Lilo & Stitch

Lilo & Stitch is an American animated film released in 2002 by Walt Disney Pictures. It was written and directed by Dean DeBois and Chris Sanders and was the first ever animated film to taken place on a Hawaiian island. According to Sanders, the decision to make Hawaii the setting of Lilo & Stitch was crucial to film: “Animation has been set so much in ancient, medieval Europe—so many fair tales find their roots there, that to place it in Hawaiʻi was kind of a big leap. But that choice went to color the entire movie, and rewrite the story for us.” Even outside the realm of animation, a very small number of films had been made about Hawaii. Lilo & Stitch is one of the only films to be centered around the culture of Hawaii and has been described as capturing the true essence of Hawaii on screen. 

Lilo & Stitch tells the story of a young girl named Lilo who, even though it is a Disney animated movie, faces very real problems. The root of her problems are not some plot difficulty which she eventually overcomes, such as in many other Disney movies, but are extremely realistic, mature, and tragic. Lilo and her older sister, Nani, are orphans whose parents had died in a car crash not too long ago. Nani, who is only 19 and obviously inexperienced, is forced to assume the responsibilities of being a guardian, a parent-figure, to Lilo. In the midst of Lilo struggling with loneliness after her parents’ death and Nani struggling with jobs, the threat of Lilo being taken away from Nani by social services casts a shadow over the film. 

Lilo and Nani’s impoverished and dysfunctional life represented the life that many Hawaiians lived during the economic downturn at the time. The Disney animators faced the forbidding task of meshing this brutally honest plot of the film with the island’s serene beauty. The accomplished this with the use of watercolor. They chose to deviate from the traditional gouache techniques of their earlier Disney features and used watercolor painted backgrounds for Lilo & Stitch, and this evokes the bright look of a storybook. 

The Hawaiian concept of ohana, which is mentioned and exemplified in the scenes I picked to represent Lilo & Stitch, is the most central theme of Lilo and Stitch. Although ohana ultimately came to be the prevailing message of the film, it was not a part of the original story. Then the animation team visited Kaua’i to do research and they were introduced to the term. DeBois has said, “No matter where we went, our tour guide seemed to know somebody. He was really the one who explained to us the Hawaiian concept of ohana, a sense of family that extends far beyond your immediate relatives. That idea so influenced the story that it became the foundation theme, the thing that causes Stitch to evolve despite what he was created to do, which is destroy.” 

The theme of ohana meaning family is repeated throughout the film, but the writers seemed to stop with “family” in their explanation of this immensely complex idea. Instead of explicitly explaining the concept in full detail, the movie demonstrated it by scenes such as this one. 

Lilo comes from a broken home, and the character of Stitch becomes a much-needed, somewhat bizarre antithesis to the shockingly realistic and heartbreaking circumstances of Lilo’s life. In this scene we see Stitch as an outsider looking in to a beautiful relationship between sisters, but later we see him being offered a chance to be a part of the family by Lilo. This demonstrates the fundamental of ohana, which is that it can extend far, far beyond immediate family. The writers let the movie itself convey this crucial message.

One of the most unique and original aspects of the film was its strong focus on the relationship between Lilo and Nani, which is also exemplified by this scene. The relationship between two sisters is not typically the focal point in American animated films, and this demonstrates Disney becoming more progressive. In this scene, Nani attempts to tell Lilo that the next day Lilo will be taken by social services. In other words, the two of them, the last remains of their family, will be separated. 

She cannot find the words to tell her such devastating news, and so she sings her a song titled “Aloha ‘Oe”, which translates to “Farewell to Thee”. This song is by Hawaii’s last monarch and the only queen regent of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Queen Liliuokalani. She wrote this song while she was imprisoned after her home land had been taken over by western industrialization. She wrote this song to apologize to her people and country for being unable to protect them and uphold her duties as Queen. With this context in mind, it is likely that Nani was singing this song to Lilo because she was could not protect her from what was to come and felt as if she failed Lilo like the Queen had failed her country.

Nani and Lilo’s relationship, which had been strained so greatly and yet remained so strong, defines the movie for me. It is most likely why I love this movie so dearly. This is one of Nani and Lilo’s most heart-wrenching and beautiful scenes together, and I feel that is represents what the movie is all about. It is extremely sad, but it is powerful in its depiction of a bond that cannot be severed regardless of whatever hardship comes its way. It is also so heartbreaking so see Stitch’s position as an outsider in this scene, but equally as powerful. Seeing how much love exists between the two sisters, Stitch realizes he has never been loved that way and feels very alone. Even when he is offered a chance to experience such unconditional love, he is too afraid to accept it. The reason why this is probably so powerful is because his feelings are relatable. We have all felt like Stitch at least during one point in our lives. 

I also love Lilo and Stitch because of how it is such a drastic change from many other Disney movies. Yes, it eventually has a happy ending, but the sorrow felt by the characters is so mature and realistic that this movie cannot be put in the same category with “fairy-tale endings”. It is not just a silly cartoon with weird-looking aliens. It holds deep truths and conveys them so beautifully with scene such as this one, and that is what makes Lilo & Stitch so worthwhile.