I was so excited to see you guys collaborating, never expected this blessing but I'm so very happy to have two of my favourite TH-cam channels and a childhood favourite film all together
This is such a small detail but like.... I love that the alien queen corrects herself without missing a heartbeat when Stitch tells her that's his name. Obviously she then pauses because she realizes he's different from when she last saw him... But like... She's just so.. Blatantly accepting. It was never about control or exercising authority, she's not a villain. It was purely just that Stitch was dangerous and she didn't want others to get hurt. But the minute she realizes he's no longer dangerous she's basically like, "Oh. Chill. Go live your life, friend." Like.. I love her omg.
she thought stitch was plain mindless and destructive due to the nature he was made with, that and he was genetically engineered with traits from species that are mindless destructive creatures from their respective home planets, the fact that stitch can understand the concept of name means he can be reformed because he's not mindless. Stitch could've been just a bioweapon of mass destruction but he learned to want to protect things
I was rolling in laughter when she looks at Bubbles Cobra and when she says that he looks familiar, he tersely answers "Roswell, 1949" at which she replies "Ah yes, you had hair then".
One thing I like about this movie is how David is clearly into Nani, and she is into him, but he's not pushy about wanting to be with her. He sees where her life is at, how she can't allow for a relationship at the moment, and is totally chill and supportive of her, because he's just a good, decent person
THIS!! i never really thought abt him much as a kid becaus ehe was just in the background, but it was later that i realized him and Nani had smth going on but he knew it was not the right time and he stuck around not to just "wait for his chance" but because he really cared for her...same with Milo from Atlantis (another very underrated disney man)...he was crushing so hard over Kida (i mean who wasn't amiright) but he wasn't helping her translate the ruins just to get close to her but because he genuinely wanted to help and was fascinated by the culture and when Rourke took her after she merged with the crystal he went to save her not for any reward but because it was the right thing to do...at the end was so sweet too because it ended just with them hugging and holding hands, nothing more and don't get me wrong i love sappy romance stories and "love at first sight" but i like how the creators didn't force the romance into it (much)
David seriously realized and understood that she needed someone caring and supportive in her life FIRST, and anything romantic could come later. And it never felt like a matter of him trying to prey on her vulnerability, but a genuine caring for her
Nani is such an under appreciated character. She's not a princess, she's not rich, she doesn't have super powers, she barely even has a job. Her problems are so real and it makes it that much more heartbreaking. And unlike all the other Disney/Pixar orphans, she has responsibilities.
Her relationship with David is beautiful and tragic. There’s a mutual attraction but they both know Nani isn’t ready for a relationship yet he never hold it against her or holds expectations of one. David helps Nani and Lilo because he’s a good person and wants to see them in a good place.
She even gave up her surfing career for her sister. If you look in her room when lilo shows her that stitch is a speaker, you will see surfing trophies. She may have been a champion in the making.
I love how Nani isn't perfect, she yells, she's frustrated, she doesn't get the ice cream thing, but she tries so hard and would do anything for her sister.
@{The Autumn Wind} came here to say this. Love HAS to include enough self-awareness to see when one has made a mistake, and the humility to be willing to admit it. This goes triple for parents considering the massive power imbalance between them and their kid.
@@nebraskamax1476 Agreed, there have been abusive parents that live by "I make mistakes, I'm human" almost like they're trying to admit or apologize to what they've done, while not completely holding the blame.
Funny thing is that line was added as part of their attempts to establish that Nani is Lilo's sister. Early test screenings revealed people thought she was Lilo's mother, so they modified the scene and added these lines to clear up any misunderstanding.
The scene with Lilo saying "you can be part of our family, or you can leave if you want" tears me up. Talk about boundless unconditional love that in the same breath she is able to love someone enough to both invite them into her circle or respect their desire to find their own. Not to mention the context of what "ohana" means. With her saying "I won't forget you", she is effectively affirming that Stitch is already family to her and deeply loved. God that was such good writing.
As an adult, Nani's struggle to try to provide for Lilo after their parents died really hits home. Lilo's line of "I liked you better as a sister than as a mom" sums up their changing relationship, and how they both find it difficult to adjust to their new situation.
@@Firegen1 Greetings, Firegen1, we meet again! 😁 Likewise, I really feel for Nani's situation more as I get older, and I've noticed that there are surfing trophies in Nani's room, indicating that she had to put her dreams aside to care for Lilo.
as a kid, i’d watch this movie over and over (it was one of three or four kid’s movies that we had on dvd) and i always thought “it’s like me and my big sister,” but little did i know it would hit home a lot harder now that i’m 20. granted, the circumstances are different, but nani and lilo’s sisterhood is by far one of the best aspects of the movie
As the eldest daughter in an immigrant family, I found myself having to be a parent at a very young age and I’ve always hated and resented that. I resented my parents and my sisters. Now, as an adult, I find it so difficult to navigate my relationship with my sisters from a non-parental angle and my parents still keep me on that line between both worlds. It’s really affected my mental health terribly and our family dynamic. My entire life has been about working my way out of that and putting as big a distance from them as possible, despite all of my love for them and their love for me.
Nani was trying to fill the space of their mom. It didn’t have anything to do with providing for Lilo but rather, how she changed personality wise. That’s what Lilo meant when she said that. Nani was trying to act more like her mom than her sister.
it was also implied that Nani wanted to be a professional surfer, given all the trophies and medals in her room, but she had to abandon that dream in order to get a job and raise Lilo. it must have been such a sudden turmoil that both of them were thrown into and it's amazing how well Nani was trying to adapt and make Lilo feel loved at the same time. it's already so difficult to get a job as a young adult, i can only imagine how hard it must be for someone who has no safety net to fall on, and has to raise a child at the same time. Nani was really an amazing strong character who deserves more appreciation in the Disney fandom. also, i love that Lilo is not the "child prodigy with no feelings" stereotype of an autistic person. autistic people can be smart or nerdy. but movies often makes it seem like a superpower, which is absolutely not true. i like that this movie shows both the strengths and difficulties that come with being neurodivergent. Lilo is an incredibly smart child, but it's clear that she is struggling a lot and is a lot more nuanced character. she is not portrayed like a robot with no feelings, she is so realistically human and vulnerable like any other child.
@@skyhideaway I'm autistic, but I've become more careful about giving fictional characters a diagnosis now than what I was when I was younger. But there's a big trend of people doing just that these days, and it's great that they find someone to relate to. However, the problem is that there will be someone, who simply can't see themselves in a certain character, so they wouldn't want him/her to be associated with them. For example, I have a lot of hatred towards the movie "Simple Simon" for this reason despite that people who clearly know nothing about autism lauded it. Ostensibly, it is about a guy with the same disability as me, but yikes, he's just a stereotype based on some ignorant film-maker's awful prejudices about autism. So it's really hard to get it right, and it's more safe to just let a character be who he or she is without putting a label on him or her.
I hate the autistic child prodigy or autistic savant stories* and I love Lilo for not playing into it. I'm not certain autism is ever mentioned in the movie and I don't know where the idea started but she fits so well. I was very young when this came out and I've never been a huge Disney fan despite being extremely into animation, but Lilo and Stitch always stayed in my memory as the one Disney movie I genuinely love. I guess I know why. *autistic prodigy and savant stories are intended well but have two major issues. 1. Most autistic people are not prodigies or savants. Autism basically runs the full range of human intelligence and skills and some are prodigies or savants but most are not. In general, it's probably going to be much safer to assume an autistic person you meet is not much different from anyone else in terms of intelligence. I've seen the term "spiky profile" used because we tend to be fairly good at certain things and notably worse in some areas than the more general population and I think that's accurate for some but it's still not a guarantee. Second, savant and prodigy depictions kind of give an underlying and very unintentional message that your worth must be earned, that if you weren't a savant or prodigy, you wouldn't be worth caring about. It's obviously unintended but the idea is there.
I’m glad it was mentioned that LILO believes that pudge controls the weather and that she HAS to feed him because her parents died on a night with bad weather. I respect her as a child trying to not only make sense of what she has been put through but also trying gain control and stop it from happening again and losing even more of her family. ❤
This, also, having learned more (in life) it seems to me more that Lilo is dealing with trauma not necessarily Autism (though that could be a factor too)
@@crematia2332autism can affect how you deal with trauma. Just speaking as someone with autism who's been through some trauma even though luckily it didn't involve death
Isnt there also a mythical fish in Hawaiian culture that controls the weather? Im pretty sure that any kid, autism or going through trauma or whatever, who knows that myth, would look at a cool, friendly-enough-to-be-fed wild fish and think "yeah, this is the magic fish that controls the weather"
The broken family is pulled together by someone named Stitch. It's perfect! Also, the detail that appeasing the weather-controlling fish is IMPORTANT to Lilo, because bad weather killed her parents, is a really subtle one as far as children's movies go.
She also missed out on the fact that fish do, in fact, eat other fish. So feeding Pudge tuna wouldn't be too out of line, although pudge would more likely be food for the tuna
Lilo's reasoning behind giving Pudge a sandwich because he controls the weather: Later in the movie, Lilo tells Stitch the day her parents died from a car crash in a storm, she'd forgotten to give Pudge a sandwich. So, in her mind, the storm was caused by Pudge not getting a sandwich that day. So making sure Pudge gets a sandwich everyday is a BIG deal to prevent anyone else she loves from dying. Props to Rebecca for acknowledging this at 21:25!
And it's why she reacts so strongly to any suggestion that she stop. As a parent of a child with autism (and someone who has autism also), I've seen and experienced just this kind of thing. "Pudge controls the weather" is 100% truth in her head. There's no doubt at all and so not giving Pudge that peanut butter sandwich is a matter of life and death. Asking her not to or not having peanut butter in the house means that PEOPLE WILL DIE! I strongly identified with the levels of anxiety that Lilo shows over this.
Thank you guys for saying it so I don't have to type it out. Every time my heart breaks a little when they look at her like that not knowing how much those looks hurt her.. When this movie came out it was so nice to see a girl more like me, maybe I should get myself checked out, I already have adhd/add but that diagnosis never felt 100%..
Lilo does not say that at any point in the movie; that's a fan theory from people filling in the gaps. With that said, it's a perfectly reasonable way of interpreting the work, I just think that it's worth noting that it's not actually said in the work.
Part of what gets me the most about Lilo's character is that she's excellent representation of the fact that autistic people aren't necessarily incapable of empathy, some of us have it in abundance. We don't always respond to the 'right' cues but that can be because we're picking up on unintended ones.
I read once that some autistic people might not have loads of cognitive empathy but might have normal+ levels of emotional empathy - which can mean feeling what other people are feeling but not necessarily understanding why they are feeling that way. It's basically the opposite of psychopaths who have cognitive empathy but not emotional empathy - so they can be great at being manipulative because they understand why people think and feel a certain way but if someone feels sad they won't feel sad themselves. Not sure if that was helpful but thought I'd share in case it was!
