to be able to deal with broken and struggling families and suffering children every day without becoming too stressed with how little you can do to help their lives, or on the other end, without losing so much empathy and care that you stop being a good social worker.
I work with children in Out Of Home Care (foster and kinship). This is my favourite Disney film because of how it gets Lilo's trauma and how it manifests in her behaviour. Lilo's behaviour appears autistic at times, which it may be, but presents more as her dealing with trauma in her own way. We have a few clients where an older sibling is their younger sibling's carer, and Nani's behaviour is a manifestation of her own trauma. Nani lost her parents and now a social worker wants to take her only family member left away. She's desperate and will do anything to keep Lilo safe, even trying to drown Stitch at the beach. When Jumba takes Lilo, Nani sees red and teams up with the bad guys of the film to get Lilo back. While none of my clients have dealt with aliens (that I know of) I can tell you that foster/kin kids are fiercely loyal to each other and would kill for each other without question. It should be said that Stitch is the neglected child of an abusive father. I work with plenty of those and they are all little Stitches. Hyper energetic, destructive, but ultimately just looking for people to be their family.
@@yikesmydude5641 Jumba is the abusive father, yes. Children I have met where the mother was abusive tend to be submissive and low energy when they are "heightened". It's not exclusively like this and my data is all anecdotal, but it's my experience with hundreds of kids
Just a lil note that Moana isn't Hawaiian. Her voice actor is but the character itself is not one specific ethnicity as she's meant to represent many of the Pasifika cultures.
While not perfect, thiss Franchise is a Priceless Masterpiece and a Timeless Masterpice also. Even risking to sound generic, but i dont know what to say more, as there is too much to say, but i dont want my comment to be Giant.
the whole 2000s "experimental era" I feel gets misrepresented as an era of hits and misses, but honestly I wish Disney were still willing to take risks on more interesting premises and animation styles and risk putting out a few duds rather than relying the uniformly bland CGI safe-bets they're currently making as part of the "Revival" era. They've really abandoned the culture of innovation they had and its a huge shame there isn't really a corporate media culture where something like Lilo & Stitch could get made right now. Maybe some day.
OMG this!!! I always struggle to explain to others why this current disney era does not feel right to me, and it is exactly this! all the recent films seems very repetitive and predictable, I miss the originality of those previous ones
Sadly a lot of companies are shortcutting animation, not focusing on it all, or making shows geared toward preschoolers. This is probably why they're focusing so heavily on live action since it's cheaper to produce and they don't have to come up with a new story. This seems to be the age of sequels and shortcuts. 😔
I honestly think Disney is going through another era of change, at least the animation studio is. We got the more traditional Princess films like Tangled and Frozen. And Frozen 2 may have been a sequel. But you have to admit that it was totally different from what anyone expected. And films like Raya and Encanto are all about being able to trust and put faith in those around you. While the lessons may be simplistic, the way they’re told is pretty unique. Same goes with Lilo and Stitch or Emperor’s New Groove. The idea of found family and not being selfish are nothing new. But they were presented in such a quirky, fresh way.
Yeah… I know what you’re saying, but that won’t happen. At least I don’t think it will. All of Hollywood is like this now and the industry is going to die soon because of it. It’s already dead inside.
Keep in mind this came out around 9/11. They had to alter the entire conclusion so that it didn’t take place downtown with lots of buildings. Even if the scene had made it past the animatic stage it would’ve been cut because you can’t have someone screaming about terrorists attacking. It’s would’ve been fun to see though.
There was another deleted scene where Lilo messes with the tourists about a supposed tsunami alarm. In short, Lilo has no chill when it came to tourists and how even writers of Disney are so aware of the negative impact of tourism on indigenous places. Sadly, higher ups likely denied that to even making it in.
@@Shifterfire …..yes. They moved the scene to a secluded island. Makes sense. You can find the original scene somewhere on UA-cam. It was near complete, but after 9/11 there was no way they could leave it like that. Spider-Man had a scene cut out too where a giant web catches a helicopter between the Twin Towers.
Just a note, Nani does call Lilo "LoLo" during the adoption scene, which generally means dumb or crazy in Hawaiian. However, you could make the case that it's something siblings would say to each other.
I agree, my brother and sister and I call eachother "loco" and "loca"-spanish for crazy when we were growing up and still do now that we're all grown up hahaha
I can totally see a kid named "Lilo" being called "lolo" by some of the kids in school in HI, esp. if that kid is a little bit weird. But yeah, "lolo" means "crazy" in everyday speech in HI. BTW back decades ago I guess I guy started a little saimin shop in Wahiawa, and had a sign that said, "Lolo's" I used to see it all the time when I went by on the bus. I hope old "lolo" did well maybe he's a master chef now.
I was an adult before I realized the gravity of Lilo's Thursday offering to a fish she believed had power over the weather. The people who made this movie should be recognized more often for how well they understood children as people and could make cartoon bodies that felt real and beautiful at the same time.
I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but one might say the name "Stitch" is somewhat symbolic. The family has a wound and needs Stitches or a Stitch.
That's his function: to stitch. If you saw the follow-up series, you notice that Lilo names each of the experiments after their function. Stitch's function was stitching together Lilo's "broken" family.
Fun fact: That lady who said that "Stitch" isn't a real name was right because in Hawaii, "Stitch" is made up of letters that don't exist in the Hawaiian language.
My older brother raised me after our parents passed in a car accident, I don’t think I can explain how much this movie meant for me as a little boy. Not all families look the same and that’s okay. The first time I watched it as an adult it made me cry so much…
I need to find it on DVD and watch it, I've been digging on the backgrounds and they really got things far more right than wrong. Just the backgrounds give me a heavy dose of nostalgia for my childhood.
This is my favorite movie, i am a Brazilian girl, but as a kid i felt so represented by the chubby legs, rounded nose and brown skin. Lilo and Nani were my heroes, they teach me that family is love, that helped me be strong and stand up to my abusive dad, i have a broke family but is filled with love and acceptance and that's all that matters.
My parents were going through a really rough divorce around the time when I first watched this as a kid. I hated it at the time. I hated the arguments, I hated the messiness, I hated Lilo's outbursts. As an adult, I now realize I hated it because I was looking at my own life of a broken family, regular screaming matches, uncertainty, and my own inability to properly process or express how I felt. Just goes to show how the movie was built on very real human experiences that resonate well with people, even when they don't realize why.
I love this comment. I had a very similar experience although not with the broken family aspect. To me it was Lilo's outbursts and not so loved quirkiness. I realize now it was because of how, to me, it reflected my autism when I did not even know what it was. As a kid I guess I just hated the fact I was an outsider and was always going to be. Watching this as an adult makes me realize just how much I have changed my mindset. The film now, like she mentioned has more of a happy feel to me and its definitely something I am going to watch with my kids.
@@hollyslager2883 huh, I hadn't actually considered my changing opinion as a reflection point of my growth as a person, but you're right! That actually makes me feel really good, that despite all I went through as a kid, despite how I used to be, I'm a better, stronger, more thoughtful person now.
I didn’t particularly LOVE this movie growing up as much as others did for a very similar reason. As a young kid, I’d made me feel emotions I had no language for and wasn’t able to properly address. I grew to like it with multiple rewatches as a kid, but it always made me uneasy. I haven’t watched it as an adult, but this video essay has opened my eyes as to what I was feeling.
I absolutely adore the modern princes and how they grow and have personalities within the story now (from Naveen to present) but David is honestly the BEST love interest in Disney. Not only does he have a personality and fit into the story but he starts and ends as a caring, considerate guy who maintains his position of friendship because that friendship is valuable to him even if he wants to make it more intimate. He’s a peach and we all deserve someone like him
Lilo always felt special to me as a kid, not only was she a protagonist that was a kid, she also was one of the first times I saw someone that acted like me. Lilo, weather intentional or not, is a great example of neurodivergency, especially in children. She has special interest that others find weird, she is all around overly passionate, she has a hard time picking up on her peers social cues, she’s resorts to violence when she can’t express her emotions, she does everything in a routine and becomes frustrated when she can’t, and a lot more. Neurodivergent corners of the internet even like to joke that the only representation we see in in non-human characters, so it’s interesting that Lilo feels like stitch is the only person who understands her. I didn’t know when I was a kid that I have a mental disorder, I was just “a weird kid”. Lilo was the first time I saw someone like me, a kid who could be called “troubled” , in any kind of positive and realistic light. I still get choked up watching this movie because lilo’s frustrations remind me so much of myself as a kid. No Disney movie (or really any movie) has ever come close to showing this kind of representation for mental disorders and I don’t even know if they knew they were doing it. This movie, and Lilo especially, will always been so special to me because she was legitimately the first time I saw myself and my struggles on screen, or anywhere outside of my self.
I'm sort of the same. Always knew something was up eith me, but autism wasn't really even known except tp a few specialists and they still all thought it was rainman. My school simply had me listed as 'Emotionally Disturbed.' Yeah, an aspie in an abusive military family would be disturbed.
I'm autistic and part Hawaiian, watched this movie after coming to terms with my disability, and decided Lilo couldn't possibly be neurotypical. Glad to see others agree.
Now looking back on it, as a neurodivergent child this is exactly what spoke to me about Lilo's character. As a kid the "quirky weird yet accepted kid" trope made me angry, because it wasn't realistic. I was weird, shunned and isolated without the quirkiness. Lilo's character highlights the loneliness, feeling of disconnect with your peers that comes with being neurodivergent. She's realistic to a lot of children out there
I’m the same way. I was weird and later understood I am autistic, has ADHD, and OCD. Kids hated me and how I acted and some where scared of me as I thought everyone where bully’s even though half the time it was me who was the bully without even realizing or trying. I also played weird. I had an obsession with ants and I would kill lots of little creatures like worms, spiders, once a snake, cane toads, all sorts of bugs, and lizards and feed them next to a huge ant nest I discovered (was never hard to find as Guam is over ridden with ants). I actually think this is the first time I’m talking about this on the internet and anywhere else for the matter. I fear others thinking I’m crazy even though I haven’t done what I did for about 6 years…. Yah, not long but it’s progress. (I was also really good at dissecting in biology class and I would take out every organ and put them in a neat line and look up what it was. I was intrreged in how the body worked of the smallest of animals.
I still think the 'Aloha oe' scene is one of the most beautiful in any Disney film. And learning more about the song and what it means just doubles how emotional it is.
One other thing that’s really special about Lilo and Stitch is the voice acting. Everyone is so great and well suited for their roles, and the fact that it doesn’t feature a single huge celebrity is so refreshing. Stitch, Nani, Lilo, Pleakley, Jumba, Gantu - amazing cast of characters and they feel so classically voiced like in Disney’s greatest. I think the switch to computer animation after this coincided with an uptick of casting celebrities over voice actors and that’s been noticeable in the last decade or so. I mean, we already know the Lilo and Stitch remake is going to have as many MCU or DCEU names shoved into it as possible. Imagine what Stitch is going to sound like when Chris Pratt or Tom Holland inevitably gets the part.
