Lilo & Stitch is a Weird Movie 

🔎👒 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).

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.

Growing up is realizing that Lilo and Stitch isn't a movie about an alien, it's a movie about alienation.

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.

“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

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.

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…

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.

Lilo strikes me as the kind of girl who wouldn't get diagnosed until later in life and go "Ohhhh. That explains A LOT".

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"The voice actors re-wrote portions of the script to have more accurate hawaiian slang". Holy mother, that is huge. Still today we get any latin american person cast for playing any other latin american character in a movie or series regardless of culture, because we're that interchangeable.

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.

I love the movie, it's my go to whenever I want to cry. Especially when stitch calls out to his "family" saying "I'm lost", and that song Nani and Lilo sing, oof, shit gets me every time.

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 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 was the first time I saw a child in a film that actually felt like a real child to me.

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.

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 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.

As a Native Hawaiian, I really wish they kept that deleted scene in the movie.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

When Lilo says “Pudge controls the weather” and then cuts to the faces of just the adults…they definitely know why she does it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”!

stitch saying he’s lost: heartbreaking, earth shattering, soul crushing,

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 😄

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.

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.

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 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.)

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.

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 it’s why she picks him out of all the other dogs in the shelter” All the other dogs were on the ceiling. She didn’t have much of a choice 😂

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.

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.

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

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.

there is no thing as "accidental representation", the character feeling like a real person and having an actual personality IS the real representation

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.

As a kid being abused and bullied, this movie saved my life. It was telling us things for sure.

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.

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. 👑

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 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 :)

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 ♥

Lilo is the best little weird girl rep

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.

I have found the lack of video essays talking about Lilo & Stitch really disappointing. Glad you made one and made on that tugged on my heartstrings just as much as the movie

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

"We all have the capacity to connect to other people, we just need to find the right ones." Oh... that got me. ♥

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Me: “I’m not overly emotional.” Stitch: “I’m lost.” Me: “I’m not crying, you’re crying…”

This earned an immediate subscription, thank you so much for talking about this movie. It's by far my favourite Disney film and I cry a few times everytime I watch it. As someone growing up with ADHD and depression, Lilo's character really hit close to home for me. Even if it was unintentional representation, seeing her have hyperfixations and struggling with social cues as not being intentionally bad; that really got me. I really do love how the adults in this film don't treat her as a monster or something that needs to be completely changed, but instead as someone who can learn a new form of communication while also holding on to who they are. Also, I really appreciate you touching on the Blue Period and the Peanut Butter fish because those really add to everything and show how in-depth and well thought out the story and characters were. It's been a long time since I've seen media show a young child as accurately Lilo. Perhaps that's why I love the film so much. Because in a film as fantastical as it can get with aliens and magic, it still hammers in some VERY (excuse the pun) down to earth topics and themes. Finally, I just love the final message of the film centring around love and acceptance. I love that they basically tell the audience to hold onto their "weirdness" and to be proud of who they are, because eventually, they'll find people who love them for who they are.

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.

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!

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.

Smallest nitpick: Lilo didn't pick Stitch out of the other dogs in the shelter. Every dog was hiding because of Stitch, lol.

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 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.

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

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.

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 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

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 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.

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 is my favorite Disney film!!! It was always my favorite as a kid bc it was so different than the others and it really grew with me. I suffered from a major depression spell when I was 17 and a bit after, I decided to watch Lilo and Stitch. I SOBBED, like fully sobbed after the first viewing. I empathized with Stitch so closely and realized that despite having tendencies that are destructive they’re not really who you are and the ones who love unconditionally you will still love and fight for you. Thanks for making this, it just makes me love the movie even more 😊💗

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

This video was amazing, made me cry tbh. Never thought I'd see myself in Stitch, but in the past my destructive behavior cost me my ohana and unfortunately I was never able to get it back. I learned the same lessons that blue fluff ball did, but unfortunately I took a little too long to do so.

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

This is one of those Disney movies I grew up with since it came out and I was I LOVE. Not just the overall story but the animation, depth of the characters, and the oddness of it all. I’m only 9 minutes in and honestly I’m about to cry (it gets long from here so keep that in mind) My mom thought at I mimicked Lilo a bit much as a grew up, and yes I did quote her often, but really I related to her. Her losing those close to her, her past being a big part of how she copes, the loneliness, outbursts... I never knew why but it started clicking as I got older and rewatched it. I unconsciously did a lot of stuff she did, including the odd things she says and even weirder explanations. I realize all of that unusual stuff I did was because I was troubled, hurt, and coping with trauma/ loss and as an artist, I expressed that often through depressing artwork I didn’t know was abnormal and concerning for my age. LILO may have influenced part of my personality, but she sure as hell was (and still is) a comforting character I love with all of my heart. Don’t even get me started about the artwork and Hawaiian culture, I wanted to learn more, I got so many books and watched documentaries about Hawaii. I eventually visited the islands on a cruise and I constantly thought about the deleted scenes with the tourists, thinking of it as a “what not to do”,making sure I never came across like that. I appreciate this video so much, I didn’t know how much I needed this

Lilo and stitch really shaped me as a person. it helped me with my creativity and now I get comfort by watching it

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 🥰

this movie is definitely very special to me. i was also the weird kid growing up. i was bullied and had trouble making friends. lilo and stitch was my favorite film but i didn't understand how much it meant to me til now. as an adult (i'm literally about to be nani's age) i cry seeing the scene where lilo prays for a friend, one that won't run away. that's exactly what it felt like. i've found my own ohana and embraced my inner weird kid♡