@@rorolilred This would make sense to me since I find a lot of comedies to be viscerally painful. Since so many of them rely on embarrasment and communication issues I spend the show in a tight ball of discomfort while the room laughs along without a care. I respond more to the embarrasment and pain the characters are feeling when the film is asking me to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
I’ve always loved how despite being an obstacle, Cobra Bubbles was never really presented as a villain. We wanted Nani and Lilo to stay together so his presence was often upsetting to both them and us, but it was understood in the grand scheme that he only wanted what was safest for the most vulnerable person there: Lilo. He recognized how much Nani loves Lilo and how hard she was trying, but was also aware that the environment may not be ideal for her. After things in their family stabilized he was more than content with allowing Lilo to stay there, and even became a kind of family friend.
So true! I know so many people who hate Cobra Bubbles, and I'm like, he's a social worker! Dude is literally just doing his job, which is to make sure Lilo is in a safe home. He's not bad, he just doesn't see the whole picture until the end, when Lilo is kidnapped, and he sees Nani, David, and Stich team up with Jumbo and P'li to save her. He sees Nani do everything possible to save Lilo, and then he's like, "Yeah, she's safe here."
i never hated Cobra, i could tell from the start he really did care about Lilo, he gave Nani so many chances to make their situation work; as someone who was taken into foster care for a short time i can say that something like that did not happen for me and my sisters, they didnt give our mom the chance to change things before taking us. they took us then gave her the ultimatum of fixing things or you dont get them back.... i hated that house so much, it was god awful and those people shouldnt have been foster parents. Im on the spectrum so was rather disruptive, keeping the other children awake when we should have been asleep, they first moved me in with the older children hoping this would settle me down but when it didnt they took me out to their gravel filled driveway and made me walk barefoot on it.... i was about 6 at the time.....
@@aubreycarter7624 He sees the whole picture. Which is that Nani is completely over her head with the situation. The moment though she has some sort of support system, there is no reason to remove Lilo anymore. One shouldn't forget that Nani is nearly a child too.
as someone who is nurodiverget myself. i can speak out of experience that what the goverment tinks is best rearly is for the nurodivergent person. nero divergent persons need tailored solutions. unfortunaly goverments want the cookie cutter solution
@@swanpride This is a great point. She IS in over her head. At the beginning of the movie their household isn't stable. She is NINETEEN! I'm a 21 year old and I'm 100% sure I couldn't do what she was! But with that support system, a system where Nani has a chance to be a ninteen year old while also supporting Lilo, to not have the weight of the world on her shoulders, so much of their discourse, and their fighting receeds.
The experimental era of Disney is honestly one of my favorites! Treasure Planet, Lilo and Stitch, Brother Bear, Atlantis, Emperor's New Groove...there's just so many INCREDIBLE movies!!!
The scene with Nani singing to Lilo is, in my opinion, the most well-done emotional scene in all of Disney. The are no over-the-top theatrics, no swelling of violins, there's not even tears. Nani is being forced to accept that she is losing her sister to the government that thinks it knows best for Lilo, and can't bring herself to tell her just yet. It's the tone in her voice, the silence and soft sounds of their surroundings that accompany her singing, the flowers (that more likely than not) represent them, and the darkness set against the warm glow of the torches, and their physical closeness. All of these elements just set up for a perfect quiet, heart-breaking moment I feel we've all experienced in one way or another in our own lives for different reasons. Thank you for covering Lilo and Stitch. It's one of my favorites!
The thing is, Aloha Oe *is* her telling Lilo. Nani can’t bring herself to say the words, so she sings. Aloha Oe is very much a song about saying goodbye to loved ones, and telling them you’ll always keep them in your heart even though you have to part ways for a long time. It’s sung at funerals. It has a lot of cultural weight and connotations. And you can see from Lilo’s face as Nani is singing that she understands what it means for them and their situation.
Being Neurodivergent myself I never picked up on Lilo being one as well until I remembered Nani telling Cobra "they're not going to understand her" then all the little interactions and facial expressions she made throughout the movie made total sense.
I always thought David was extremely underrated. He not only respected Nani's rejection, he still continued to be genuine friends with her. On top of that, he cared about *both* Nani and Lilo, not just Nani; that dude stuck by those two through *all of it* , and even when he was faced with aliens and a huge spaceship, he just accepted it and supported them. David is a total fucking KING.
@Ami Yeah but he didn't push it. Nani did say earlier at the restaurant that she was "too busy" to be with him, but at the end most of her problems are solved so...
Something important that you missed during her Pudge story is how all the background characters reacted. All of the adults know what happened to Lilo's parents, but the kids don't. Every adult in there goes from confusion to understanding in that instant, they connect how Lilo's behavior and mindset makes perfect rational sense once they have the context. So they aren't mad that Lilo attacked Mertle- they get it, that little girl just unintentionally insulted the death of Lilo's parents. Sometimes with neurodivergence, listening to or otherwise understanding their reasoning for doing certain things makes perfect sense once you get the step by step. It usually makes sense to them, and if they are able to explain why they do things, it makes more sense to others
Exactly, Pudge is important to Lilo because her parents died due to bad weather (rain), Lilo’s coping mechanism is to believe that Pudge controls the weather.
this is why I'm a strong believer that no matter what, you should *always* hear the why. Doesn't matter if there's any possibility of it justifying or excusing their actions, what's important is understanding where they are coming from. There is never a circumstance where that won't be of benefit to know and understand, even if just to help you know how to take preventative measures in the future.
If I remember correctly. When she feeds Pudge. You can actually see a storm moving away from the island in the background. Giving some nice symbolism and a "what if" feeling.
Yes! I remember that making perfect sense when I first saw Lilo and Stitch and connecting the dots once it's revealed how Lilo and Nani's parents died. But so many people never make that connection. Also, there's a freaking heart-wrenching scene that wound up being cut where Stitch actually kills Pudge by taking him out of the water, and I've never forgotten that. I think it's on TH-cam somewhere.
I was looking through the comments to see if someone would connect Pudge to that. I don’t think I’ve heard about some details that you pointed out where the adults understand the situation which is more interesting
I loved Lilo as a kid because not only was she “weird”, she was poor. Her struggle to connect with her peers is only made more difficult because she couldn’t buy the dolls and toys they have, even if she wanted them.
Bingo, same. I too was the weird little girl with difficulties socializing, and who didn't have the right toys and wasn't allowed to watch the fun tv shows that all the other girls were into so I didn't even have the angle of having something in common to befriend them. I wasn't violent in school, my sister (who is very similar to me but bit people at school) and I fought a lot at home to the point my father was constantly fed up with us, but I was constantly in trouble everywhere because I was very impulsive and also scatterbrained and socially isolated. We both saw ourselves in Lilo and loved this movie growing up.
What I love about Nani is that she really feels like the sister of a neurodivergent. Her frustrations, her connections, the way she guides Lilo, even the way she teases Lilo, all of it feels real. So many stories have siblings who at the end of the day, only love eachother because they have to. But with Nani, when she yells that she's the only one who understands Lilo, you actually believe it. Because she has demonsrated that.
The way she treats Lilo is typical sisterly behavior. Older siblings and parents can get frustrated with a kid acts up regardless of the reason, and connects and guide and have friendly teasing as a form of bonding. I'm really frustrated that this is seen as "for neurodivergence" as it indicates that 100% typical interactions and connections are divergent. It's getting to the point that terms like "neurodivergent" are so overly broad that there's almost no way for someone to not call into that category, which is actually making it typical. We're at a tipping point where fewer kids are being called neurodivergent, making THEM the group that isn't typical.
@@Author.Noelle.Alexandria you make a fair point. I was probably too vague in my post. I merely meant that Nani's reactions are very much in line with the nuances of Lilo's divergence. I think the best example is when Lilo asks for a lobster instead of a dog. She uses the "logic" of having a dog door, not a lobster door. Similarly when Lilo is worried she got Nani fired, Nani made up a lie about the owner being a vampire because she knew it was the type of thing that would distract/satisfy Lilo so she wouldn't worry. None of this should diminish how neurotypical siblings get a long, because it's not that different. It's just the nuance and detail of HOW Nani expresses it that I think is worth celebrating.
@@Author.Noelle.Alexandria I think a lot of the ways Nani loves, supports, and torments Lilo do apply to siblings in general. Meeting someone where they're at by giving them the kind of reasoning they understand (dog door- we're getting a dog), or respecting what's important to them (Elvis, hula) aren't things you only do for neurodivergent kids, or even the ones who are just some variety of "weird kid". The exact ways you support someone might change from person to person. But showing people care by trying to understand where they're coming from, that's pretty universal. Getting frustrated at siblings and yelling is also pretty widespread. Younger siblings (I am the older sister) are deeply annoying creatures. 😋
@@Author.Noelle.Alexandria I 100% agree with you and honestly I'm kinda confused what 'nerodivergent' actually means after this video and seeing th comments. It's almost like when a person has a few behaviours that align with for example OCD and suddenly they have to be labelled as OCD because no one who isn't labelled as OCD can have those traits. It never makes a lot of sense to me. Not everything in life can be cleanly categorized
@@finnsnow2495 I think that in the case of this film, it just means that a lot of people who are neurodivergent related a lot to how Lilo behaves and is treated, and decided to interpret her as being neurodivergent for that reason. You don't have to agree, of course (as far as I'm aware, it's never been confirmed either way? I might be wrong about that, though)
The scene where lilo hugs her stuffed animal and says “you like me better as a sister than a rabbit right?” And her voice starts to break freakin sends me to shambly tears everytime because she is so emotionally stoic with her sadness 99% of this movie but that moment made her so nervous and vulnerable
As someone who works with children and of course neurodivergint children, the "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I'll be good, I just want to dance" is heart breaking because it's very accurate. Quite often children can't control their impulses, and if you're a child who gets in trouble alot for the impulses this response just comes out because you are so used to getting into trouble. 😔
yeah this is so accurate I’ve been yelled at by teachers because I sounded rude or it looked like I was making fun or them or diminishing them cause I tried to explain what my classmates were saying yk to help them, and yeah they just assumed I was diminishing them and then I got yelled at multiple time even after I explained what happened they’d just do it again and tell me to “stop doing that” and it sucks
I was a neurodivergent child back then, and I would get into trouble all the time. I remember specifically pleading infront of the principle after getting in trouble for the fiftieth time. She asked me why I do this, what are your reasons? And under a broken crying voice I replied with "I don't know, I don't know, I'm sorry. I can't help it, it just happens". Now this was free public education. As we all know, it doesn't have the best reputation, and individuals are not prepared to handle children such as myself correctly. So I understand why they treated me the way that they did. I was ostracized by my peers, and my teachers sometimes used me like a punching bag, forgetting the physical, and replacing it with verbal. My parents were also woefully unequipped to deal with such a kid. It also didn't help that my mother wasn't entirely mentally sane as well. I had problems all the way up until High School, and sometimes I still even have problems today, being a 23 year old man. The blessing and curse with being the way that I am, is that my behavior, unwillingly, is the creation of my own pain. Fortunately it also gives me the tools to correctly manage such a position. Where if a neurotypical person who didn't have autism were in my position, they would have already gone insane by this point. Life is hard for me, but I am grateful for the things that I have, and the people I now surround myself with. I wouldn't be the person I am today without those scars, I fully accept them, and I have learned from them. I wouldn't want it any other way!
I'm sorry I'm adhd and ocd since second grade. I've always been controlled. The worst part about it. Ocd isn't always a thought that leads to action. It can be a memory that plays over, or a feeling, or a song. Ocd isn't about let me wipe my counters, sometimes it's about check on that corner you littered on in 7th grade.