Im so sad that voice acting is going the celebrity route. There are so many good voice actors out there which specialize in the craft that dont get enough recognition
I never even thought of the possibility of Chris Pratt being cast in the live action version and now I’m very nervous. I simply wouldn’t be able to watch it if they did
One of the first things I noticed about this movie was the physical representation of the women/girls. They appeared to be "average" or "normal". That was very unusual for Hollywood, even if it was animated.
I wasn’t prone to physical outbursts as a kid but I did relate to Lilo a lot growing up. Being labelled the weird kid, with weird interests and a relative inability to connect with other kids my age. My parents divorced when I was little and being in a small “broken” family really resonated with me. My brother was my biggest mentor and guide - we fought a lot like siblings do, but I also felt protected by him and knew he was always there for me. He was the one who’d calm me down even when I had my teenage emotional outbursts later on. This was one of the few films we could watch together and feel connected to, Stitch being cute was just a little bonus. Despite this film’s huge cultural impact, I always felt a big part of its message was deeply underrated. Wanna talk about real sibling love and representation? This one does it better than pretty much any other kid’s film I remember watching. Brings tears to my eyes to think about it in retrospect.
11:26 made me cry a little. Also really cemented the idea that Nani actively tries not to put Lilo down. “I’m the only one who understands her, if you take that away from her she won’t stand a chance”!
The one detail I never really reflected on when I was younger is that Stitch is clearly responsive to emotional atmospheres around him; example being when Lilo and Nani were arguing over keeping Stitch or throwing him onto the street. The second they're at each other's throats, he's reflecting with his own chaos and aggression but as soon as they calm down, he's back to a neutral state. I'll never stop appreciating this movie. It will forever be one of my favorites!
This movie seriously has the best depiction of a strange kid I've ever seen. Lilo's antics are funny, sure, but they're not played off just for laughs like most other weird kid characters, who often fill the niche of comic relief and even cross over into creepy territory to bother the main characters. Here, Lilo is lonely because other children think she's weird, yet she takes center stage and the audience is meant to empathize for her. As a token weird lonely kid this movie meant (and still means) so much to me, both because of the unconventional protagonists and its overall absurd vibe.
Less than 10 minutes in and I’m already tearing up. They really got the sibling dynamics down; I have two older brothers and no matter how annoying they can be (even now when we are all adults!) I still can’t think of what I would do without them. Nani is a great role model for Lilo and all children honestly. Oh! And the sandwich stacking game was the best game to come out of the Disney channel website.
Omg, now I have an image of 625 living their best sandwich obsessed life. Lol Totally forgot that game, but still remember how the Disney animated shows (L&S, Proud Family, Kim Possible, and i don’t remember 🥲) pulled off crossover eps before That’s so Raven/Suite Life/Hannah Montana, so respect
My top favorite Disney animated film (if you don't count Pixar, which I don't, that's a separate list), and I always get excited to see it get more analysis and love. Lilo's entire speech of: *"Our family's little now, and we don't have many toys. But if you want, you could be part of it. You could be our baby, and we'd raise you to be good. 'Ohana' means family. 'Family' means nobody gets left behind. But if you want to leave, you can. I'll remember you, though. I remember everyone that leaves."* ? Makes me cry my eyes out every damn time, and I have seen the film...MANY times.
I can barely remember this film but is this why Stitch adds "Or forgotten." After Nani said that? Because sometimes your loved one need to be far away, they left, but they will always be family *Now I'm gonna cry*
I remember seeing that deleted scene on the DVD as a kid and wondering why they cut it out. I felt like it helped to explain some of her odd behavior a bit. (At least things like the photographing tourists)
I LOVE that scene! Even if it's not fully fleshed-out, I laughed so hard when the dim-witted tourists ran away screaming from Lilo's prank! Wished they kept that! ^^
This movie is one of the rare Disney movies where I love it EVEN MORE the older I get and rewatch it. Great analysis!! One nitpick: Moana technically represents Polynesians, which includes not just people from Hawaii, but Samoa, Tongi, etc.
The scene with the prank on tourists is hilarious and genuinely could have made this film even better. Shame it came out in 2002, and any mention of terrorists would be problematic to say the least. They had to change the climax as well for similar reasons.
Despite some limitations, the Florida studio really churned out some quality work before they closed down. I think their separation from the main studio made the big difference in their 3 films getting made, not just the time period. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they were able to tell stories about all non-white main characters. Mulan is my favorite of their work, but Lilo & Stitch will always have a special place in my heart. Lilo is such a realistic, relatable kid, and Nani’s struggle especially spoke to me as I became an adult. The movie has strange elements but they execute the theme of being an outsider perfectly. I love your tie-in with Frankenstein’s monster.
And see, I think this film goes to show that big movie companies have forgotten what movies actually are: art. There are so many films out there that are strange, bizarre, maybe even terrible, but they are the artist's vision from start to finish. When we let the creators do what they do best, we get art like this. And in most cases, good or bad, people are drawn to this kind of art because it's unexpected, simple, and just shows that the creators who made it had fun doing that. And this isn't some anti-capitalist "art for art's sake" argument. There is a way to balance commercialism with art, but only when you actually treat the artist and audience with a little basic decency and respect. Modern Disney has forgotten that and we will never see art like this film for a long time, if ever.
Whenever I have the opportunity to watch a movie with my students, Lilo and Stitch is my first choice. I teach middle grades in elementary, and many of them have never seen it. I struggled to feel seen and accepted as a little girl, and I know Lilo and Stitch made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Many of my kids have expressed a similar sentiment after seeing the movie. It’s my favorite Disney movie. Only Coco comes close.
This movie is such a wonderful example of how Disney used to craft beautiful characters and stories. The scene where Stitch is alone in the woods and he says he's "I'm lost"... still breaks me down every time.
Happy you mentioned the autistic angle. I really resonated with Lilo in a way I couldn't really articulate as a child. To me watching Lilo felt like watching "normal" because she felt like me. And watching Nani handle her sister was cathartic coming from a family that has always scapegoated me. I re-watched it last year and just sat there numb. Felt like I was looking at child-me navigating life while adult me is learning how to validate and understand that inner child, the way Nani validated and tried to understand Lilo.
Oh, man. The blue period scene. Thank you so much catching that. What strikes me most about Lilo & Stitch is its accessibility. Pretty much everyone loves it because you don't have to look too deep, analyze too much to enjoy it. But if you want, you can, and you'll find so many intricate, beautiful details that emphasize how much thought and care the animation and writing teams put into it. I find it especially interesting that this kind of balance seems to be found most often in children's films, while films aimed towards adults are often targeted at specific audiences. I need to rewatch this movie now.
The 00's were such a weird time for Disney. Lilo & Stitch is one of those movies I didn't really enjoy much as a kid but grew to appreciate more as an adult. It's such a wholesome story about the themes of family and identity, which is why the I see the "Ohana means family" scene as being the best in the film. But it's also a unique depiction of family with the relationship between Lilo and Nani.
While not perfect, thiss Franchise is a Priceless Masterpiece and a Timeless Masterpice also. Even risking to sound generic, but i dont know what to say more, as there is too much to say, but i dont want my comment to be Giant.
This movie is an all-time great for me. It balances the themes of loss, loneliness, and separation with the ultimate triumph of love, acceptance, and togetherness. It takes sadness seriously, and it gives its characters permission to feel it, while also showing that sadness is only a part of life, and the world is full of opportunities to make unexpected connections with others, and the people you love will ultimately help you through the tough times, and vice versa. That is life. There are sunsets, but also sunrises. And we’re all in it together.
I adored this film as a child! And as an adult, it’s one of the few films that I feel has grown up along with me. As a kid, I liked the alien shenanigans, and as a mentally ill adult, I appreciate the message that you can always move past whatever your personal rock bottom is and have a fulfilling life.
As someone firmly on the spectrum, I completely forgot how much I identified with Lilo's 'weirdness' at the time so thank you for reminding me. Time to revisit a childhood favourite I think 😄
I also have autism, and I was literally thinking the same thing. Lilo seems to have "special interests" in cirtain things, like Elvis and 'creepy' stuff (voodoo, horror movies, etc.). In addition to the "ritual" of feeding Pudge the fish a sandwich every Thursday.
I’m so glad you took the time to talk about the Lilo is Autistic headcannon. I’m Autistic and was only maybe a year or so younger than Lilo when the movie came out, and instantly fell in love with everything to do with the movie and it’s spin-offs, (except for the anime of which we do not speak.) It was possibly the biggest and most formatives special interest of my childhood with only one other from years later when I was more of a teen even coming close. Until I heard the fan theory, I really never thought about why that was beyond “aliens cool, Lilo relatable and good character,” but after realizing I realized why it was so special to me. I think Lilo & Stitch may have been the only piece of media that I saw as a kid that showed me a kid just like me who was lonely and didn’t know how to make friends and had weird interests, and maybe acted out sometimes without really meaning to or understanding why, but actually had an extremely kind heart and just wanted to connect but didn’t know how, and told me it was ok to be that kid, and that even a kid like me could find love and acceptance, (and I did, though it was more as a young adult!) For a while I went through a phase where I thought I was too old for kid’s movies and had “outgrown” Lilo & Stitch, but I’m 25 now, and I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow Lilo & Stitch, because it grows with me. Every re-watch as an adult, and every new interpretation I hear adds something brand new for me that makes me appreciate it all the more, (which is hella impressive because I literally watched it every Saturday for like three years and had the entire thing memorized, but it still has new things to offer the more I mature as a person.)
I'm 38 adhd and haven't outgrown kids movies. I think some really meaningful stories can be told in kids media. It's like a poem where you have to fit into a style but there's so much to be done without the extra flash that comes with adult media. It's interesting when something new clicks after watching it again for the 30th time and then it takes on a new vibe.
Anyone who tells people they are 'too old' or 'should outgrow' anything is wrong. Who decides what is coded for any one age group? I'll never stop loving these kinds of movies, or having interests in things more close-minded people have decided is 'not for adults.' Screw that, have fun, you only live once! :D
I'm the same age and also on the autistic spectrum but didn't find out until about a year or so ago and have since had repeated moments of "Ohh that makes sense because of that time when x happened". My fiancé and I are both ADHD and autistic so she helped me realise that, and it definitely felt like almost a relief to meet someone who was like me, who had similar impulses, who had hyperfixations, difficulty communicating and never judged me for those. I haven't seen this movie in a long time but I think now it makes sense why I loved it so much. Plus as someone who left their family due to neglect and for my own mental health, the themes of found family are wonderful. Finding family who actually care about and love you is an amazing feeling.
I have autism and "Lilo and Stitch: The Series" was my favorite show as a kid. Also, Lilo' "special interests" in Elvis and 'creepy' stuff (like horror movies, voodoo, etc), as well as her "ritual" of giving Pudge a sandwich every week was giving me serious autistic vibes.
@@amoththatisflyingatyou dude why you gotta put something random like that, here... you aren´t even giving any explanation, you just saying something cryptic and then leaving it at that...
Lilo and Stitch was my FAVORITE Disney movie growing up. I don’t think I completely recognized why at the time. I managed to get my older sister and her husband to watch it when it first was out and I wonder if they recognized any connections... Later on in my life my sister took me out of my chaotic household/living situation and became my legal guardian. Looking back and comparing her to Nani she absolutely went above and beyond to encourage me to be myself and I’m so grateful for her. Taking on a teen with no prior experience couldn’t have been an easy task. This was such a great breakdown of the film, really makes me want to reach out to my sister.
I'm a teacher now but while I was in university, I worked as an after school care provider. Through that experience, I've come to realize that most kids are like Lilo most families are complicated. I think movies like this can be hugely beneficial to help normalize "weirdness" so that kids don't carry it around as shame through formative years.
I was a weird girl as a kid and felt seen in this movie before I was old enough to even recognize the emotion. I was an only child of a family with an absent father and a loudly critical mother. I felt so alone sometimes. The idea that Lilo and Stitch found family gave me hope. I grew up and met my boyfriend, who I consider my family, but I wanted a pet to have in case those feelings changed. I got a dog who had a problematic history. He was abused by a man when he was a puppy and was advertised from the get-go as "anxious". I related to that and went for it. He's lived with me for a year as of tomorrow. He STILL needs a lot of patience and care. But I love him all the same. I read books on dog behavior and I treasure each victory we reach. When I first brought him into my home I got him used to me by putting on Disney movies about dogs and letting him come up to me at his own pace. Of all the movies we watched, Lilo and Stitch was the most relatable for us. My dog even bit my boyfriend the first day he was here. "Kindness can be learned." This dog now leaps up in joy when I come home from errands. He will even cuddle with my boyfriend in our bed. It's me, my boyfriend, his dog, and my dog. We're one big family, and that belonging was worth the wait.
Lilo & stich has always meant a lot to me as a kid. I was labelled as the weird kid for my interests and my behaviour, and although i didn’t have physical outbursts (because internalisation), I really related to Lilo. Even the family dynamic, though my parents weren’t split up nor dead, my mum was battling cancer, this meant a lot of my childhood was spent seeing her in the hospital, or not seeing her at all. My dad had to try to figure out how to raise me and how to care for his ill wife, and that put a lot of strain on their relationship, so arguments were common. My nan even tried to convince my dad to leave my mum, and as a little kid i felt a lot of pressure to try and single handedly hold my family together. It was isolating. I saw a lot of myself in Lilo, and still do now as an older teenager, and the idea of found family is one I hold close to my heart.
I never really saw Nani's own practice of patience nurturing the very same trait in Lilo but it makes so much sense! I always just thought Lilo was patient and tolerant of Stitch due to her own eccentricities but Lilo following Nani's example is so touching. I always loved Nani's lobster door explanation. I mean, to me it made a lot more sense than lobsters cannot be pets lol
I am an alcoholic, and very much identify with Stitch... the scene where he gets adopted touches a really deep wound inside of me thanks for the video ♥
While not perfect, thiss Franchise is a Priceless Masterpiece and a Timeless Masterpice also. Even risking to sound generic, but i dont know what to say more, as there is too much to say, but i dont want my comment to be Giant.
Growing up essentially being my siblings parent due to familial circumstances- Nani was such an amazing role model for me. She made me feel so seen and the way she cared for Lilo helped me with how to interact with my own neurodivergent sibling. She is and will always be my favorite Disney Character. She always did the right thing- even if it meant giving up everything else she loved in order to raise Lilo. I still cry every time during the hammock scene when she’s essentially saying goodbye to Lilo, trying to prepare her while feeling like she failed as a sister and guardian but putting on a brave face as not to scare Lilo. LOVE HER SO MUCH. She’s a true Disney Princess. 👑
I love this video because as is mentioned, Lilo and Stitch isn't underrated, but it has to a degree been underappreciated. Brilliant essay from Quality Culture-- leaves you with the same sense of nostalgia and warmth as the movie does :)
As a 20 something who lost his dad early on, I really had some waterworks in this video essay. I wasn't expecting to relate to Lilo in the sense that a lot of my quirks are a stem of losing my closest bonds. I check my body all the time for cancer because my dad's leukemia wasn't even noticed by his Minere's disease specialists. My outbursts of anger when there's a family or friend fallout is a reflection of knowing what "nothing" feels like. Then theres a strong detachment from my blood family because they felt "well he's a smart kid, he can grow out of his grief". Now over a decade later I'm raising my sister because our mom thinks that Ancient Aliens are real and it's impeding on her social development. Does this mean I need to pray for a space pet and go back to my grandpa's house in Kekaha?
These found family themed videos are really important… as someone who is making the decision to disassociate from my childhood family and embrace my found family and having guilt about doing so… it is really encouraging to see examples of this in media I’ve always loved.
as a child I related to Lilo not because she was quirky but because of the whole “I’m not a bad person I just don’t know how to express myself”. Like I was a child with ADD who was never taught how to communicate their feelings so I’d often resort to yelling hitting or destroying things because I didn’t know how else which did end up isolating me. Watching her find that family even with those problems really comforted me as a kid.
This movie came out when I was a child, going through my parent’s messy divorce. Hearing “Ohana means family-it may be broken, but, still good.” made me SOB in the theater. This movie definitely deserves more recognition
I've always adored Lilo and Stitch. As a young trans person, I think seeing Pleakley being able to crossdress and wear women's clothes without anyone batting an eye helped me accept my own transness
This movie meant a lot to me growing up. I related a lot to Lilo as a child, being inherently "weird" and wanting to be around those who accepted me for it. I wanted a Stitch in my life to help me cope. It's a comfort movie with a wholesome story and characters. No one was actually evil, just had different motivations and ways to get their goals. Still a big fave of mine after all these years
Lilo and stitch always makes me cry. I too feel the struggle of acceptance and my sister and i (who ive always called nani since i could remember; short for kelanie) had the same relationship as nani and lilo. She passed away and now this movie is so bittersweet to me. I grew up loving and and finding so much amusement in the fact that i could relate so much to it. Now i cry every time i watch it. This movie really is dear to me
This movie meant a lot to me while growing up as the weird girl who didn't have any friends. I felt truly seen. Also, the whole found family trope was done perfectly, just a bunch of misfits finding community.
Lilo and Stitch is still one of my favorite Disney movies, but as a little nerd growing up, I loved it. Probably a bit too much, because I had convinced myself I could do a spot on impression of Stitch and probably tormented anyone who'd listen to me with it haha! Even went as Stitch for Halloween once, which I affectionately call my worst Halloween costume I've ever had. I just look so goofy in the costume, but I'm glad I get to laugh at myself now.
It's hands down Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois's best film. I adore the How to train your dragon series, but imho I always thought this was more impactful.
As a 90's kid, I have loved Lilo&Stitch since it was released. It's funny, unorthodox in a way and it has Elvis. However, it started to hit different once my mom passed away and I ended up kinda co-parenting my 10 year old sister while I was still in high school. Nani was and still is the most relatable Disney character as I went through the same battles with my sister. I had to be responsible for her, yet she wouldn't listen while I wanted to be a kid for another year myself. Thank goodness we have a great relationship now that we're both adults, but I wish I had the maturity to handle it better.
i did not expect clicking in to this video and tearing up, but your analysis and breaking down why lilo is so relatable to someone who is neurodivergent was perfect. i had forgotten how much this movie means to me. thank you for making this video
This was genuinely my favourite movie as a kid due to relating so much to Lilo and how people treated her. I eventually found out I was autistic and after that I realised that she was such good representation that I'd never seen. The best representation of autism is usually accidental and I'm nor the only autistic person who had this realisation about her.
This video had me in tears by the end of it. I remember loving the Lilo and Stitch TV series as a kid and adoring the movie a fair bit. Lilo was the outcast and so was I. Funnily enough, a few minutes before you mentioned Lilo reading as Autistic coded, I thought that exact same thing. "Now that I think about it, Lilo feels like she has a lot of Autistic traits..." I'm Autistic myself though I was diagnosed as an adult. Watching this movie again (whenever I do) will probably make it mean _so_ much more to me since Autistic representation is _so_ important to me. But about the best we get is inspiration pr0nz for neurotypical people like Sia's trash film, Music.
I related to lilo and stitch as characters as a child, exactly because of the black sheep trope. I was an outcast, lonely, strange to others. Now as a young adult, realizing I'm autistic and also have ADHD, i didn't think about this movie or the concept until you brought up Lilo being hinted at being autistic and it all clicked. It's relieving and funny, how all these years later me and Lilo still are similar. Astounding video overall! Thank you
Love this movie, I'm a big fan of the found family trope myself. There's just something endearing of strangers forming this bond through love ad necessity as opposed to obligation.
Nani was a really good guardian. The main problem was that she didn’t have any help, she needed to work enough to pay for rent but that removed time she needed to look after Lilo. That’s why I was annoyed by the social worker because he criticized Nani heavily but it was obvious that all Nani needed was just someone to look after Lilo while she was away.
i don't think she needed to pay rent, it seems like she owned the house but either way she needed a steady income to be a qualified guardian. she had no support aside from david trying to help. the social worker was clearly rooting for them though, and wanted them to succeed and stay together.
I was 10 when the movie came out so I didn't really connect with either sister at the time even though I recognized a lot of myself in Lilo. But rewatching when I was slightly older made it clear just how much I love Nani. As the oldest of 4 I hoped that if something happened to my family that I would have done half as good as she did. I know she's not real, but respect.
This film was one of the ones I never ended up watching or seeing growing up, until just a few years ago along with Hercules and Aladdin. It made a big difference as I knew what the topic was about rather than being a kid who thought it was a weird movie. Though even then, I know the writers and people who worked on the film did a good job. I still have a great appreciation for the movie and if I'd watched it with friends in person, they would have seen me crying my eyes out at the end.
When I tell you I literally started sobbing over your description of Nana as a sister, it shows two things: how good is this movie and how badly I need to work with my therapist.
Loved this. Lilo and Stitch was one of my favorites growing up. You did a wonderful job articulating just why that is. I wish Disney and other film studios were still willing to take more risks like they did with this movie. It’s truly one of their bests.
This movie means so much to me... Moving from Kentucky to Hawaii in 2000, and realizing my mother only wanted me there to help babysit and do chores, then meeting this Korean lady and Hawaiian guy(They baecame like family) that lived with us for over a decade and were more family than my mother and stepfather. Got me into horror, yet were interested in whatever I liked, too. I really immersed myself in the melting pot of culture, food, and lifestyles... it still lingers with me twenty years later. Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind.
This is my absolute favorite Disney movie. I dont think I realized how much this impacted me as a kid, but the idea of found family is something I always carry with me. My immediate family is very small, and I didn't interact with my extended family that often (pre-internet as a common place era), so the idea that family isn't who you are related to by blood, but the people who you love and care about really stood out to me. As an adult, my close friends are my family, and I'd do whatever I could for them, and they would do the same.
Lilo & Stitch is my absolute favorite movie of all time! I loved it as a child, and it's one of those movies that's continually gotten better as I've grown older. There's so much depth to this little story that it took me years to realize, and I constantly sing its praises to everyone around me who'll listen. I got a stuffed Stitch toy for Christmas 2002, and I still have him all these years later as a fully grown human. What a gem of a movie - thanks for articulating its beauty so eloquently!