Another thing to note is that Lilo's parents died in a car crash during a storm. So her belief that Pudge controls the weather is likely related to this. The adults in that scene look at each other in concern. It's not the shock/mocking of the other girls; it's sadness. They might not understand, but they know it's related to her trauma in some way. So it's a funny little line that holds so much meaning. I can't remember if it was a fan theory or in the bonus features, but I remember hearing that the day her parents died, Lilo missed/forgot to feed Pudge, so she partly blames herself for the bad weather that day. To her, feeding Pudge is protecting people. She was running late to feed him, then inadvertently disrupted dance (one of her fave things; seriously, she's like the only dancer genuinely exicited during practice), and so her stress was really high. Then girls who constantly exclude/bully her call her crazy because she puts so much effort into trying to keep people safe by feeding the fish that will unleash bad weather if not appeased. So Lilo's outburst and loss of control is understandable. Yes, Lilo needs to learn to regulate her emotions and it's frowned upon to tackcle and bite people, but it is understandable why she did it. It wasn't malicious, it wasn't because she's dangerous. She's a kid with a crapton of trauma and no one who understands her. Kids without the trauma who have understanding people in their life lose control sometimes because they're kids and don't know better yet.
I’m glad you mentioned that, I was looking through the comments and was going to say this if nobody else does. When I first watched this when I was younger I obviously didn’t know, just that her parents were unfortunately dead. Once I found out, every time I watch it after that, the Pudge part hurts my heart 🥺
I was going to comment something like this. When I was a kid I understood Lilo 100%. All I seen was the artist little kid whos been through some trauma and no one relates to that. Or at least, not anymore. I don't quite understand why the trauma wasn't more talked about, and instead autism was talked about? I never really thought there was anything divergent about Lilo at all, they're kids that are raising themselves after going through horrible trauma.
I always thought Bubbles was just misunderstood, not a bad guy. When the house explodes, Nani says “You don’t understand, she needs me!” And he just gestures to the burning house, saying “Is *this* what she needs?” I always interpreted that as him seeing Lilo in a situation that she should not be in, something he wants to improve.
any other social worker woulda taken Lilo right when he saw the stove that was left on. Bubbles actually let a lot of Nani's blunders slide and I don't think a real life social worker would keep their job for giving all these extra chances that lead to danger.
I love the way they did Bubbles because it would have been really easy to just make him a 2D evil government agent, but they made him a real person who cares about Lilo in his own way.
Bubbles was an antagonist, but not a villain. His presence pushes the plot along, but he ultimately wants what's best for Lilo, and from his perspective, staying with Nani is not that. It's once the aliens show up, we learn his past as a CIA agent, and he reevaluates the situation to build a better life for Lilo & Nani together with the new alien family members
i feel like, not specifically bubbles, but the system that he’s apart of, could have offered nani some sort of assistance. like offer lilo counseling, provide nani with resources for raising a neurodivergent child (if lilo is), people get financial aide and nani more than qualified for it. when she says “you don’t understand, she needs me” she knows her sister isn’t going to be able to properly process this especially without nani, who knows her and knows how she deals with things, this would be hard for any kid to process but assuming lilo doesn’t have the awareness of a neurotypical kid and needs more support and attention, nani knows they can’t just take her away. i feel like this 19 year olds parents died, and she doesn’t even get to grieve them because she’s prioritizing lilo, and no one is offering her any support!
@@jhaneyhamlett We need to stop assuming that every kid is neurodivergent. Lilo is dealing with loss, yes, but that doesn't mean neurodivergence. Nothing that she does indicates neurodivergence either. That's become a buzzword for "kid dealing with something that we don't want kids to have to deal with." She's imaginative, as indicated by her story about the fish and sandwiches, WHICH IS NORMAL, and she made her own little doll, WHICH IS NORMAL (my privileged daughter prefers to make her own things like that since what she makes is unique), and she likes listening to old records...WHICH IS NORMAL. We actually have two record players in this house and hundreds of records going back to 1908, and my daughter has some original Beatles records she plays. Lilo was bummed on the floor after the other girls shunned her, which is so normal that the concern would be if she wasn't affected at all. Regarding assistance, not every conversation between Nani and Bubbles would have been had in front of Lilo, and contrary to what some people say, how they'd "like to see X," they wouldn't be interested in watching it in a movie. If you're able to be honest with yourself, you know that you wouldn't enjoy watching a movie showing adults having those behind-closed-doors conversations, watching Nani fill out paperwork or going to therapy, watching Lilo sit with a therapist, etc, even if all else happens. That would be a boring movie since showing those scenes would slow down the pacing. Very likely, Nani WAS getting assistance since she was able to keep the house (even a paid-off house, presuming their parents owned and paid it off, has taxes, insurance, and other expenses) and buy food and have Lilo in dance and such, despite not having a job. Bubbles telling her to "get a job" was basically an easier way for kids to understand "you need to provide stability, and you aren't doing that." I think a lot of people, including yourself, are forgetting that movies like this need to be coded in ways kids can understand. They can't understand "you need to be providing a stable environment," but they can understand "you need to get a job, which is a thing you regularly do on a schedule," which is something that kids see as stable even if they don't understand the word.
Stitch's speech at the end about his family hits even harder when you remember David's line to him earlier in the movie "You know, I really thought they might have had a chance. And then you came along." And then Lilo's line "You ruined everything." Stitch was MADE to destroy. But when he realized that he was destroying the only people who ever loved him, that's when he changed. And his speech at the end is on some level an expression of relief that, despite the hardship he'd put his new family through, they fixed him and he hadn't broken them.
Stitch in many ways represents a lot of kids who didn’t grow up with a proper foundation full of values. The beginnings of his life were quite chaotic. Not abusive by any means, but he was brought up without any real values such as love and a sense of belonging. I grew up moving around a lot (One of my parents had volatile issues that the court took note of) and lived with different people, so you can believe me when I say that it creates a sense of feeling lost. I was introverted, my sister very extroverted. All of this were captured very well and capitalized upon in the scene where Stitch looks at the Ugly Duckling finding a family that truly embodies what a family truly is.
I never read lilo as neurodivergent. I always saw her as a little kid, coping with a tragic loss, and always admired both Nani and David for the way they were each able to show up in the situation. If neurodivergence was the intention of the creators, I’ve got even more respect for the film, and definitely will be rewatching!
@@imapandaperson People can be neurodivergent AND grieving lmao. The special interests Lilo has wouldn’t be caused by grief, for example. Being autistic is genetic and wired in the brain, it’s an entire way of seeing the world, not a “symptom” of trauma or grief.
You might have misconstrued my comment lol, though I admit I may have worded it poorly. I never ever said she couldn't be both grieving and neurodivergent at the same time (she's a person, duh) --- just that I was watching from a lens of grief/trauma, and wasn't considering/didn't pick up on neurodivergence as another facet of her character on my first watch through. (which was probably dense of me not to pick up on given I have cptsd and ocd and I'm not exactly neurotypical -- plus I have autistic family members. Feel free to facepalm lmaooo) And that the audience was going to resonate with Lilo's sense of isolation from whatever standpoint they were looking at. I also never said that autism was a symptom of trauma??? I know it isn't, and I wouldn't have ever written that omg
But also, not every audience member is going to read her as neurodivergent. To some, special interests may just read as a fact of her character. Tbh until my brother pointed out the possibility of neurodivergency to me (which I totally see now), I just thought Lilo was a creative kid who the other kids ostracized because she was an individual, and because they didn't understand her pain as an orphan. Not everyone who is interested in niche stuff or who is ostracized is neurodivergent. Some are, some aren't. And the great thing about Lilo's character is that it is so well written that a diverse audience of people are going to have a million different understandings/interpretations of the character and her struggles based on what their own personal frame of reference is.
@@RenaissanceRockerBoy apologies! You are correct. Neurodivergence exists independently of emotions like grief. Like a first level filter, if you will, where as emotions are a sort of second level filter. Originally I meant that I’d never thought of lilo as anything other than quirky and coping. There was less societal awareness of neurodivergence; most of us had no knowledge base to identify what we were seeing. Hope that’s a little clearer.
Gosh, I had never considered that Lilo is neurodivergent, that provides so many more layers for understanding and appreciating this movie, which is really one of Disney's best ever, exploring with honesty and compassion the loss and rebuilding of that family, and respectfully presenting the Hawaiian culture, it's just wonderful.
I rewatched the movie a few months back and it definitely crossed my mind a bit, but I never fully connected the dots until this video. So enlightening and insightful. I keep finding reasons to love this movie more and more.
Same! I never even thought about her being nerodivergent! Which is honestly insane because I’m autistic and look at every character I see and basically go “nerodivergent?!” And this was one of my favorite movies too
I was under the impression that she had something more like Schizotypal Personality Disorder rather than Autism Spectrum Disorder. Do you know if either have been confirmed? I'd be interested in knowing for sure if there's an official answer.
As someone who was adopted, Lilo and Stitch is one of my FAVORITE movies. I always cry at the end when he says that this is his family, and he found it all by himself. Found family in general is always something I love, but this movie in particular is just so perfect.
I actually didn’t realize Lilo is neurodivergent; as a kid, I just mainly saw her as different when it came to dolls, and that she was just the classic cartoony, eccentric, flamboyant character that wasn’t uncommon in kids shows. This is profound
Neither did I. I just thought she was more outspoken about her opinions than most people. Didn't really see necessarily anything strange or weird about her personally, minus the spoon voodoo dolls she had for Myrtle and co 😂😂
I honestly don’t see it. Like, I get she’s eccentric but it’s not clear to me that she’s on the Autistic spectrum. She might be but, I’m not really convinced that.
@@msk-qp6fn I could see her autistic especially the fact that she has many interests that most would consider unusual such as her doing voodoo and the pictures of people that she collects. She also has violent outburst at times for no apparent reason which is a sign of some forms of autism which is why I think a lot of people with autism can relate to her.
I really appreciated Cobra Bubbles’ character. So often in tv shows and movies I watched growing up, the social worker was the villain, who seemed to have a goal of taking the child away from their family. But Bubbles openly acknowledges the fact that Nani was /trying/ her dammdest to provide for Lilo. And yes, he was harsh when he was putting Lilo in his car, but from his perspective, Nani had left Lilo home alone /again/ and he arrived as the fire department was rushing to their house.
It's a hard job and hard lessons, my parents lost me and my siblings becouse of neglect,, the last straw was when my sister burnt her back real bad when we where toddlers and my parents tried doctoring it themselfs till she got a very bad infection, my parents never got over it but it had to happen becouse they couldn't take care of us
That’s the thing, we know the whole story (being that Stitch was the one who was causing all these problems) and why all these things keep going wrong but look at it from his perspective. Nani doesn’t have a job, Lilo almost drowned at the beach, Lilo was left alone in a hole that blew up while Nani wasn’t there. You can tell his anger was on Lilo’s behalf because all he saw was Nani not being there.
the issue is alot of times they don't. They can cause more harm then good. I have heard stories of guys like him taking a kid and the kids is NOT happy so their answer is drugs, drugs that even adults it be dangerous with. what bubbles needed to do was study it carefully whoch they show he does.