This was my favorite film (and series) for literal years of my childhood, being an (at the time undiagnosed) autistic kid, I related a LOT to Lilo and her "behavioral issues", as well as stitch himself, and the characters helped me learn that my weirdness doesn't make me bad or unlovable, even when people are sometimes terrible about it. I can't stress enough how important that was to me. Not to mention the under-representation of pacific islanders in media, especially positive and well characterized representation. I may be white myself but I know how much Lilo, Nani, and their family meant to children of pacific islander (and especially Hawaiian) descent, long before Moana. The portrayal of how tourism and colonialism have effected Hawaii is interesting and while it's mostly subtext because it's a kids film, it's poignant when you pick up on those underlying themes. Such as how Lilo alienates tourists and exoticises them the same way they treat Hawaii, this is why she takes the tourist photos, and I love that kind of realism and detail to characters, I know Lilo is an important character to an under-represented demographic, and while Lilo and stitch WAS popular, I think many fans of the property missed a lot of the most valuable narrative details! It's disappointing that many people don't see past the strange premise into the message the film sends.
While not perfect, thiss Franchise is a Priceless Masterpiece and a Timeless Masterpice also. Even risking to sound generic, but i dont know what to say more, as there is too much to say, but i dont want my comment to be Giant.
I'm a half-pacific islander myself. I grew up on Lilo and Stich and saw Moana in high school. I thought these two movies have good pacific islander representation. There are three different types of pacific islanders like melanesians (Eg. Fiji and PNG), micronesians (Eg. Guam and Palau), and polynesians (Eg. Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Hawaii, etc.). The two Disney movies only covered polynesian characters. I think it would be interesting to see the rest of the pacific islander community getting represented more positively in the future too. When people think (or heard of) "pacific islanders," most of the time they'll think of hawaiians and other polynesians from pop culture. It's still a long way to go, I guess. lol Lilo is quite a relatable kid character in a lot of ways, and I can see how she's relatable to neurodivergents too.
For me, I love the way Howl's Moving Castle deals with found family. Everyone coming together to have a happily ever after but in an odd way. Redeeming the villain, ending the war and finding your soulmate
This is far and away my favorite Disney movie. But I feel like a lot of people forget about it, even if they did enjoy it. Nice to read all the comments and find others who resonated so much with the story 🥰
my childhood was filled w social workers, difficulty communicating, and weird interests. this movie has never failed to make me cry since the first time i watched it. easily one of my favorites of all time
This video was lovely. This film and its heroines are what you get when Disney decides to disregard the Princess mold and machine (what with its barely disguised marketable Mary Sue, ala Princess Anna or Rapunzel flitting about in her dollhouse-to-be-made of a prison), and thus it's a story about real people first, source of merchandise second. Here, they still manage to incorporate fairy tales but in a modern, updated way.
Thats awesome that you pointed out the autism because I have Autism and yes this movie did speak out to me as well as stitches loneliness (when I was in middle school)
🔎👒 Download June's Journey for free here: pixly.go2cloud.org/SH2nd
P.S. One small correction I overlooked when writing: Moana is Polynesian (Hawaii is just one part of Polynesia).
I… I don’t know 😰
vi tu video y me encanto, seria curioso si llegaras a hablar de las otras peliculas, sobretodo de Leroy y Stich, se que es una pelicula algo infravalorada pero hay algunos como yo que sienten que tiene quimica el personaje de Leroy, quizas porque da una sensacion emotiva o psicologica para encariñarse con el? como si fuera un stich orientado por el mal camino basicamente, un personaje teniendo potencial para ser bueno pero no siendolo simplemente porque los buenos no le dan oportunidad, no se si me dejo entender
Middle-aged Facebook moms absolutely love this game! Reminds my grandma of another game called "Criminal Case"
Argument relies on "Weirdness," ignoring "Cuteness" - Not recognizing that Adorableness will excuse ANYTHING.
The Video Essay is well argued, with plenty of Pathos, but Lacking in Ethos and Devoid of Logos. E for effort.
: O
It’s crazy when you realize that Nani was probably around 20-23 years old. She is around the same age of your average Disney Princess, only instead of running around a castle she’s raising a child and paying a mortgage.
Precisely, Nani is still young, and in her bedroom, you can see medals and trophies for surfing, indicating that she had to give up her dreams to care for Lilo.
It's why she's one of my favourite Disney characters. She highlighted a reality for so many people across the world in an accessible way. Young carers are incredible people and too overlooked.
I believe they say she's 19 at some point. And Disney princesses are usually teens too. But your point is still very valid
Nani is great but why do you have to put down other disney princesses? Saying "running around a castle" like that's all they do and all there is to it. What difference is it to when you put down someone just because they're not a 20-23 year old who has to take care of a little sister. Surely everyone has their own struggles.
@@aibhe ..........
Growing up is realizing that Lilo and Stitch isn't a movie about an alien, it's a movie about alienation.
It also sold way more merchandise and dvds then people realize worldwide..it's a big hit
woa ..
Ooooohh! 😯 The alien theme always seemed a little random but this actually makes so much sense now!
Damn. You win the award.
If it is true that Stitch is a metaphor of the “play on words” of alienation my mind would be blown. Deep on so many levels.
I always loved Nani and David’s relationship. Yes he wants to date Nani and did at one point joke that if he does certain things she might date him, but deep down he simply cares about her whether he dated her or not. He was helpful, attentive, and kind towards Nani and Lilo expecting nothing in return. He is genuinely one of the best Disney men and their relationship is one of the healthiest I’ve seen.
exactly. i hope young boys who watched lilo and stitch noticed that and internalized that friendship with girls is just as valuable as something more, whenever it is that they might develop interest in such
Nani and Lilo are his ohana. I love how he treats Lilo not like the typical “little sister,” but like his own. And despite Stitch having dragged Lilo down, when Lilo panics about stitch, he goes with no hesitation. This is my favorite movie ever.
@Henrique Velloso that's amazing!! :)
This man was the truest of Disney Princes. Despite Nani not really giving him the time of day, he still did everything he could to help that family.
@@TheDrexxus I wouldn't necessarily say Nani didn't give him the time of day, though I completely get what you mean. The creators gave equal attention to Nani. She didn't outright reject spending time with him. She didn't make fun of him for liking her or avoid him. She HAD to spend time with him later because of her circumstance. It was a nice touch as lesser films would have painted Nani as rude or prissy. When in reality she was a girl who lost her parents and was struggling to keep what little family she had left. David understood this.
With that care that the writers gave it really shows in the final film. You can tell they know each other and were friends at one point. But due to circumstance just can't do what they want to do.
I love the pointing out that Lilo isn't quirky. She is weird. She makes people uncomfortable and it isn't in a minor way that can be brushed off. That is what really has been bothering me about new disney characters, thank you for putting it into words.
Now looking back on it, as a neurodivergent child this is exactly what spoke to me about Lilo's character. As a kid the "quirky weird yet accepted kid" trope made me angry, because it wasn't realistic. I was weird, shunned and isolated without the quirkiness. Lilo's character highlights the loneliness, feeling of disconnect with your peers that comes with being neurodivergent. She's realistic to a lot of children out there
Yes! This is what stood out for me the most about Lilo. I never really liked this new type of "adorably quirky" Disney princesses. I think they are like the manic pixie dream girl trope all over again. Pretty, perfect girls whose "flaws" are just stand ins to make them seem as if the creators wanted to make a real person, but without really alienating anyone. All of them aren't half as relatable as Lilo and Nani.
@@littlepinkcactus
Which Princesses are we talking about exactly? Just curious as I always seem to find relatable characteristics to most of the animated Disney gals... maybe I'm missing something? 🤔
@@themisfitowl2595 Anna is the most notable
Shaking a voodoo bottle saying people need to be punished
I always loved this movie, especially Lilo and Nani's relationship, and Nani worrying about losing custody of her little sister. They both find the transition hard after losing their parents, with Lilo even saying "I like you better as a sister than a Mom." You don't really catch these elements as a kid, but as an adult, it's more clear.
Yes! As an adult you really comprehend the gravity of Nani’s situation and how hard she’s trying, she’s an excellent character
And she takes on the added responsibility of a pet when she’s already dealing with more than she is sure she can handle, just because she thinks it will help her sister
Same!
“I’m the only one who understands her! If you take that away she won’t stand a chance!” Hits so freaking hard realizing how much Nani fiercely loves her sister and knows full well that Lilo needs more than she can provide alone and but will never come close anywhere else.
As a big sis myself, sis should stay sis😹
“Lilo & Stitch aren’t fundamentally trying to change themselves, but rather the way they communicate.”
“When Stitch […] comes back, he is not a better person, he just has understood family”.
How powerful
Fr
This is many things. But powerful is not one if them.
@@miniaturejayhawk8702 why can't it be?
One thing that I treasure so much about this movie as an indigenous person is that it has a story outside of just being native.
Part of the reason this movie sounds "out there" as a pitch is because we're so used to stories about native people being ABOUT them being native or about traditional culture.
If you pitched a movie about aliens and found family for a white family it wouldn't sound nearly as odd.
BUT the movie maintains their identity as part of the story, it's not also just a story about this family that just so happens to be native, their experiences being indigenous are still built into the story.
This comment right there
yess
Kind of reminds me of what I like about Soul they’re is Black culture all over that movie and it’s respected but it’s not necessarily required for the main character to be black it’s a movie that celebrates black culture but has a story anybody can either connect with or at least appreciate.
Yes. As I watched the movie as a kid. She is just a kid main character. Who happens to be Hawaiin. I mean, it was my first awareness of some authentic Hawaiin culture outside hula hooping car dashboard decor(wc im not sure if offending to Hawaiins or not). And the presentation was amazing and not in a forced way. I love lilo for being lilo.
In short: people are people first. Great point.
Lilo strikes me as the kind of girl who wouldn't get diagnosed until later in life and go "Ohhhh. That explains A LOT".
that's why I never stopped relating to lilo, once as a weird little girl, and so now as a less weird adult with adhd😂
@@heehoopeanut420 same,
So many in the autistic community headcanon her as autistic because so much of her relates to so many of us as children and not being understood, being othered and alienated etc. And her behaviours are very much autistic behaviours too
😭
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Beautiful discussion on one of my favorite movies ever. It's true that this movie technically couldn't be called "underrated" due to its success and cultural impact. But I never really felt like people understood the DEPTHS of this movie's quality. Just WHY it was so phenomenal. A job well done!
As someone who really loves Lilo and Stitch this franchise does not feel underrated at all what I do think that does feel underrated is maybe the straight to DVD sequels I mean yeah you have merchandise for for the other experiments like Angel Stitch's girlfriend but I don't really see a lot of merchandise for the others like Reuben or sparky I know it exists but don't really see it in stores.
Oh hey Becca :D
Omg, hi Rebecca.
Dat do be kinda true
the term for it is "underappreciated"
One thing I really want to add on as a layer to the storytelling is Mr. Bubbles. On a meta level he's an antagonist to Nani and Lilo in the sense of being a threat to their continued family, but the movie never makes him evil or unreasonable, each point he brings up feels valid and it at least feels like he wants them to succeed.
Kind of reminds me of Beerus from the Dragonball battle of gods movie.
Beerus presents himself as a world destroying villain, litterily stating he will destroy the earth and dares the people to try to play hero and stop him, making Beerus seem arogent and egotistical
The twist however was that Beerus was just looking for successor who had the potential to surpass him and the desire to keep improving for him to pass his knowledge on to and Beerus finds it in the warrior known as Goku.
And although Goku loses against beerus at the end of the movie beerus spares Goku and the earth, Beerus simply destroys a rock and says he did in fact destroy the earth, just not very much of it.
I wonder why in Russian he’s translated like “Butterfly”. It’s so strange
💯🥰
@@viskar1477 Butterflies are often seen as cute, delicate, non threatening and carefree and catching butterflies is seen as a childish thing. Bubbles are often associated with cuteness and playing with and blowing bubbles is seen as childhood past time. Both would be a very non threatening, fun, and delicate name. Which is very ironic for a large intimidating man in a black suit, built like an athlete to have that name. I think that's the joke/premise they were going for.
I like that many of the "villains" are not rotten to the core, but just people and can even join the found family in the end. Gosh I love this movie.
I also like how Cobra Bubbles becomes part of the family - it shows his ideal role as a social worker to help the welfare of the child, and since Nani was obviously giving it her all he's probably there to help her maintain the family unit.
Back then, I thought he was some sort of secret agent😂
@@zyrahanne2103 same it didnt help that I kinda knew about men in black lol
He is ex CIA agent, he was high enough to know about aliens and deal with them.
@@berobero686 And he quit to become a social worker
@@jbark678 I mean you'd probably have to be a hardened ex-secret agent to be able to deal with broken and struggling families and suffering children every day without becoming too stressed with how little you can do to help their lives, or on the other end, without losing so much empathy and care that you stop being a good social worker.
I work with children in Out Of Home Care (foster and kinship). This is my favourite Disney film because of how it gets Lilo's trauma and how it manifests in her behaviour. Lilo's behaviour appears autistic at times, which it may be, but presents more as her dealing with trauma in her own way. We have a few clients where an older sibling is their younger sibling's carer, and Nani's behaviour is a manifestation of her own trauma. Nani lost her parents and now a social worker wants to take her only family member left away. She's desperate and will do anything to keep Lilo safe, even trying to drown Stitch at the beach. When Jumba takes Lilo, Nani sees red and teams up with the bad guys of the film to get Lilo back. While none of my clients have dealt with aliens (that I know of) I can tell you that foster/kin kids are fiercely loyal to each other and would kill for each other without question.
It should be said that Stitch is the neglected child of an abusive father. I work with plenty of those and they are all little Stitches. Hyper energetic, destructive, but ultimately just looking for people to be their family.
Perfect summary. Love it. Couldn't have said it more accurately
Jesus loves you
Why a father specifically if you don’t mind me asking? Just cause his only “parent” is jumba ? (Genuine question)
@@yikesmydude5641 Jumba is the abusive father, yes. Children I have met where the mother was abusive tend to be submissive and low energy when they are "heightened". It's not exclusively like this and my data is all anecdotal, but it's my experience with hundreds of kids
@@jaredspence3020 I see, thank you!
Just a lil note that Moana isn't Hawaiian. Her voice actor is but the character itself is not one specific ethnicity as she's meant to represent many of the Pasifika cultures.
While not perfect,
thiss Franchise is a Priceless Masterpiece and a Timeless Masterpice
also.
Even risking to sound generic, but i dont know what to say more, as there is too much to say,
but i dont want my comment to be Giant.
Thank you for clarifying.
Yeah I think Moana's village looks close to Tahitian culture. But they mixed a bunch of Oceania together for that movie.
Rhiannon baby come over
the whole 2000s "experimental era" I feel gets misrepresented as an era of hits and misses, but honestly I wish Disney were still willing to take risks on more interesting premises and animation styles and risk putting out a few duds rather than relying the uniformly bland CGI safe-bets they're currently making as part of the "Revival" era. They've really abandoned the culture of innovation they had and its a huge shame there isn't really a corporate media culture where something like Lilo & Stitch could get made right now. Maybe some day.
OMG this!!! I always struggle to explain to others why this current disney era does not feel right to me, and it is exactly this! all the recent films seems very repetitive and predictable, I miss the originality of those previous ones
Disney remakes of remakes and I dare say none of their remakes are better than their originals
Sadly a lot of companies are shortcutting animation, not focusing on it all, or making shows geared toward preschoolers. This is probably why they're focusing so heavily on live action since it's cheaper to produce and they don't have to come up with a new story. This seems to be the age of sequels and shortcuts. 😔
I honestly think Disney is going through another era of change, at least the animation studio is. We got the more traditional Princess films like Tangled and Frozen. And Frozen 2 may have been a sequel. But you have to admit that it was totally different from what anyone expected. And films like Raya and Encanto are all about being able to trust and put faith in those around you. While the lessons may be simplistic, the way they’re told is pretty unique. Same goes with Lilo and Stitch or Emperor’s New Groove. The idea of found family and not being selfish are nothing new. But they were presented in such a quirky, fresh way.
Yeah… I know what you’re saying, but that won’t happen. At least I don’t think it will. All of Hollywood is like this now and the industry is going to die soon because of it. It’s already dead inside.
As a Native Hawaiian, I really wish they kept that deleted scene in the movie.
Keep in mind this came out around 9/11. They had to alter the entire conclusion so that it didn’t take place downtown with lots of buildings. Even if the scene had made it past the animatic stage it would’ve been cut because you can’t have someone screaming about terrorists attacking. It’s would’ve been fun to see though.
There was another deleted scene where Lilo messes with the tourists about a supposed tsunami alarm. In short, Lilo has no chill when it came to tourists and how even writers of Disney are so aware of the negative impact of tourism on indigenous places. Sadly, higher ups likely denied that to even making it in.
@@danderson8431 Also wasn't that scene redrawn, so it took place in the hills/mountains instead of a city. So not necessarily a deleted scene.
@@Shifterfire …..yes. They moved the scene to a secluded island. Makes sense. You can find the original scene somewhere on UA-cam. It was near complete, but after 9/11 there was no way they could leave it like that. Spider-Man had a scene cut out too where a giant web catches a helicopter between the Twin Towers.
Me too.
I love when people take a dump on white people and I'm a white person 😄👍
Just a note, Nani does call Lilo "LoLo" during the adoption scene, which generally means dumb or crazy in Hawaiian. However, you could make the case that it's something siblings would say to each other.
I agree, my brother and sister and I call eachother "loco" and "loca"-spanish for crazy when we were growing up and still do now that we're all grown up hahaha
Oh man... My nickname for my youngest niece is Lolo 😞
I can totally see a kid named "Lilo" being called "lolo" by some of the kids in school in HI, esp. if that kid is a little bit weird. But yeah, "lolo" means "crazy" in everyday speech in HI. BTW back decades ago I guess I guy started a little saimin shop in Wahiawa, and had a sign that said, "Lolo's" I used to see it all the time when I went by on the bus. I hope old "lolo" did well maybe he's a master chef now.
Its quiet interesting how Lolo has other meanings in different languages its cool! For my language Tagalog it means grandpa or grandfather
Lilo was the first time I saw a child in a film that actually felt like a real child to me.
Fr
Studio Ghibli does a much better job of this than Disney
@@rockchik631 That's very true.
and a real sibling-relationship
@@happytofu5 Oh my god, yes.
I was an adult before I realized the gravity of Lilo's Thursday offering to a fish she believed had power over the weather. The people who made this movie should be recognized more often for how well they understood children as people and could make cartoon bodies that felt real and beautiful at the same time.
I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but one might say the name "Stitch" is somewhat symbolic. The family has a wound and needs Stitches or a Stitch.
omg i've never thought about that, thank you!
Yeah and did you know Lilo means "Lost" so Lilo and Stitch means: Lost and put back together :)
@@Feurigel1806 well now...🙂🙂🙂
That's his function: to stitch. If you saw the follow-up series, you notice that Lilo names each of the experiments after their function. Stitch's function was stitching together Lilo's "broken" family.
@@Feurigel1806 🤯
Fun fact: That lady who said that "Stitch" isn't a real name was right because in Hawaii, "Stitch" is made up of letters that don't exist in the Hawaiian language.
liked this and unliked it and liked it again because I've been wondering my whole life why I felt I was missing something in that scene.
Fum fact: every word is made up letters that didnt exist at some point 🤭
It’s not that deep lol
@@badabingbadaboom4624 Ok, so why comment, then? 🤣
@@Monie71793 think critically
My older brother raised me after our parents passed in a car accident, I don’t think I can explain how much this movie meant for me as a little boy. Not all families look the same and that’s okay. The first time I watched it as an adult it made me cry so much…
Have you watched it with your brother? Seems like it could be fun to have feels together.
I need to find it on DVD and watch it, I've been digging on the backgrounds and they really got things far more right than wrong. Just the backgrounds give me a heavy dose of nostalgia for my childhood.
I’m sorry about your parents dying…
This is my favorite movie, i am a Brazilian girl, but as a kid i felt so represented by the chubby legs, rounded nose and brown skin. Lilo and Nani were my heroes, they teach me that family is love, that helped me be strong and stand up to my abusive dad, i have a broke family but is filled with love and acceptance and that's all that matters.
I look nothing like them, yet one of my favorite movies out there. Great characters.
My parents were going through a really rough divorce around the time when I first watched this as a kid. I hated it at the time. I hated the arguments, I hated the messiness, I hated Lilo's outbursts. As an adult, I now realize I hated it because I was looking at my own life of a broken family, regular screaming matches, uncertainty, and my own inability to properly process or express how I felt. Just goes to show how the movie was built on very real human experiences that resonate well with people, even when they don't realize why.
Sounds like coming back and watching it on the next Family-Gathering would
not just be nice but have a deep meaning.
I love this comment. I had a very similar experience although not with the broken family aspect. To me it was Lilo's outbursts and not so loved quirkiness. I realize now it was because of how, to me, it reflected my autism when I did not even know what it was. As a kid I guess I just hated the fact I was an outsider and was always going to be. Watching this as an adult makes me realize just how much I have changed my mindset. The film now, like she mentioned has more of a happy feel to me and its definitely something I am going to watch with my kids.
@@hollyslager2883 huh, I hadn't actually considered my changing opinion as a reflection point of my growth as a person, but you're right! That actually makes me feel really good, that despite all I went through as a kid, despite how I used to be, I'm a better, stronger, more thoughtful person now.
@@mori6434 you should be proud of yourself, from one kid of divorce to another 😊
I didn’t particularly LOVE this movie growing up as much as others did for a very similar reason. As a young kid, I’d made me feel emotions I had no language for and wasn’t able to properly address. I grew to like it with multiple rewatches as a kid, but it always made me uneasy. I haven’t watched it as an adult, but this video essay has opened my eyes as to what I was feeling.