As a Maui girl, born and raised and now living in CA, I grew up with this movie and it's one of the few Hawaii films that I don't hate because it actually represents Hawaii well and not corny and over the top and has actual voice actors from Hawaii (minus Lilo) to get the accent correct. And the addition of Aloha 'Oe reaches locals on a different level. Plus all the other subtleties of local life and jokes hits right
My kid, Logan, is 5 years old, pretty neurodivergent himself and this has manifested in that he is OBSESSED with Pacific Island culture. He just loves it all, the music, everything. Saving up for a holiday. And you can be damn sure we'll try our best not to be ars hol tourists. Love from Scotland x
@@raeceenieb9842 Oh yes, please! That would be great. I'm not sure yet, I am going to have to do a lot more research into it, any help would be greatly appreciated!
Another way Nani is awesome: when we see Nani's room, it is FULL of surfing contest trophies... and not place trophies, WINNER trophies. She gave up a promising sports career when her parents died, because taking care of her sister was even more important to her than surfing, she loves Lilo that much.
Also can we talk about how David was becoming the father figure but going at the older brother approach with lilo. Like David is underrated with the dynamic he has and actually supporting Nani from the background and helping her with bills, finding work and more. He never pushed a relationship on her and he took his time until she was ready and life wasn't so hectic.
As an autistic child who lost both parents before the age of 10 and was adopted by a close family member who struggled dealing with me, Lilo & Stitch always hit so close to home for me. It became my entire identity for a while growing up because I just felt so close to Lilo as a character.
I was in a group home when this was released on video; it had all of us yelling at the staff, because we felt they were insensitive in showing us hopeless causes a fairytale happy ending that hit too close to home.
@@workingmothercatlover6699 how I feel about Vanellope in Wreck-It-Ralf. As an epileptic person myself, kids made fun of me and teachers kicked me out of their classes because they were scared of my seizures (which is caused by glitches in the brain).
I think another thing I also love about this movie, which is shockingly rare especially in animated films, is that Cobra Bubbles is *not* seen as a bad guy in his role as a social worker. A lot of movies which do have social workers or some kind of child protective services always find some way to paint them as antagonistic or overly mean or grinning ear to ear at the prospect of taking a child away. But Bubbles is really just doing his job, and while he knows Nani is trying her hardest he also is thinking of Lilo, concerned as much for her future and safety as Nani is. Sure, a lot of what happens is out of the hands of Nani due to the alien thing, but he is decidedly very fair. He seems sad when he tells her what has to happen. But yeah, great movie.
This movie truly did teach me not to judge a book by its cover. Cobra's character design is very menacing, but he turns out to be a good person. He even becomes a trusted friend of the Pelekai family! :)
And he's also the reason they get to keep Stitch. He reminds Lilo that she bought Stitch and "aliens are all about the rules." Had Cobra Bubbles not been there, Stitch would have been taken away and Lilo and Nani's family would have been broken even more.
He's also shown to be very open minded. He does need his assurances that they've got something that works, but he's not overly concerned about what shape the family dynamic has. If they want to adopt an alien war machine and do scheduled yelling days he's got their backs 100% if that's the arrangement that works for both Lilo and Nani.
Yeah, Bubbles was a well written character showing a man who also has a difficult job and is just doing his job. Also, I really want to know his CIA backstory
I wanted to bring up something that kind of got rushed over at 18:12. It's not so much that he "Doesn't get it", but that "getting it" isn't his job. His job is the safety and wellbeing of the child (Lilo) and sadly from his perspective Nani is not able to care for her. We as the audience understand that all of these weird things that keep happening are because Nani and Lilo are wrapped up in intergalactic shenanigans, however he never sees that. He sees an exploding house, he sees a caretaker that can't get a job and therefore isn't able to fully care for her much younger sister. I love that he's not made out to be the villain of 'Lilo and Stitch'm but is also able to still do his job, regardless of how cruel it might appear to be.
And considering the state of things when he first met them, Nani was angry, Lilo was left alone at home, Nani was locked out of the house, AND the stove was still on! Outside looking in it doesn’t look good at all! The fact that Cobra Bubbles gave them a few days to have at least something(Nani having a job and stitch showing that he is on the path of a good person), says a lot. He’s trying to not break the family up more than they already are, but movie gonna movie-d and things got worse
This movie feels a lot different when you’re older. Lilo’s grief and inability to connect with others, Nani’s worries and feeling as though she isn’t enough, and giving up on her dreams to care for her sister. Stitch feeling completely isolated biologically and socially. I also like how they included references to Hawaii being taken by invaders/colonizers. The element of mass tourism, photographing tourists (like how tourists would photograph natives), with non native Hawaiians adopting her culture and excluding Lilo, etc. This movie is so meaningful
My mom got very ill the summer Lilo & Stitch came out, and died a little over half a year later. Throughout that whole period, and beyond, I listened to this soundtrack on repeat and watched the movie so many times. It meant so much to me to see a film for kids like me going through such a huge loss, a movie where the death of the protagonist's parents was so central to the story. The family changed, and it wasn't forgotten or ignored. The pain of living beyond such a break was acknowledged so gracefully. I still can't watch it without getting emotional.
I would kill for an episode about Treasure Planet, and have Jono talk about maturity and how much more difficult it is without the presence of a father figure Edit: It is and will AWAYS be my favorite Disney movie
I think a few things were missed: 1. The reaction to "Pudge controls the water" is confusion only from the children, because it flies over their heads. The teens(the older Hula girls) and adults(drummers and teacher) react with horror because they know what happened to the Pelekais and understand how it can affect Lilo. 2. Nani has always been written to be 100% neurotypical, it's her longstanding familiarity with Lilo that allows her to bridge the gap, it's why she also tells Bubbles that she needs her, bc she knows a foster family won't have the wisdom to address Lilo's emotional needs. She's an ordinary teenager(as long as you don't notice the clear implication that she was a pro surfer before becoming orphaned) dealing with being a sole guardian under probation with a limited support system(the closest she has is David, who's a teenager himself). 3. While you did show Stitch's character arc, I think there's more to be said about how important re-socialization is for destructive children, how they can truly be rehabilitated. That's the conclusion the Grand Councilwoman came to when she changed the destination of exile to Kauai and assigned the two girls who clearly turned him into a civilized being as his guardians.
Another thing that I think was missed is even though this is a celebration of Lilo's neurodivergence, I feel like Stitch is the epitome of destructive children with ADHD. This whole movie is essentially representative of my own life. Like Stitch, I am adopted and I feel like I'm from outer space. But like Lilo, I am also different; conforming to other people's expectations is not something I'm wired to do.
@@pinkygunty9706 Hm, my experience with ADHD has been far more in line with Lilo than Stitch, so it hasn't occurred to me, but I have attended school with a Stitch representation. I think Stitch might represent a lot of children who are labeled as miscreants from a very early age and literally don't know anything better.
Exactly! For anyone who has neurodivergent siblings/ parents, it really affects in many ways others in the family. It helped me understand my sister and when other's look from the outside they can notice my sister is "different" but I've grown up with her so ee can communicate very very well and get along
Something I’ve always loved about this movie is the psychology that they put into the smallest details that you don’t realize. Like how she obsessed over Pudge the fish getting a sandwich because he “controls the weather”. Part of it is because of her active imagination and part of it is her trauma from her parents dying in a car accident caused by a storm. And her fascination with taking photos of heavier set strangers is a coping mechanism, something neurotypical people would find strange that, to her, is a hyper fixation on something she believes is beautiful. She’s so complex and the whole movie is just beautiful. It’s perfect for children who are neurotypical and for children who experience loss and depression.
I think behind the scenes they explain lilo takes photos of folks on vacation because a lot of those folks kinda treat the locals like attractions. So this is just her being a lil rebel about it
David and Nani really need their own episodes. There is so much to say about their relationship as individuals and together. As funny as it is as a child I decided if a man wasn't as caring and supportive as David then he wasn't worth the energy 😂
Similar with Nani, I think David is one of those unsung characters. For all the wackiness in this movie and the tv series it spawned, I always recall David being a calm, cool presence in Lilo and Nani's lives.
Wow…that part about the importance of Pudge controlling the weather blew my mind! Just so powerful. And I had no idea that Lilo was Neurodivergent…I just saw her as representing an incredibly unique child who struggled to to connect well with others because of the trauma she’d been through so young. I always thought she was incredible because even though she couldn’t connect with the other girls her age, she never tried to change who she was or even considered that she had a problem. And LOVED how Nani never judged her…she just did literally everything to make life with just the two of them work. And I loved David for the incredible support he was to all of them despite his feelings for Nani. He showed true love for them all. Man, this was so good!! Thank you guys for what you do!!
I mean, to be honest, I don't think she's neurodivergent, I agree that she's just a weird kid. Weird kids exist, that aren't neurodivergent; and yes, you mentioned the trauma she went through and making it a method of coping. But that's just me, I'm no therapist but I don't see her like that, she's just the 'normal' weird kid.
It's also an interesting note that one reason she is so set on getting Pudge a sandwich is he controls the weather... And her parents passed in a stormy night
That is part of our cultural ignorance of autism and other neurodivergent situations at the time and even now. We didn't often label kids as autistic because it wasn't really a common word for us to know in those years. We just labeled them 'weird', 'ADHD', 'disruptive' until the kids learned to mask their behaviors and pretend they weren't experiencing the world in a different way
The beauty with fictional characters is that you can interpret them in many ways. One group of people can interpret her one way, and another group can interpret her another. And even growing up as your view point changes, the character can read differently too. Growing up the term neurodivergent was not part of my life, autism isn't really part of my life either. But I related highly with Lilo, in the sense I saw the world differently, and I was bullied because I was Asian. So I interpreted Lilo as being someone who was different and bullied for her experience and her different family, her's being only her sister, later on a whole intergalactic non-earth family members, and mine being from a different country. Growing up I later saw her as someone who was hyper focusing on her interests and hobbies to cope with her anxieties and her pain, especially from losing her parents, her sister no longer being her sister but mother too, and the whole lost of the family dynamic she had, on top of it, Lilo is also very aware that Nani is having trouble keeping a stable job, in my school, that was something I noticed, kids from lower income families, processed risk and situations differently from the classmates who were well off. Then when I became an adult, I was focused on Nani and her unsaid financial and social struggles, and Stitch, then when I started to teach I refocused on Lilo and her classmates and Stitch and her behavioral issues and it was then I was like "Oh.....she sorta reads neurodivergent." And watching Nani helped me learn to let kids feel what they feel and be gentle with them, be frank, honest but also know that you can't always just logic their behavior away. And David is *chefs kiss* Yes he can come off a little pushy and unable to read the room sometimes, but....for most of it, he is never only focused on Nani, he is always focused on Nani and Lilo as a whole. He's patient, kind, warm, in the series he's a bit clingy sometimes with a bit of a attitude but he's human. At the end of the day, he knew who he liked, but he also could see that Nani could not participate in the usual courtship as other people their age and he adjusted to show his love and support in a different way. And Lilo and David have a great relationship in the series from what I remember too. As far as I'm concerned, Nani and David are my favorite Disney ship.
she gives food to pudge because her parents died during a bad storm so she thinks she needs to give him offerings to keep that from happening to anyone else.