I absolutely adore the modern princes and how they grow and have personalities within the story now (from Naveen to present) but David is honestly the BEST love interest in Disney. Not only does he have a personality and fit into the story but he starts and ends as a caring, considerate guy who maintains his position of friendship because that friendship is valuable to him even if he wants to make it more intimate. He’s a peach and we all deserve someone like him
Not all of us. Some of us are total assholes that deserve to be alone.
@@DakotaofRaptorseven an asshole should feel whole
@@DakotaofRaptors😂😂😂
Lilo always felt special to me as a kid, not only was she a protagonist that was a kid, she also was one of the first times I saw someone that acted like me. Lilo, weather intentional or not, is a great example of neurodivergency, especially in children. She has special interest that others find weird, she is all around overly passionate, she has a hard time picking up on her peers social cues, she’s resorts to violence when she can’t express her emotions, she does everything in a routine and becomes frustrated when she can’t, and a lot more. Neurodivergent corners of the internet even like to joke that the only representation we see in in non-human characters, so it’s interesting that Lilo feels like stitch is the only person who understands her.
I didn’t know when I was a kid that I have a mental disorder, I was just “a weird kid”. Lilo was the first time I saw someone like me, a kid who could be called “troubled” , in any kind of positive and realistic light. I still get choked up watching this movie because lilo’s frustrations remind me so much of myself as a kid. No Disney movie (or really any movie) has ever come close to showing this kind of representation for mental disorders and I don’t even know if they knew they were doing it. This movie, and Lilo especially, will always been so special to me because she was legitimately the first time I saw myself and my struggles on screen, or anywhere outside of my self.
I'm sort of the same. Always knew something was up eith me, but autism wasn't really even known except tp a few specialists and they still all thought it was rainman. My school simply had me listed as 'Emotionally Disturbed.'
Yeah, an aspie in an abusive military family would be disturbed.
I'm autistic and part Hawaiian, watched this movie after coming to terms with my disability, and decided Lilo couldn't possibly be neurotypical. Glad to see others agree.
Now looking back on it, as a neurodivergent child this is exactly what spoke to me about Lilo's character. As a kid the "quirky weird yet accepted kid" trope made me angry, because it wasn't realistic. I was weird, shunned and isolated without the quirkiness. Lilo's character highlights the loneliness, feeling of disconnect with your peers that comes with being neurodivergent. She's realistic to a lot of children out there
I’m the same way. I was weird and later understood I am autistic, has ADHD, and OCD. Kids hated me and how I acted and some where scared of me as I thought everyone where bully’s even though half the time it was me who was the bully without even realizing or trying. I also played weird. I had an obsession with ants and I would kill lots of little creatures like worms, spiders, once a snake, cane toads, all sorts of bugs, and lizards and feed them next to a huge ant nest I discovered (was never hard to find as Guam is over ridden with ants). I actually think this is the first time I’m talking about this on the internet and anywhere else for the matter. I fear others thinking I’m crazy even though I haven’t done what I did for about 6 years…. Yah, not long but it’s progress. (I was also really good at dissecting in biology class and I would take out every organ and put them in a neat line and look up what it was. I was intrreged in how the body worked of the smallest of animals.
It's not unusual for the creators to rely on neurodivergent traits to build characters, that's totally on purpose!
I still think the 'Aloha oe' scene is one of the most beautiful in any Disney film. And learning more about the song and what it means just doubles how emotional it is.
One other thing that’s really special about Lilo and Stitch is the voice acting. Everyone is so great and well suited for their roles, and the fact that it doesn’t feature a single huge celebrity is so refreshing. Stitch, Nani, Lilo, Pleakley, Jumba, Gantu - amazing cast of characters and they feel so classically voiced like in Disney’s greatest. I think the switch to computer animation after this coincided with an uptick of casting celebrities over voice actors and that’s been noticeable in the last decade or so.
I mean, we already know the Lilo and Stitch remake is going to have as many MCU or DCEU names shoved into it as possible. Imagine what Stitch is going to sound like when Chris Pratt or Tom Holland inevitably gets the part.
Yeah that's another good point!
I'm still really amazed jumba's va was Charles from m*a*s*h the series. Really great cast of vas they chose for the film.
Im so sad that voice acting is going the celebrity route. There are so many good voice actors out there which specialize in the craft that dont get enough recognition
I never even thought of the possibility of Chris Pratt being cast in the live action version and now I’m very nervous. I simply wouldn’t be able to watch it if they did
It all started when Disney went behind Robin William’s back and used him to advertise Aladdin
One of the first things I noticed about this movie was the physical representation of the women/girls. They appeared to be "average" or "normal". That was very unusual for Hollywood, even if it was animated.
Man as a kid I had the biggest crush on Nani
I wasn’t prone to physical outbursts as a kid but I did relate to Lilo a lot growing up. Being labelled the weird kid, with weird interests and a relative inability to connect with other kids my age. My parents divorced when I was little and being in a small “broken” family really resonated with me. My brother was my biggest mentor and guide - we fought a lot like siblings do, but I also felt protected by him and knew he was always there for me. He was the one who’d calm me down even when I had my teenage emotional outbursts later on. This was one of the few films we could watch together and feel connected to, Stitch being cute was just a little bonus. Despite this film’s huge cultural impact, I always felt a big part of its message was deeply underrated. Wanna talk about real sibling love and representation? This one does it better than pretty much any other kid’s film I remember watching. Brings tears to my eyes to think about it in retrospect.
When Lilo says “Pudge controls the weather” and then cuts to the faces of just the adults…they definitely know why she does it.
Really? Cuz they looked at each other in confusion when she said that.
@@chilathecreativefox9098 Probably no, since everyone must have known what happened to Lilo's parents
@@chilathecreativefox9098 "Pudge controls the weather" "It was a rainy day, and they went for a drive"
11:26 made me cry a little. Also really cemented the idea that Nani actively tries not to put Lilo down.
“I’m the only one who understands her, if you take that away from her she won’t stand a chance”!
God same I actually had to pause and cry
The one detail I never really reflected on when I was younger is that Stitch is clearly responsive to emotional atmospheres around him; example being when Lilo and Nani were arguing over keeping Stitch or throwing him onto the street. The second they're at each other's throats, he's reflecting with his own chaos and aggression but as soon as they calm down, he's back to a neutral state. I'll never stop appreciating this movie.
It will forever be one of my favorites!
stitch saying he’s lost: heartbreaking, earth shattering, soul crushing,
Lilo means lost in Hawaiian too
This movie seriously has the best depiction of a strange kid I've ever seen. Lilo's antics are funny, sure, but they're not played off just for laughs like most other weird kid characters, who often fill the niche of comic relief and even cross over into creepy territory to bother the main characters. Here, Lilo is lonely because other children think she's weird, yet she takes center stage and the audience is meant to empathize for her. As a token weird lonely kid this movie meant (and still means) so much to me, both because of the unconventional protagonists and its overall absurd vibe.
Less than 10 minutes in and I’m already tearing up. They really got the sibling dynamics down; I have two older brothers and no matter how annoying they can be (even now when we are all adults!) I still can’t think of what I would do without them. Nani is a great role model for Lilo and all children honestly.
Oh! And the sandwich stacking game was the best game to come out of the Disney channel website.
Omg that game! You’ve just unearthed a buried memory for me 😂
Omg, now I have an image of 625 living their best sandwich obsessed life. Lol
Totally forgot that game, but still remember how the Disney animated shows (L&S, Proud Family, Kim Possible, and i don’t remember 🥲) pulled off crossover eps before That’s so Raven/Suite Life/Hannah Montana, so respect
That gameeee!!!! And not to forget the laser shooting spaceship game!
@@Asummersdaydreamer14 His name is Reuben.
@@Asummersdaydreamer14 Jake Long joined Lilo & Stitch
there is no thing as "accidental representation", the character feeling like a real person and having an actual personality IS the real representation
My top favorite Disney animated film (if you don't count Pixar, which I don't, that's a separate list), and I always get excited to see it get more analysis and love. Lilo's entire speech of: *"Our family's little now, and we don't have many toys. But if you want, you could be part of it. You could be our baby, and we'd raise you to be good. 'Ohana' means family. 'Family' means nobody gets left behind. But if you want to leave, you can. I'll remember you, though. I remember everyone that leaves."* ? Makes me cry my eyes out every damn time, and I have seen the film...MANY times.
I can barely remember this film but is this why Stitch adds "Or forgotten." After Nani said that? Because sometimes your loved one need to be far away, they left, but they will always be family
*Now I'm gonna cry*
im dieing here, the gates are open and the water is pouring T-T
And Stitch's speech of, "This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It's little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good."
Oh god reading Lilo's quote almost made me cry, how did I forget such a hard hitting scene from this amazing movie.
Crying since 2003
I remember seeing that deleted scene on the DVD as a kid and wondering why they cut it out. I felt like it helped to explain some of her odd behavior a bit. (At least things like the photographing tourists)
I LOVE that scene! Even if it's not fully fleshed-out, I laughed so hard when the dim-witted tourists ran away screaming from Lilo's prank! Wished they kept that! ^^
This movie is one of the rare Disney movies where I love it EVEN MORE the older I get and rewatch it. Great analysis!! One nitpick: Moana technically represents Polynesians, which includes not just people from Hawaii, but Samoa, Tongi, etc.
The scene with the prank on tourists is hilarious and genuinely could have made this film even better. Shame it came out in 2002, and any mention of terrorists would be problematic to say the least. They had to change the climax as well for similar reasons.
Despite some limitations, the Florida studio really churned out some quality work before they closed down. I think their separation from the main studio made the big difference in their 3 films getting made, not just the time period. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they were able to tell stories about all non-white main characters. Mulan is my favorite of their work, but Lilo & Stitch will always have a special place in my heart. Lilo is such a realistic, relatable kid, and Nani’s struggle especially spoke to me as I became an adult. The movie has strange elements but they execute the theme of being an outsider perfectly. I love your tie-in with Frankenstein’s monster.
Mulan is my favorite as well but this is also incredible. They are very different from other Disney movies as well.
which was the third movie? o.o
@@lucyandecember2843 brother bear i think!
@@johnconstantineapologist shit, another emotional banger. to this day i can’t, won’t, watch it. such a fucking heartwrenching movie.
And see, I think this film goes to show that big movie companies have forgotten what movies actually are: art. There are so many films out there that are strange, bizarre, maybe even terrible, but they are the artist's vision from start to finish. When we let the creators do what they do best, we get art like this. And in most cases, good or bad, people are drawn to this kind of art because it's unexpected, simple, and just shows that the creators who made it had fun doing that. And this isn't some anti-capitalist "art for art's sake" argument. There is a way to balance commercialism with art, but only when you actually treat the artist and audience with a little basic decency and respect. Modern Disney has forgotten that and we will never see art like this film for a long time, if ever.