Wow, I never explicitly identified Lilo as neurodivergent. I related to her so much as a kid. I remember using the movie to express to my mom how I felt especially around making friends. That humans were hard but animals were easy, that I talked to the wind cause the wind never left. It’s been over a decade, I think it’s time for a rewatch
I never saw her as Neuro divergent but more that she was wise beyond her years because she had SEEN more than others had by her age. Her finding joy in weird/unique stuff was because she had to occupy herself due to not having friends and no close in age siblings. It's why Nani got her a "dog" in the first place.
My nephew lives with me full time and we watch this movie a lot. We say Ohana a lot and I have to hide under the blanket for a little cry every time because this one hits home. ❤
I love Lino's pictures. In a way, she's doing to the tourists what the tourists do to her. The creators address this in a deleted scene; she takes pictures of them because the tourists treat her like she’s some sort of attraction that’s there for their amusement. But taking the photos she turns it around of them and makes these intruders her source of amusement. That her sister develops those pictures is not only showing support of Lilo's special interest, she is also quietly telling Lilo that she's right in how she feels about the tourists and the way they treat them.
"I hear you cry at night. Do you dream about them?" "I remember everyone who leaves." Those hit me WAY too hard. I did not remember those lines. And I relate to them excessively.
When I was 19 my idea of cooking was pop tarts and I played video games and watched Disney movies all day, I cannot imagine loosing my parents and then becoming a full time caregiver and legal guardian to my 8 year old sister. Nani is the unsung hero of all Disney movies
You mention Treasure Planet in this episode, and I think it really deserves its own episode. The dynamic between Jim and Silver and the interaction that had with Jim's memory of his father and his life up to that point are so impactful and worth talking about
My grandparents (RIP) had a childlike stigma against cartoons, and sought out live-action versions of things whenever they could. When I convinced my grandma to watch Lilo & Stitch with me, she was so caught off guard by the opening minutes she asked me if we were even watching the right movie, and by the end, she was absolutely jaw-dropped with how maturely handled the social worker plot and family dynamic was. She just thought Stitch was a cute cartoon dog having adventures and not much else. She had no clue he was a rehabilitated evil.
Oh gosh. This one. This movie came out 1 year after my mom’s first medical incident and 3 years before my single mother passed away and left my older sister to raise a 15 year old on her own. I also grew up doing competitive hula dancing from the age of 5-16 and my Hawaiian name is similar in sound to Lilo: Lili’i. This movie was the greatest comfort to me. I felt so seen. I felt so understood. I also have ADHD and ASD. The movie continued to help me feel seen as I got order. The line “I like you better as a sister” just hits so hard. My sister was my best friend and the transition from being my sibling to my parent wrecked us both. We are still very close 16 years later but we are still healing from the roles we had no choice but to take. You lose so much when you are orphaned, including the relationships you get to “keep”, they change forever. I love this movie. I’m so thankful for it. Thank you for this video ❤
Also one of my favorite parts of this movie is you don’t understand why Pudge the fish is so important to appease in the beginning until you realize Lilo’s parents died in a rain storm. That desire for control over things we don’t control manifests in seemingly strange ways with children ❤️
“Lost” and “put back together” … literally what Lilo and Stitch means… so much wonderful and deep meaning was put into this movie. It’s a beautiful story!
I love the scene, where Stitch tries to find his family through reenacting the ugly duckling. It is so well connected to his growth, because he evolves in a way he himself did not expect. He thought he needed a straight out-of-book family which would find him and be perfectly good. But the family that was actually best for him was already there. Lilo told him so, while he left, but he kept clinging to the idea of traditional family. And it is so heartbreaking. Especially when Lilo tells the audience about him crying at night.
"Reenacting", friend! For your future use. Your comment is interesting... I'd never really thought of it that way. I know as a kid it always kinda confused me. Haven't seen it in a long time tbh, so I probably would've picked that up just fine as an adult. Doesn't help I have severe memory issues lol
@V. S. I couldn't tell, actually. I just figured you'd either never heard the word, or never seen it, or both. 🤷 You sound about as fluent as anyone else who speaks English.
I also love Cobra Bubbles in this because they actually treat a social worker like a good person, instead of a vindictive monster determined to destroy love and fun. Bubbles is an antagonist, but he's also a good guy. He wants what's best for Lilo. He pushes Nani when he has to, and is gentle with her when he gives her the bad news. He only gets mad at her when he thinks she put Lilo in danger. And in several scenes he shows genuine concern for this little girl that he just met and barely understands. And then he saves the day from aliens. Again.
As someone on the spectrum, Lilo’s struggle with social connections reminds me of myself growing up, and even now. It’s why I get so emotional with this movie.
me too,, im autstic and seeing the scenes of her fighting with her sister and being disappointed with family is just TOO real... especially with the emotional outbursts we both get. one of the best and most beautiful disney films out there to represent those on the autistic spectrum
I love the detail that the storm clouds vanish at the start of the film after Pudge gets his sandwich, but also the reason behind her concern over the weather is heartbreaking.
the ending scene when stitch is about to be taken away is such a great ending because in the beginning, the only thing they really wanted from stitch was to show signs of intelligence. that’s what his monologue in the end, an intelligent and cohesive sentence that displayed empathy. hence why he was able to stay
A sad thing I never really thought about is Nani had to take custody of lelo and take care of her when they lost their parents. That kind of implies they didn't have any grandparents, aunts or uncles or anything. Makes it all the more sad because they truly only have eachother and Nani is trying her best.
As someone who was late diagnosed with ADHD I hadn't before considered that one reason I've always empathised with and loved lilo so much is she's also coded neurodivergent. This is a real comfort movie to me thank you so much for diving into it!
I also was diagnosed with ADHD later, and had a similar experience. I always related to Lilo and could never explain exactly why until I heard the theory that she was written as neurodivergent. Then everything made so much more sense.
What's strange to me is I have severe ADHD and I was diagnosed at age 7 (which considering that I'm a girl and born in the 90s is kinda remarkable that they caught it so early) and I adored this film and rewatched it frequently but I never clued In to the fact that Lilo was neurodivergent but even more interestingly is that I empathized much more for Nani. I don't know if it's simply because I'm an eldest sister who gets extremely frustrated with her younger siblings (neurotypicals) especially the youngest or what it is. I always latched on to her emotions more than Lilo and I cannot quite figure out why that is. Realistically I can relate to aspects of Nani, Lilo and stitch today at 28 but it's very surprising to me that I never identified with Lilo as a kid and realized I share traits with her. The only thing I think that made me disconnect fundamentally with her is that I never acted violently or angrily towards anyone, including my bullies... I have an incredibly short temper for stress and patience and machines not working etc but in regards to people I have a temper but it's extremely short lived and I'm more likely to say something I'll regret over doing something like throwing punches although within the few moments of anger I do fantasize about throwing punches, flipping tables, choking someone but I've NEVER acted on these thoughts. My method with bullies was to kill them with kindness which thankfully worked out for me but doesn't for a lot of people. I found things to genuinely compliment them on and the teasing eventually stopped. We didn't become friends or anything but they realized I was nice or something.
Pudge controlling the weather hits harder when you remember her parents died in a car crash in the rain. Then you realize Nani was like 18 when she stopped any goals for her life (I mean look at the surf medal and whatnot in her room) to raise and help her baby sister. That's always a surprise when people try to say Frozen is first Disney sister love movie
I feel like Stitch's role in Lilo's healing and his own need for healing isn't talked about enough. Stitch is just as neurodivergent as Lilo he just exhibits different tendencies. Whereas in Lilo many see autism, in Stitch i saw myself represented through ADHD. He's impulsive and destructive and can be a little mean like with mertle and the dog who wants to sniff him, but you're even told in the movie that it's all he knows how to do, and he doesn't even have memories to comfort him in the still quiet moments. It feels like he destroys to distract himself, and also because people both in space and on earth don't respect his autonomy, treating him like and animal, freak, or monster for things he can't help. Lilo is the only one who truly sees him and acknowledges his personhood, his feelings. Because she sees herself in him. That's part of why it's so important for her that Stitch not be seen as some sort of irredeemable monster and she takes his "model citizenship" training seriously. if he can't be redeemed, what does that say about her? when the two of them are so similar? another thing is how nani and david both accept Stitch rather easily. They don't get him, but they include him, like when they're surfing. He needed family too. Stitch is just as lost and broken as Lilo is, and they needed to see themselves in each other so they could both learn that they are loved and accepted exactly as they are. That their family is a place where they'll always belong.
Your line about stitch "not having the memories to comfort him in the still quiet moments" hit me. I think that's what took me so long to get to the point I wanted to heal. It wasn't until I started making memories to hold on to that I started wanting to live with my neurodivergence.
I do wonder if stich is also being potrayed as having ptsd, for example at the beach when everyone was taking pictures of him and he reacted with violence, it seemed like he was triggered then
Precisely, I really related to Nani and Lilo's bond. As a big sister myself, I would jump over fire for my brother, and we've grown closer the older we've gotten.
Great idea bringing an animator/VA on for this movie! Rebecca provided a ton of lovely insight to the video with her field of knowledge and experience! Thank you all for bringing some real unsung qualities of this film to justice.
As a person from Hawaii, this movie meant so much to me as a kid. From the special aspects that relates to how tourists and native Hawaiians think of each other to the culture. Thank you so much for covering this movie :)
The integral message that family is neither left behind or forgotten is so powerful. Lilo understands that people leave her, yet I think her saying “I’ll remember you” is her way of saying she still thinks of them as family.
As a neurodivergent kid (although I didn’t really know at the time) and who had abandonment issues and was mostly raised by my older brother (who was called David btw!) this movie meant the absolute world to me and honestly made me feel seen and helped me through so much. I’m so glad they made this movie ☺️
I am a neurodivergent individual who never got the chance to get diagnosed in my youth. When you said often neurodivergent children don’t get the credit for their wisdom (20:01〜) it wrecked me. It reminded me of the day when my grandfather had passed away, and I was mourning him the best I could, telling my little brother that it is ok to cry, after a while you will feel better, trying to help my mother like an adult (at that time I was only like eight years old), asking my father why he is fighting back tears when he clearly seems distressed and sad. My relatives treated me a bit like a freak since I was making the conversation in a very monotone manner and voice. Still hurts a lot when I think about it.
I know I can't fix the hurt you went through then and carried all these years, but you were doing an amazing job and I'm sorry no one acknowledged that in the moment and made you feel as proud and appreciated as you should have felt. You were just a little kid and it wasn't on you at all to help the others around you like that, but you did it anyway and that's amazing
It hurts to see so many only care for Stitch. Lilo & Nani deserve more attention. Thank you so much for doing this video! As an adoptee, sisters 15+ yrs older & disabilities Lilo spoke volumes to me.
Here freaking here. My first reaction on seeing the film was "wow, sibling relationships as they actually are." Also as a chance to start to know a culture I'm thousands of miles away from yet recognise as a minority in my own country. It gave me so many feels. Stitch is a fantastic character but he's a loony toon at best without that family.
That’s because many grew up watching Lilo and Stitch and as a kid, you pay more attention to the cute and crazy talking animal than the emotional moments in the movie. Though now that we’re older, if you talk about Lilo and Stitch then people will often bring up how awesome David and Nani are.
It’s worse in Japan. They apparently hated Lilo, but loved Stitch. Despite their issues being so similar. It makes sense with their complete neglect of mental health, so they hate the kid who’s grieving & not processing her emotions well, and with the culture of being always obedient and appealing to those in higher positions to the neglect of themselves. I get why, but it still bothers me how they threw her character away and obsessed over the alien who exhibits similar traits to Lilo, but cuz hes an alien, it’s okay. They completely missed the point of the movie
@@ma.2089 Japan also has a very apathetic view towards orphans and foster kids seeing them as "unwanted children." And since they still hold onto to family lineage as a measure of a person's character, children with no lineage are too much of a wildcard.
@@ma.2089 For a more in-depth explanation, LadyVirgilia's video titled "The Truth about Goro Akechi," is a good starting point in understanding Japan's koseki system. But there are spoilers for the videogames Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal.
16:20 This really spoke to me. I was diagnosed with ASD as a child (Autistic Spectrum Disorder; formerly Asperger's Syndrome). Something I got a lot was the line "Why can't you just me normal!?", mostly from my own Father. It's amazing how much people miss when it comes to Autism. ND people aren't wrong or right, weird or normal, they're just 'different'. I always hated the word "special" because it felt like positive discrimination. It exoticized a mental illness. I don't think Autism should be praised or judged, just accepted wholesale, faults and all.
ASD isn't a mental illness, is it? There is a big difference between mental illness and mental disorder. Illness implies something that can be treated. Disorder implies a fundamental difference in brain wiring that cannot be changed. Hence why Autism is a disorder and not an illness, right?
I relate so much. 😢 My mother was in permanent denial, that nothing was 'wrong' with me, that it was a phase I would grow out of. I didn't get diagnosed until just over two years ago, at the age of 32. Getting that validation was a huge relief.
This movie hits me so hard as an adult. I now realize this was and still is one of my all-time favorite movies because of my complex PTSD! As a kid, I was able to relate to Lilo in some ways. Loss and grief happened three years after this movie came out which makes it hit even harder.
One thing I love about Lilo is she actually acts like a kid. I have a lot of cousins who are her age and they messy, loud, annoying and sometimes violent. Love her so much, she will always be my favorite child protagonist
Thank you guys so much for this session. Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite movies ever. I related so much to Lilo as an autistic being, that for a while I hyperfixated on the movie, tv show, and sequels. Thank you so much Alan. Jono, and Becca. Big hugs and many thank yous for each of you.
It's important to note that many of lilo's eccentricities actually come from the trauma of losing her parents. They probably grew up in the 1960s when Elvis was very famous in Hawaii, having done several films there. She keep their memory Alive by connecting with Elvis Presley's career and music every chance she gets. Because their parents died in wet weather, and she believes that Pudge the fish controls the weather, she offered him sandwiches every Thursday since the accident to make sure that nobody else died in rainy weather. Most interesting of all, however, I would argue at least, is the fact that lilo Forgives stitch for his destructive programming that compels him to instinctively destroy everything he touches comma because she believes that it's simple neurodivergence. There is nothing malicious about it. She knows, because she is the same way.
I love this movie so much. One time I road the Tower of Terror and thought I broke a rib with how many Stitch pins slammed into my chest on my lanyard.
It's a bit of column a and a bit of column b. It's not unreasonable to see ASD traits in Lilo. She would follow a lot of the DCIM5. It's just worth remembering that Sanders and DeBlois never intended to make a ND character. Their notes, their animation practices, the lot of it is pretty available. This was the era of DVD extras. At one point Lilo was going to a cowgirl. Yet, they expanded on her over time and the TV series even gave her an episode explaining how she mourns every year. What is without doubt is she is hands down the best written Disney kid, possibly to date. She is flawed, truly loving, aspirational but also real. I fell in love with Sanders work after this film. He is also How to train your dragon, The Croods and is Stitch's voice. He wrote the soul of Lilo and Stitch's story because he wanted to ask why villains had to die at all (after being in Mulan's story team). So he created a little girl who could find his heart.
I grew up with this movie and I never fully got the relationship with Nani and Lilo until I was an adult older sister to someone 9 years younger than me. I watched it with her as an adult when my relationship with her was at its worst and I just broke down into tears and hugged her and promised I would do better. I had resented her for "getting babied" because mom learned how to be a better parent, for getting more attention from Mom, for having both parents living together (she was born around when Mom remarried after divorcing my dad). Growing up, we shared a room but I only saw her on weekends and all she wanted was to hang out with me while I was there, but I saw it as the baby bothering me when I wanted to be alone. It took over a decade for me to see my mistake and luckily we have a better relationship now.
@@epicureanbard I identify with both because I'm an older sister and an Aspie. My parents also circumvented a lot of potential resentment by talking to us, particularly me, about how they *learned* to be parents. It's kind of a running joke now that I'm the family guinea pig. I still got annoyed at my little sisters because they seemed to *always* want to play with me and I didn't know *how* to play with others. Or they'd sit outside my door and giggle while I practiced guitar. I thought they were laughing at me because I sucked. They thought I sounded great and were giggling from how sneaky they thought they were.
"This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It´s little, and broken. But still good". Everytime I cry my eyes out at this scene. As someone who lost many family members and only has a tiny number left this hits so hard.
Ohmigosh! I just realized Stitch could be a representation of Lilo's subconscious struggles. That's why she's able to voice all of the things he is going through. The whole movie is actually about Lilo's inner wounding and the compassion that sort of struggle can give us. 🤯 Whoa!
You should look into Disney Conspiracy threads across the internet, because I think you're on to something and could become a contributor. From Cars being cyborg humans who came to earth after Wall-E, to Sully from Monsters Inc being Boo's method of interpreting the trauma of getting kidnapped, I think you'd fit right in and have fun.
The reason Lilo gives Pudge a sandwich is as she believes controls the weather and her parents died in a storm so she thinks if gives the fish a sandwich then bad weather won’t happen to cause anyone else to lose someone. Also if you look in the background of Nani's room you will not only see a Mulan posted, but many surfing trophies and she gave it all up to raise Lilo. Which going into the next point when they first showed the film to test audiences they were confused thinking Nani was Lilo's mom so to clarify this they have the word "sister" said many times throughout the film. Lastly some Disney film recommendations I have very few people have reacted to include: The Rocketeer, Sister Act (1 & 2), Something Wicked This Way Comes, And Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
It’s impossible not to cry with this movie. What Allan said, about this working without the action and comedy scenes, is so real because I cried 6 different times while watching this video. This movie is SO good!
When I was a kid, I was Lilo. At 16 my family was "broken" so I had to become Nani. When this film came out, I cried the whole way through. Once I found out I was neurodivergent and learned to manage my mental health, life became easier. Still one of my favorite films, and I thank you guys for keeping this going
Being a child diagnosed with autism later in life, this video made me cry. Because Johnathan is so right, people don’t get it. I grew up my entire life wondering why I wasn’t like other people. Getting older, with maturity, other people started accepting me which honestly startled me at first. I wasn’t used to observing others engaging with me first simply because they wanted to. Neurodivergents certainly are still people. Thank you for this video 💕
At age 6 I was diagnosed with "undiagnosed spectrum disorder," which is now recognized as Asperger's. My mother was so afraid of the stigma that she refused to let me get treatment, so now later in life I still struggle with interpersonal interactions; one of the key things Johnathan pointed out is a neurodivergeant person's affinity towards truth, and it's really very frightening to live in a world of lies when you're hardwired to be honest.
They didn’t talk about it in this video but David is probably one of the best Disney love interests. He helps take care of Lilo, helps Nani look for jobs, and most of all respects the fact that Nani has to play the role of a parent now and tries his best to support her in that, all without actually dating Nani.
As the eldest in my family who essentially helped raise my brothers when my moms health took a dive and my dad got too busy with work, I still relate so hard to Nani. But I’m also neurodivergent like Lilo (I have ADD, anxiety, and depression). So I connected with both of them and I just still love this movie so much to this day, it helped me understand myself better and got me through some rough times.
My dad passed away when I was 9. After that, it was just me and my mom. The line, “This is my family. It’s little and broken, but still good” always resonated with her. Now it’s just me. Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite Disney movies, but I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever find the strength to watch it again
I can relate to you very much. I have loved this movie even before my dad died in 2021. But now it’s hard to watch. If I didn’t have hope from the Bible that I would see him again I don’t think I could live each day. I hope that you have a hope that gets you through.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I've lost a lot of family in the last few years and hadn't watched this movie since I was a kid. But now just watching the few clips they showed caused me to tear up thinking about the family I've lost physically and just lost touch with period. I was starting off this video thinking of how much I loved this movie and how much I want to rewatch it, but honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to make it through without crying.
Fun fact Nani, was the best surfer around. Hense the trophys in her room. She was going to win first place in one competition the time their parents passed away. So it’s also touching because Nani put her dream of surfing to be there for lilo. ❤️
I never saw Lilo as weird, i found her just relatable and never got why others did treat her like that, just like how i experienced childhood. I'm still waiting for a spectrum diagnosis but my brother is diagnosed with autism which made me question my own life.
I love all these characters but yeah, Nani and David are amazing. Nani works so hard, and David is so accepting and understanding, being helpful and supportive even though Nani can't be with him the way he wants. He isn't upset at her or ignoring her because he isn't getting his way--he understands her struggles and does his best to show up for her in whatever ways she needs, because he so genuinely cares about her AND Lilo. It's really beautiful
The hammock scene in this movie broke me as a kid, and broke me again today. not only do I come from a severly broken family, the reality of the government tearing your family apart hit home. CPS is terrifying when your parents love you, but struggle to care for you. I'm forever grateful that we're all still here.
The transition of starting childhood and identifying with lilo, and now growing up and identifying with Nani.. just shows how well they captured the reality of both stages of life.
Nani is my most favorite character ever. I always love how hard Nani tries to allow Lilo to be herself. If Lilo says something that other people would think is strange, Nani follows along. She always works within Lilos understanding instead of trying to force her to think like “normal” people. Even when she looses her job, she tells her sister that the manager is a vampire. Or when they go to the animal shelter and Lilo suggests they get a pet lobster and Nani’s response fits within Lilos logic. “Do we have a lobster door? No we have a dog door”. When she yells at MR. Bubbles as he’s trying to take Lilo away “but you don’t know what you’re doing, she needs me!”, you can feel how worried she is for Lilo to end up with a family that will make her feel weird, different. Nani never does that. As hard as it is for Nani’s life, trying to be a mother to her sister at a young age, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to provide out of her love for her sister and her love for their family. 😢 I’ll never not cry during this movie
While I can see Lilo as neurodivergent, more so I see her as a child trying to make sense of grief and loss. Feeding the fish because it controls the weather is bargaining. Treating Stitch as a misunderstood child is trying to parent after losing her parents. Desperation to keep family together is the fear of losing family out of nowhere. Fits of anger and violence is emotions she doesn’t quite understand. Knowing children who lost a parent very young, they don’t always express that loss obviously. It comes out in the ways similar to Lilo.