Whenever I have the opportunity to watch a movie with my students, Lilo and Stitch is my first choice. I teach middle grades in elementary, and many of them have never seen it. I struggled to feel seen and accepted as a little girl, and I know Lilo and Stitch made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Many of my kids have expressed a similar sentiment after seeing the movie. It’s my favorite Disney movie. Only Coco comes close.
This movie is such a wonderful example of how Disney used to craft beautiful characters and stories.
The scene where Stitch is alone in the woods and he says he's "I'm lost"... still breaks me down every time.
mygod that scene hurts
They also do nowadays
@@Amexy-mr6lwYeah right
Happy you mentioned the autistic angle. I really resonated with Lilo in a way I couldn't really articulate as a child. To me watching Lilo felt like watching "normal" because she felt like me. And watching Nani handle her sister was cathartic coming from a family that has always scapegoated me. I re-watched it last year and just sat there numb. Felt like I was looking at child-me navigating life while adult me is learning how to validate and understand that inner child, the way Nani validated and tried to understand Lilo.
Same here. My family loves to scapegoat me for being on the spectrum. Lilo always resonated with me.
Oh, man. The blue period scene. Thank you so much catching that. What strikes me most about Lilo & Stitch is its accessibility. Pretty much everyone loves it because you don't have to look too deep, analyze too much to enjoy it. But if you want, you can, and you'll find so many intricate, beautiful details that emphasize how much thought and care the animation and writing teams put into it. I find it especially interesting that this kind of balance seems to be found most often in children's films, while films aimed towards adults are often targeted at specific audiences.
I need to rewatch this movie now.
The 00's were such a weird time for Disney. Lilo & Stitch is one of those movies I didn't really enjoy much as a kid but grew to appreciate more as an adult. It's such a wholesome story about the themes of family and identity, which is why the I see the "Ohana means family" scene as being the best in the film. But it's also a unique depiction of family with the relationship between Lilo and Nani.
While not perfect,
thiss Franchise is a Priceless Masterpiece and a Timeless Masterpice
also.
Even risking to sound generic, but i dont know what to say more, as there is too much to say,
but i dont want my comment to be Giant.
This movie is an all-time great for me. It balances the themes of loss, loneliness, and separation with the ultimate triumph of love, acceptance, and togetherness. It takes sadness seriously, and it gives its characters permission to feel it, while also showing that sadness is only a part of life, and the world is full of opportunities to make unexpected connections with others, and the people you love will ultimately help you through the tough times, and vice versa. That is life. There are sunsets, but also sunrises. And we’re all in it together.
I adored this film as a child! And as an adult, it’s one of the few films that I feel has grown up along with me. As a kid, I liked the alien shenanigans, and as a mentally ill adult, I appreciate the message that you can always move past whatever your personal rock bottom is and have a fulfilling life.
As someone firmly on the spectrum, I completely forgot how much I identified with Lilo's 'weirdness' at the time so thank you for reminding me. Time to revisit a childhood favourite I think 😄
I also have autism, and I was literally thinking the same thing.
Lilo seems to have "special interests" in cirtain things, like Elvis and 'creepy' stuff (voodoo, horror movies, etc.).
In addition to the "ritual" of feeding Pudge the fish a sandwich every Thursday.
and the loneliness that comes from being so weird
I cry and cry during this movie…it is funny and sad and sweet..just a precious movie. Oh, and as a mom, I have seen it at least 100x
Same here, except the mom thing.
You're kids have great taste
I’m so glad you took the time to talk about the Lilo is Autistic headcannon. I’m Autistic and was only maybe a year or so younger than Lilo when the movie came out, and instantly fell in love with everything to do with the movie and it’s spin-offs, (except for the anime of which we do not speak.) It was possibly the biggest and most formatives special interest of my childhood with only one other from years later when I was more of a teen even coming close. Until I heard the fan theory, I really never thought about why that was beyond “aliens cool, Lilo relatable and good character,” but after realizing I realized why it was so special to me. I think Lilo & Stitch may have been the only piece of media that I saw as a kid that showed me a kid just like me who was lonely and didn’t know how to make friends and had weird interests, and maybe acted out sometimes without really meaning to or understanding why, but actually had an extremely kind heart and just wanted to connect but didn’t know how, and told me it was ok to be that kid, and that even a kid like me could find love and acceptance, (and I did, though it was more as a young adult!) For a while I went through a phase where I thought I was too old for kid’s movies and had “outgrown” Lilo & Stitch, but I’m 25 now, and I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow Lilo & Stitch, because it grows with me. Every re-watch as an adult, and every new interpretation I hear adds something brand new for me that makes me appreciate it all the more, (which is hella impressive because I literally watched it every Saturday for like three years and had the entire thing memorized, but it still has new things to offer the more I mature as a person.)
I'm 38 adhd and haven't outgrown kids movies. I think some really meaningful stories can be told in kids media. It's like a poem where you have to fit into a style but there's so much to be done without the extra flash that comes with adult media. It's interesting when something new clicks after watching it again for the 30th time and then it takes on a new vibe.
Anyone who tells people they are 'too old' or 'should outgrow' anything is wrong. Who decides what is coded for any one age group? I'll never stop loving these kinds of movies, or having interests in things more close-minded people have decided is 'not for adults.' Screw that, have fun, you only live once! :D
I'm the same age and also on the autistic spectrum but didn't find out until about a year or so ago and have since had repeated moments of "Ohh that makes sense because of that time when x happened". My fiancé and I are both ADHD and autistic so she helped me realise that, and it definitely felt like almost a relief to meet someone who was like me, who had similar impulses, who had hyperfixations, difficulty communicating and never judged me for those. I haven't seen this movie in a long time but I think now it makes sense why I loved it so much.
Plus as someone who left their family due to neglect and for my own mental health, the themes of found family are wonderful. Finding family who actually care about and love you is an amazing feeling.
I have autism and "Lilo and Stitch: The Series" was my favorite show as a kid.
Also, Lilo' "special interests" in Elvis and 'creepy' stuff (like horror movies, voodoo, etc), as well as her "ritual" of giving Pudge a sandwich every week was giving me serious autistic vibes.
As a kid being abused and bullied, this movie saved my life. It was telling us things for sure.
Things the Bible said would happen is happening . .
@@amoththatisflyingatyou dude why you gotta put something random like that, here...
you aren´t even giving any explanation, you just saying something cryptic and then leaving it at that...
Lilo and Stitch was my FAVORITE Disney movie growing up. I don’t think I completely recognized why at the time. I managed to get my older sister and her husband to watch it when it first was out and I wonder if they recognized any connections... Later on in my life my sister took me out of my chaotic household/living situation and became my legal guardian. Looking back and comparing her to Nani she absolutely went above and beyond to encourage me to be myself and I’m so grateful for her. Taking on a teen with no prior experience couldn’t have been an easy task. This was such a great breakdown of the film, really makes me want to reach out to my sister.
I'm a teacher now but while I was in university, I worked as an after school care provider. Through that experience, I've come to realize that most kids are like Lilo most families are complicated. I think movies like this can be hugely beneficial to help normalize "weirdness" so that kids don't carry it around as shame through formative years.
I was a weird girl as a kid and felt seen in this movie before I was old enough to even recognize the emotion. I was an only child of a family with an absent father and a loudly critical mother. I felt so alone sometimes. The idea that Lilo and Stitch found family gave me hope. I grew up and met my boyfriend, who I consider my family, but I wanted a pet to have in case those feelings changed. I got a dog who had a problematic history. He was abused by a man when he was a puppy and was advertised from the get-go as "anxious". I related to that and went for it. He's lived with me for a year as of tomorrow. He STILL needs a lot of patience and care. But I love him all the same. I read books on dog behavior and I treasure each victory we reach. When I first brought him into my home I got him used to me by putting on Disney movies about dogs and letting him come up to me at his own pace. Of all the movies we watched, Lilo and Stitch was the most relatable for us. My dog even bit my boyfriend the first day he was here. "Kindness can be learned." This dog now leaps up in joy when I come home from errands. He will even cuddle with my boyfriend in our bed. It's me, my boyfriend, his dog, and my dog. We're one big family, and that belonging was worth the wait.
Lilo & stich has always meant a lot to me as a kid. I was labelled as the weird kid for my interests and my behaviour, and although i didn’t have physical outbursts (because internalisation), I really related to Lilo.
Even the family dynamic, though my parents weren’t split up nor dead, my mum was battling cancer, this meant a lot of my childhood was spent seeing her in the hospital, or not seeing her at all. My dad had to try to figure out how to raise me and how to care for his ill wife, and that put a lot of strain on their relationship, so arguments were common. My nan even tried to convince my dad to leave my mum, and as a little kid i felt a lot of pressure to try and single handedly hold my family together. It was isolating.
I saw a lot of myself in Lilo, and still do now as an older teenager, and the idea of found family is one I hold close to my heart.
I never really saw Nani's own practice of patience nurturing the very same trait in Lilo but it makes so much sense! I always just thought Lilo was patient and tolerant of Stitch due to her own eccentricities but Lilo following Nani's example is so touching. I always loved Nani's lobster door explanation. I mean, to me it made a lot more sense than lobsters cannot be pets lol
Lilo is the best little weird girl rep
But trying telling that to Mertle!
I am an alcoholic, and very much identify with Stitch... the scene where he gets adopted touches a really deep wound inside of me
thanks for the video ♥
Things the Bible said would happen is happening . .
Hey, I hope things are doing well now xx
Smallest nitpick: Lilo didn't pick Stitch out of the other dogs in the shelter. Every dog was hiding because of Stitch, lol.
While not perfect,
thiss Franchise is a Priceless Masterpiece and a Timeless Masterpice
also.
Even risking to sound generic, but i dont know what to say more, as there is too much to say,
but i dont want my comment to be Giant.
Growing up essentially being my siblings parent due to familial circumstances-
Nani was such an amazing role model for me.
She made me feel so seen and the way she cared for Lilo helped me with how to interact with my own neurodivergent sibling.
She is and will always be my favorite Disney Character.
She always did the right thing- even if it meant giving up everything else she loved in order to raise Lilo.
I still cry every time during the hammock scene when she’s essentially saying goodbye to Lilo, trying to prepare her while feeling like she failed as a sister and guardian but putting on a brave face as not to scare Lilo.
LOVE HER SO MUCH.
She’s a true Disney Princess. 👑
I love this video because as is mentioned, Lilo and Stitch isn't underrated, but it has to a degree been underappreciated. Brilliant essay from Quality Culture-- leaves you with the same sense of nostalgia and warmth as the movie does :)
As a 20 something who lost his dad early on, I really had some waterworks in this video essay.
I wasn't expecting to relate to Lilo in the sense that a lot of my quirks are a stem of losing my closest bonds.
I check my body all the time for cancer because my dad's leukemia wasn't even noticed by his Minere's disease specialists.
My outbursts of anger when there's a family or friend fallout is a reflection of knowing what "nothing" feels like.
Then theres a strong detachment from my blood family because they felt "well he's a smart kid, he can grow out of his grief".
Now over a decade later I'm raising my sister because our mom thinks that Ancient Aliens are real and it's impeding on her social development.
Does this mean I need to pray for a space pet and go back to my grandpa's house in Kekaha?