I was coming here to comment something similar, so I will just reply to this comment. As someone who is neurodivergent myself, I do love the idea of Lilo as neurodivergent and she COULD be neurodivergent, and perhaps more importantly she is relatable for many neurodivergent people. AND I happen to know that it is VERY common for children with PTSD to be misdiagnosed as autistic or autistic children to be diagnosed as having PTSD (if there is trauma there) and autism ends up overlooked. Someone once said that if someone isn’t VERY knowledgeable about both autism and PTSD things can sometimes go wrong in the diagnosis process. Outwardly, autistic children and children with PTSD can have very similar behaviors. Also, autistic children commonly have PTSD themselves. So it can be very complex. Lilo could be autistic. She could be an ADHDer. She probably DOES have PTSD (though they do not show nightmares they certainly show other signs like mentioned in the above comment). She likely is neurodivergent AND struggling with PTSD. But I wouldn’t be upset at all if she is not neurodivergent and is dealing with PTSD because that is also important to have representation of in such a beautiful way. And Lilo can still be so helpful for neurodivergent people, and for kids with PTSD and their loved ones, etc.
This movie keeps finding new ways to make me emotional. I think many oldest siblings have thought about how we would go about trying to do exactly what Nani has been forced to figure out. That anxiety was incredibly hard to get past even after my siblings were grown. Nani was drawn with realistic proportions for an audience accustomed to having EDs reinforced by the media we consumed. David is an amazing example of a man genuinely being friends with a woman and accepting boundaries within that relationship. Everything mentioned in the video about Lilo and the effort the animation team put into depicting Hawaii and the realities of modern life there especially for the native residents. Most importantly Lilo & Stitch is one of the main things which taught me family isn't necessarily who I happen to be related to, it's who I decide is worthy of being kept close and treasured.
" I think many oldest siblings have thought about how we would go about trying to do exactly what Nani has been forced to figure out." This. I remember that my parents were out one night and the police rang our bell. The whole 10 seconds or so it took me to open the window to talk to them my mind was racing. I thought about how I could take care of my siblings and how I could keep us together. I think I was 15 at the time and my siblings were 10 and 9. This memory hasn't left me in nearly 30 years. (It turned out that the police was just asking after a neighbors house they couldn't find.)
So wonderful to have been a part of discussing this beautiful movie!! Thank you for having me!! ❤
Loved having you on the channel, and hearing your input, Rebecca. I can't wait to check out more of your content. 💞
I was so excited to see you guys collaborating, never expected this blessing but I'm so very happy to have two of my favourite TH-cam channels and a childhood favourite film all together
The moment I saw them comment on your video and suggest the collab, I've been waiting for it to happen!!! You guys should do this again!
Please make more animated TH-cam videos- we miss you 🤍
I love your content. I didn't even recognize you at first but then I heard your voice and I was so excited.
This is such a small detail but like.... I love that the alien queen corrects herself without missing a heartbeat when Stitch tells her that's his name. Obviously she then pauses because she realizes he's different from when she last saw him... But like... She's just so.. Blatantly accepting. It was never about control or exercising authority, she's not a villain. It was purely just that Stitch was dangerous and she didn't want others to get hurt. But the minute she realizes he's no longer dangerous she's basically like, "Oh. Chill. Go live your life, friend." Like.. I love her omg.
she thought stitch was plain mindless and destructive due to the nature he was made with, that and he was genetically engineered with traits from species that are mindless destructive creatures from their respective home planets, the fact that stitch can understand the concept of name means he can be reformed because he's not mindless. Stitch could've been just a bioweapon of mass destruction but he learned to want to protect things
I was rolling in laughter when she looks at Bubbles Cobra and when she says that he looks familiar, he tersely answers "Roswell, 1949" at which she replies "Ah yes, you had hair then".
@@stephaniecowans3646 This exchange is still the one I laugh to the hardest whenever I watch this movie haha
That's such a good point
Exactly. She just had her society’s best interest in mind. She looked honestly super relieved Stitch found happiness.
One thing I like about this movie is how David is clearly into Nani, and she is into him, but he's not pushy about wanting to be with her. He sees where her life is at, how she can't allow for a relationship at the moment, and is totally chill and supportive of her, because he's just a good, decent person
Yeah, I love David for that too! We need to see more like him in other movies.
THIS!! i never really thought abt him much as a kid becaus ehe was just in the background, but it was later that i realized him and Nani had smth going on but he knew it was not the right time and he stuck around not to just "wait for his chance" but because he really cared for her...same with Milo from Atlantis (another very underrated disney man)...he was crushing so hard over Kida (i mean who wasn't amiright) but he wasn't helping her translate the ruins just to get close to her but because he genuinely wanted to help and was fascinated by the culture and when Rourke took her after she merged with the crystal he went to save her not for any reward but because it was the right thing to do...at the end was so sweet too because it ended just with them hugging and holding hands, nothing more and don't get me wrong i love sappy romance stories and "love at first sight" but i like how the creators didn't force the romance into it (much)
David seriously realized and understood that she needed someone caring and supportive in her life FIRST, and anything romantic could come later. And it never felt like a matter of him trying to prey on her vulnerability, but a genuine caring for her
YEEEEEES
David is the REAL Disney prince we need
Nani is such an under appreciated character. She's not a princess, she's not rich, she doesn't have super powers, she barely even has a job. Her problems are so real and it makes it that much more heartbreaking. And unlike all the other Disney/Pixar orphans, she has responsibilities.
shes the best sister. I always looked up to her
Her relationship with David is beautiful and tragic. There’s a mutual attraction but they both know Nani isn’t ready for a relationship yet he never hold it against her or holds expectations of one. David helps Nani and Lilo because he’s a good person and wants to see them in a good place.
*She's a princess in my heart ❤️*
She even gave up her surfing career for her sister. If you look in her room when lilo shows her that stitch is a speaker, you will see surfing trophies. She may have been a champion in the making.
She’s such a great character ❤🎉
Lilo not even thinking before beating Myrtle up will ALWAYS make me cry laughing
Loved that scene
Myrtle should have kept her mouth shut
somthing somthng actions consequences somthing
@@pamelah1220
myrtle fucked around and found out
Myrtle: You're crazy
Lilo: apparently you're suicidal
*doom music starts*
I love how Nani isn't perfect, she yells, she's frustrated, she doesn't get the ice cream thing, but she tries so hard and would do anything for her sister.
She’s also 19
Literally every parent. We all mess up but we love our kids and that’s the important thing
She tries her best, like any parent
@{The Autumn Wind} came here to say this. Love HAS to include enough self-awareness to see when one has made a mistake, and the humility to be willing to admit it. This goes triple for parents considering the massive power imbalance between them and their kid.
@@nebraskamax1476 Agreed, there have been abusive parents that live by "I make mistakes, I'm human" almost like they're trying to admit or apologize to what they've done, while not completely holding the blame.
That line “I like you better as a sister than as a mother” just wrecks me every time.
That whole scene always reminds me of me and my aunt when we were younger.
"I remember everyone that leaves" gets me so badly.
I don't remember that line.
Funny thing is that line was added as part of their attempts to establish that Nani is Lilo's sister. Early test screenings revealed people thought she was Lilo's mother, so they modified the scene and added these lines to clear up any misunderstanding.
@@MakoTheFish just rewatched it, was struggling to hold it together when she said that. 😭
The fact that Lilo is Hawaiian for "lost" and Stitch means "put back together" always makes me appreciate this movie even more!
Thanks for that... i didnt know that. That is good to know.
never thought of the meaning in stitches name before
That makes the title 10x better, I love it so much
And Nani means “what” (albeit in Japanese but still), so put the three of them together and they’re “What’s lost and put back together”.
That is good to know. I am going to cry now.
The scene with Lilo saying "you can be part of our family, or you can leave if you want" tears me up. Talk about boundless unconditional love that in the same breath she is able to love someone enough to both invite them into her circle or respect their desire to find their own. Not to mention the context of what "ohana" means. With her saying "I won't forget you", she is effectively affirming that Stitch is already family to her and deeply loved. God that was such good writing.
😢😢😢
I remember everyone that leaves
@@blackmamba54321 Just hammers home how much rejection and loss this girl has lived through, and she's only 6!
that is the one that got me@@blackmamba54321
It's so sad how much Lilo has gone through, but she DOES have Nani, and now Stitch ❤❤❤❤😂😂😂😂
Nani is the hero of this movie.
Good
Good
Great video
👍
Good
As an adult, Nani's struggle to try to provide for Lilo after their parents died really hits home. Lilo's line of "I liked you better as a sister than as a mom" sums up their changing relationship, and how they both find it difficult to adjust to their new situation.
The more adult I become the more her tragedy sits with me.
@@Firegen1 Greetings, Firegen1, we meet again! 😁 Likewise, I really feel for Nani's situation more as I get older, and I've noticed that there are surfing trophies in Nani's room, indicating that she had to put her dreams aside to care for Lilo.
as a kid, i’d watch this movie over and over (it was one of three or four kid’s movies that we had on dvd) and i always thought “it’s like me and my big sister,” but little did i know it would hit home a lot harder now that i’m 20. granted, the circumstances are different, but nani and lilo’s sisterhood is by far one of the best aspects of the movie
As the eldest daughter in an immigrant family, I found myself having to be a parent at a very young age and I’ve always hated and resented that. I resented my parents and my sisters. Now, as an adult, I find it so difficult to navigate my relationship with my sisters from a non-parental angle and my parents still keep me on that line between both worlds. It’s really affected my mental health terribly and our family dynamic. My entire life has been about working my way out of that and putting as big a distance from them as possible, despite all of my love for them and their love for me.
Nani was trying to fill the space of their mom. It didn’t have anything to do with providing for Lilo but rather, how she changed personality wise. That’s what Lilo meant when she said that. Nani was trying to act more like her mom than her sister.
it was also implied that Nani wanted to be a professional surfer, given all the trophies and medals in her room, but she had to abandon that dream in order to get a job and raise Lilo. it must have been such a sudden turmoil that both of them were thrown into and it's amazing how well Nani was trying to adapt and make Lilo feel loved at the same time. it's already so difficult to get a job as a young adult, i can only imagine how hard it must be for someone who has no safety net to fall on, and has to raise a child at the same time. Nani was really an amazing strong character who deserves more appreciation in the Disney fandom.
also, i love that Lilo is not the "child prodigy with no feelings" stereotype of an autistic person. autistic people can be smart or nerdy. but movies often makes it seem like a superpower, which is absolutely not true. i like that this movie shows both the strengths and difficulties that come with being neurodivergent. Lilo is an incredibly smart child, but it's clear that she is struggling a lot and is a lot more nuanced character. she is not portrayed like a robot with no feelings, she is so realistically human and vulnerable like any other child.
I wouldn't be too quick to label Lilo or any other fictional character as neurodivergent though.
@@Furienna why not?
@@skyhideaway I'm autistic, but I've become more careful about giving fictional characters a diagnosis now than what I was when I was younger.
But there's a big trend of people doing just that these days, and it's great that they find someone to relate to.
However, the problem is that there will be someone, who simply can't see themselves in a certain character, so they wouldn't want him/her to be associated with them.
For example, I have a lot of hatred towards the movie "Simple Simon" for this reason despite that people who clearly know nothing about autism lauded it.
Ostensibly, it is about a guy with the same disability as me, but yikes, he's just a stereotype based on some ignorant film-maker's awful prejudices about autism.
So it's really hard to get it right, and it's more safe to just let a character be who he or she is without putting a label on him or her.