So sorry for your loss!
So sorry for your loss!
!!! :( D:
These found family themed videos are really important… as someone who is making the decision to disassociate from my childhood family and embrace my found family and having guilt about doing so… it is really encouraging to see examples of this in media I’ve always loved.
as a child I related to Lilo not because she was quirky but because of the whole “I’m not a bad person I just don’t know how to express myself”. Like I was a child with ADD who was never taught how to communicate their feelings so I’d often resort to yelling hitting or destroying things because I didn’t know how else which did end up isolating me. Watching her find that family even with those problems really comforted me as a kid.
that's exactly the same for me!
Me: “I’m not overly emotional.”
Stitch: “I’m lost.”
Me: “I’m not crying, you’re crying…”
Crying with this movie since 2003
"We all have the capacity to connect to other people, we just need to find the right ones." Oh... that got me. ♥
This movie came out when I was a child, going through my parent’s messy divorce. Hearing “Ohana means family-it may be broken, but, still good.” made me SOB in the theater. This movie definitely deserves more recognition
I've always adored Lilo and Stitch. As a young trans person, I think seeing Pleakley being able to crossdress and wear women's clothes without anyone batting an eye helped me accept my own transness
Actually thats really common in Hawaii and there is even a term in Hawaiian culture: mahu.
@@JK-bp6oz I almost forgot about that!! Ty for reminding me
Oh damn I didn't make that connection!
Also young trans person who loved this movie.
he has one less eye to bat himself!
that whole movie is just so accepting, its beautiful
This movie meant a lot to me growing up. I related a lot to Lilo as a child, being inherently "weird" and wanting to be around those who accepted me for it. I wanted a Stitch in my life to help me cope. It's a comfort movie with a wholesome story and characters. No one was actually evil, just had different motivations and ways to get their goals. Still a big fave of mine after all these years
Lilo and stitch always makes me cry. I too feel the struggle of acceptance and my sister and i (who ive always called nani since i could remember; short for kelanie) had the same relationship as nani and lilo. She passed away and now this movie is so bittersweet to me. I grew up loving and and finding so much amusement in the fact that i could relate so much to it. Now i cry every time i watch it. This movie really is dear to me
This movie meant a lot to me while growing up as the weird girl who didn't have any friends. I felt truly seen. Also, the whole found family trope was done perfectly, just a bunch of misfits finding community.
Lilo and Stitch is still one of my favorite Disney movies, but as a little nerd growing up, I loved it. Probably a bit too much, because I had convinced myself I could do a spot on impression of Stitch and probably tormented anyone who'd listen to me with it haha! Even went as Stitch for Halloween once, which I affectionately call my worst Halloween costume I've ever had. I just look so goofy in the costume, but I'm glad I get to laugh at myself now.
Gosh is that why this movie holds a special place in my heart
It's hands down Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois's best film. I adore the How to train your dragon series, but imho I always thought this was more impactful.
Imdb rating of 7.3 would tell you otherwise lol.
As a 90's kid, I have loved Lilo&Stitch since it was released. It's funny, unorthodox in a way and it has Elvis. However, it started to hit different once my mom passed away and I ended up kinda co-parenting my 10 year old sister while I was still in high school. Nani was and still is the most relatable Disney character as I went through the same battles with my sister. I had to be responsible for her, yet she wouldn't listen while I wanted to be a kid for another year myself. Thank goodness we have a great relationship now that we're both adults, but I wish I had the maturity to handle it better.
i did not expect clicking in to this video and tearing up, but your analysis and breaking down why lilo is so relatable to someone who is neurodivergent was perfect. i had forgotten how much this movie means to me. thank you for making this video
This was genuinely my favourite movie as a kid due to relating so much to Lilo and how people treated her. I eventually found out I was autistic and after that I realised that she was such good representation that I'd never seen. The best representation of autism is usually accidental and I'm nor the only autistic person who had this realisation about her.
This video had me in tears by the end of it. I remember loving the Lilo and Stitch TV series as a kid and adoring the movie a fair bit. Lilo was the outcast and so was I. Funnily enough, a few minutes before you mentioned Lilo reading as Autistic coded, I thought that exact same thing. "Now that I think about it, Lilo feels like she has a lot of Autistic traits..." I'm Autistic myself though I was diagnosed as an adult. Watching this movie again (whenever I do) will probably make it mean _so_ much more to me since Autistic representation is _so_ important to me. But about the best we get is inspiration pr0nz for neurotypical people like Sia's trash film, Music.
I related to lilo and stitch as characters as a child, exactly because of the black sheep trope. I was an outcast, lonely, strange to others. Now as a young adult, realizing I'm autistic and also have ADHD, i didn't think about this movie or the concept until you brought up Lilo being hinted at being autistic and it all clicked. It's relieving and funny, how all these years later me and Lilo still are similar. Astounding video overall! Thank you
Love this movie, I'm a big fan of the found family trope myself. There's just something endearing of strangers forming this bond through love ad necessity as opposed to obligation.
Nani was a really good guardian. The main problem was that she didn’t have any help, she needed to work enough to pay for rent but that removed time she needed to look after Lilo. That’s why I was annoyed by the social worker because he criticized Nani heavily but it was obvious that all Nani needed was just someone to look after Lilo while she was away.
i don't think she needed to pay rent, it seems like she owned the house but either way she needed a steady income to be a qualified guardian. she had no support aside from david trying to help. the social worker was clearly rooting for them though, and wanted them to succeed and stay together.
@@stephtrs5360 Yea, as well as not have the house repossessed from lack of payment. Lilo was the main agenda, but the house would be long term issue.
I've loved this movie since I was little, but I recently rematches it and cried like a baby after truly understanding the movie's messages and themes
I was 10 when the movie came out so I didn't really connect with either sister at the time even though I recognized a lot of myself in Lilo. But rewatching when I was slightly older made it clear just how much I love Nani. As the oldest of 4 I hoped that if something happened to my family that I would have done half as good as she did. I know she's not real, but respect.
This film was one of the ones I never ended up watching or seeing growing up, until just a few years ago along with Hercules and Aladdin. It made a big difference as I knew what the topic was about rather than being a kid who thought it was a weird movie. Though even then, I know the writers and people who worked on the film did a good job. I still have a great appreciation for the movie and if I'd watched it with friends in person, they would have seen me crying my eyes out at the end.
When I tell you I literally started sobbing over your description of Nana as a sister, it shows two things: how good is this movie and how badly I need to work with my therapist.
Loved this. Lilo and Stitch was one of my favorites growing up. You did a wonderful job articulating just why that is. I wish Disney and other film studios were still willing to take more risks like they did with this movie. It’s truly one of their bests.
That fact that the voice actors were indigenous gives me life, you have no idea. Love.
This movie means so much to me... Moving from Kentucky to Hawaii in 2000, and realizing my mother only wanted me there to help babysit and do chores, then meeting this Korean lady and Hawaiian guy(They baecame like family) that lived with us for over a decade and were more family than my mother and stepfather. Got me into horror, yet were interested in whatever I liked, too. I really immersed myself in the melting pot of culture, food, and lifestyles... it still lingers with me twenty years later.
Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind.
This is my absolute favorite Disney movie. I dont think I realized how much this impacted me as a kid, but the idea of found family is something I always carry with me. My immediate family is very small, and I didn't interact with my extended family that often (pre-internet as a common place era), so the idea that family isn't who you are related to by blood, but the people who you love and care about really stood out to me. As an adult, my close friends are my family, and I'd do whatever I could for them, and they would do the same.
Lilo and stitch really shaped me as a person. it helped me with my creativity and now I get comfort by watching it
Lilo & Stitch is my absolute favorite movie of all time! I loved it as a child, and it's one of those movies that's continually gotten better as I've grown older. There's so much depth to this little story that it took me years to realize, and I constantly sing its praises to everyone around me who'll listen. I got a stuffed Stitch toy for Christmas 2002, and I still have him all these years later as a fully grown human. What a gem of a movie - thanks for articulating its beauty so eloquently!
This was my favorite film (and series) for literal years of my childhood, being an (at the time undiagnosed) autistic kid, I related a LOT to Lilo and her "behavioral issues", as well as stitch himself, and the characters helped me learn that my weirdness doesn't make me bad or unlovable, even when people are sometimes terrible about it. I can't stress enough how important that was to me. Not to mention the under-representation of pacific islanders in media, especially positive and well characterized representation. I may be white myself but I know how much Lilo, Nani, and their family meant to children of pacific islander (and especially Hawaiian) descent, long before Moana. The portrayal of how tourism and colonialism have effected Hawaii is interesting and while it's mostly subtext because it's a kids film, it's poignant when you pick up on those underlying themes. Such as how Lilo alienates tourists and exoticises them the same way they treat Hawaii, this is why she takes the tourist photos, and I love that kind of realism and detail to characters, I know Lilo is an important character to an under-represented demographic, and while Lilo and stitch WAS popular, I think many fans of the property missed a lot of the most valuable narrative details! It's disappointing that many people don't see past the strange premise into the message the film sends.
While not perfect,
thiss Franchise is a Priceless Masterpiece and a Timeless Masterpice
also.
Even risking to sound generic, but i dont know what to say more, as there is too much to say,
but i dont want my comment to be Giant.
I'm a half-pacific islander myself. I grew up on Lilo and Stich and saw Moana in high school. I thought these two movies have good pacific islander representation. There are three different types of pacific islanders like melanesians (Eg. Fiji and PNG), micronesians (Eg. Guam and Palau), and polynesians (Eg. Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Hawaii, etc.). The two Disney movies only covered polynesian characters. I think it would be interesting to see the rest of the pacific islander community getting represented more positively in the future too. When people think (or heard of) "pacific islanders," most of the time they'll think of hawaiians and other polynesians from pop culture. It's still a long way to go, I guess. lol
Lilo is quite a relatable kid character in a lot of ways, and I can see how she's relatable to neurodivergents too.
For me, I love the way Howl's Moving Castle deals with found family. Everyone coming together to have a happily ever after but in an odd way. Redeeming the villain, ending the war and finding your soulmate
This is far and away my favorite Disney movie. But I feel like a lot of people forget about it, even if they did enjoy it. Nice to read all the comments and find others who resonated so much with the story 🥰
my childhood was filled w social workers, difficulty communicating, and weird interests. this movie has never failed to make me cry since the first time i watched it. easily one of my favorites of all time
This video was lovely. This film and its heroines are what you get when Disney decides to disregard the Princess mold and machine (what with its barely disguised marketable Mary Sue, ala Princess Anna or Rapunzel flitting about in her dollhouse-to-be-made of a prison), and thus it's a story about real people first, source of merchandise second. Here, they still manage to incorporate fairy tales but in a modern, updated way.
Anna? I think Elsa is the more marketable one of the two, tbh.
i mean i get your point but i'd say all the characters you mentioned are pretty well written aswell
Would you people stop putting other characters down in order to elevate another one? 🙂
Thats awesome that you pointed out the autism because I have Autism and yes this movie did speak out to me as well as stitches loneliness (when I was in middle school)