I hate the autistic child prodigy or autistic savant stories* and I love Lilo for not playing into it. I'm not certain autism is ever mentioned in the movie and I don't know where the idea started but she fits so well. I was very young when this came out and I've never been a huge Disney fan despite being extremely into animation, but Lilo and Stitch always stayed in my memory as the one Disney movie I genuinely love. I guess I know why.
*autistic prodigy and savant stories are intended well but have two major issues. 1. Most autistic people are not prodigies or savants. Autism basically runs the full range of human intelligence and skills and some are prodigies or savants but most are not. In general, it's probably going to be much safer to assume an autistic person you meet is not much different from anyone else in terms of intelligence. I've seen the term "spiky profile" used because we tend to be fairly good at certain things and notably worse in some areas than the more general population and I think that's accurate for some but it's still not a guarantee. Second, savant and prodigy depictions kind of give an underlying and very unintentional message that your worth must be earned, that if you weren't a savant or prodigy, you wouldn't be worth caring about. It's obviously unintended but the idea is there.
Well not only that, but both of them are still grieving their parents too.
I’m glad it was mentioned that LILO believes that pudge controls the weather and that she HAS to feed him because her parents died on a night with bad weather. I respect her as a child trying to not only make sense of what she has been put through but also trying gain control and stop it from happening again and losing even more of her family. ❤
Oh man, the feels 😭
This, also, having learned more (in life) it seems to me more that Lilo is dealing with trauma not necessarily Autism (though that could be a factor too)
@@crematia2332autism can affect how you deal with trauma. Just speaking as someone with autism who's been through some trauma even though luckily it didn't involve death
Isnt there also a mythical fish in Hawaiian culture that controls the weather? Im pretty sure that any kid, autism or going through trauma or whatever, who knows that myth, would look at a cool, friendly-enough-to-be-fed wild fish and think "yeah, this is the magic fish that controls the weather"
@@Neva252there is a rumor that Pudge might not be a god who controls weather but he might be a god that does other stuff.
The broken family is pulled together by someone named Stitch. It's perfect!
Also, the detail that appeasing the weather-controlling fish is IMPORTANT to Lilo, because bad weather killed her parents, is a really subtle one as far as children's movies go.
🤯
Fun fact: Lilo means lost in Hawaiian so in a way the lost needed the stitch to repair all she lost
She also missed out on the fact that fish do, in fact, eat other fish. So feeding Pudge tuna wouldn't be too out of line, although pudge would more likely be food for the tuna
And honestly it's something I never noticed.
1000th like! :3
Lilo's reasoning behind giving Pudge a sandwich because he controls the weather:
Later in the movie, Lilo tells Stitch the day her parents died from a car crash in a storm, she'd forgotten to give Pudge a sandwich. So, in her mind, the storm was caused by Pudge not getting a sandwich that day. So making sure Pudge gets a sandwich everyday is a BIG deal to prevent anyone else she loves from dying.
Props to Rebecca for acknowledging this at 21:25!
And it's why she reacts so strongly to any suggestion that she stop. As a parent of a child with autism (and someone who has autism also), I've seen and experienced just this kind of thing. "Pudge controls the weather" is 100% truth in her head. There's no doubt at all and so not giving Pudge that peanut butter sandwich is a matter of life and death. Asking her not to or not having peanut butter in the house means that PEOPLE WILL DIE! I strongly identified with the levels of anxiety that Lilo shows over this.
I NEVER picked up on that. Day absolutely ruined
@@beamt5130 No, hopefully not ruined! It gave me a LOT of appreciation for the writers
Thank you guys for saying it so I don't have to type it out. Every time my heart breaks a little when they look at her like that not knowing how much those looks hurt her.. When this movie came out it was so nice to see a girl more like me, maybe I should get myself checked out, I already have adhd/add but that diagnosis never felt 100%..
Lilo does not say that at any point in the movie; that's a fan theory from people filling in the gaps.
With that said, it's a perfectly reasonable way of interpreting the work, I just think that it's worth noting that it's not actually said in the work.
Part of what gets me the most about Lilo's character is that she's excellent representation of the fact that autistic people aren't necessarily incapable of empathy, some of us have it in abundance. We don't always respond to the 'right' cues but that can be because we're picking up on unintended ones.
As someone with adhd, I have always deeply related to Lilo since childhood, so that’s how I read her character.
I read once that some autistic people might not have loads of cognitive empathy but might have normal+ levels of emotional empathy - which can mean feeling what other people are feeling but not necessarily understanding why they are feeling that way.
It's basically the opposite of psychopaths who have cognitive empathy but not emotional empathy - so they can be great at being manipulative because they understand why people think and feel a certain way but if someone feels sad they won't feel sad themselves.
Not sure if that was helpful but thought I'd share in case it was!
@@rorolilred This would make sense to me since I find a lot of comedies to be viscerally painful.
Since so many of them rely on embarrasment and communication issues I spend the show in a tight ball of discomfort while the room laughs along without a care.
I respond more to the embarrasment and pain the characters are feeling when the film is asking me to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
@@tracey5324 Ah yeah I totally get you, I really don't like laughing at other people's discomfort 🙈
Hyper-empathy is more common in autistic people than low empathy.
I’ve always loved how despite being an obstacle, Cobra Bubbles was never really presented as a villain. We wanted Nani and Lilo to stay together so his presence was often upsetting to both them and us, but it was understood in the grand scheme that he only wanted what was safest for the most vulnerable person there: Lilo. He recognized how much Nani loves Lilo and how hard she was trying, but was also aware that the environment may not be ideal for her. After things in their family stabilized he was more than content with allowing Lilo to stay there, and even became a kind of family friend.
So true! I know so many people who hate Cobra Bubbles, and I'm like, he's a social worker! Dude is literally just doing his job, which is to make sure Lilo is in a safe home. He's not bad, he just doesn't see the whole picture until the end, when Lilo is kidnapped, and he sees Nani, David, and Stich team up with Jumbo and P'li to save her. He sees Nani do everything possible to save Lilo, and then he's like, "Yeah, she's safe here."
i never hated Cobra, i could tell from the start he really did care about Lilo, he gave Nani so many chances to make their situation work; as someone who was taken into foster care for a short time i can say that something like that did not happen for me and my sisters, they didnt give our mom the chance to change things before taking us. they took us then gave her the ultimatum of fixing things or you dont get them back.... i hated that house so much, it was god awful and those people shouldnt have been foster parents. Im on the spectrum so was rather disruptive, keeping the other children awake when we should have been asleep, they first moved me in with the older children hoping this would settle me down but when it didnt they took me out to their gravel filled driveway and made me walk barefoot on it.... i was about 6 at the time.....
@@aubreycarter7624 He sees the whole picture. Which is that Nani is completely over her head with the situation. The moment though she has some sort of support system, there is no reason to remove Lilo anymore. One shouldn't forget that Nani is nearly a child too.
as someone who is nurodiverget myself. i can speak out of experience that what the goverment tinks is best rearly is for the nurodivergent person. nero divergent persons need tailored solutions. unfortunaly goverments want the cookie cutter solution
@@swanpride This is a great point. She IS in over her head. At the beginning of the movie their household isn't stable. She is NINETEEN! I'm a 21 year old and I'm 100% sure I couldn't do what she was!
But with that support system, a system where Nani has a chance to be a ninteen year old while also supporting Lilo, to not have the weight of the world on her shoulders, so much of their discourse, and their fighting receeds.
The experimental era of Disney is honestly one of my favorites! Treasure Planet, Lilo and Stitch, Brother Bear, Atlantis, Emperor's New Groove...there's just so many INCREDIBLE movies!!!
Honestly, they're some of the BEST disney movies because they are not the formulaic cookie cutter we see in almost every other Disney film.
Underappreciated in their time, fondly enjoyed/remembered today
Oh my gosh, if they talked about Treasure Planet and about Jim’s trauma of abandonment and his trust issues, I would scream.
@@soulcross i swear i thought they already did treasure planet but if they haven't OMG THEY NEED TO JIM IS SUCH A PERFECT SUBJECT
Agreed
The scene with Nani singing to Lilo is, in my opinion, the most well-done emotional scene in all of Disney. The are no over-the-top theatrics, no swelling of violins, there's not even tears. Nani is being forced to accept that she is losing her sister to the government that thinks it knows best for Lilo, and can't bring herself to tell her just yet. It's the tone in her voice, the silence and soft sounds of their surroundings that accompany her singing, the flowers (that more likely than not) represent them, and the darkness set against the warm glow of the torches, and their physical closeness. All of these elements just set up for a perfect quiet, heart-breaking moment I feel we've all experienced in one way or another in our own lives for different reasons. Thank you for covering Lilo and Stitch. It's one of my favorites!
The thing is, Aloha Oe *is* her telling Lilo. Nani can’t bring herself to say the words, so she sings. Aloha Oe is very much a song about saying goodbye to loved ones, and telling them you’ll always keep them in your heart even though you have to part ways for a long time. It’s sung at funerals. It has a lot of cultural weight and connotations. And you can see from Lilo’s face as Nani is singing that she understands what it means for them and their situation.
I didn't even make it to the opening credits before the onion-cutting ninjas got me.
Dang youz!
@@calmwaveofchaos1878 I had no idea! Thank you for explaining this!
@@calmwaveofchaos1878 If it's usually sung at funerals, that means their parents' funeral was likely the last time they heard that song before...
That's a really cool but sad fact. Thank you for sharing that knowledge! I find it really fascinating the different ways cultures handle death.
Being Neurodivergent myself I never picked up on Lilo being one as well until I remembered Nani telling Cobra "they're not going to understand her" then all the little interactions and facial expressions she made throughout the movie made total sense.
I always thought David was extremely underrated. He not only respected Nani's rejection, he still continued to be genuine friends with her. On top of that, he cared about *both* Nani and Lilo, not just Nani; that dude stuck by those two through *all of it* , and even when he was faced with aliens and a huge spaceship, he just accepted it and supported them. David is a total fucking KING.
Didn't they get together at the end of the movie tho?
@Ami Yeah but he didn't push it. Nani did say earlier at the restaurant that she was "too busy" to be with him, but at the end most of her problems are solved so...
AND that he thought Nani liking his hair was more important than his butt.
He's the best Disney prince. Hands down.
@@Ami-jc2oo Sort of? They less got together and more started that process
I think they do officially get together at the end of the third movie
Something important that you missed during her Pudge story is how all the background characters reacted. All of the adults know what happened to Lilo's parents, but the kids don't. Every adult in there goes from confusion to understanding in that instant, they connect how Lilo's behavior and mindset makes perfect rational sense once they have the context. So they aren't mad that Lilo attacked Mertle- they get it, that little girl just unintentionally insulted the death of Lilo's parents.
Sometimes with neurodivergence, listening to or otherwise understanding their reasoning for doing certain things makes perfect sense once you get the step by step. It usually makes sense to them, and if they are able to explain why they do things, it makes more sense to others
Exactly, Pudge is important to Lilo because her parents died due to bad weather (rain), Lilo’s coping mechanism is to believe that Pudge controls the weather.
this is why I'm a strong believer that no matter what, you should *always* hear the why. Doesn't matter if there's any possibility of it justifying or excusing their actions, what's important is understanding where they are coming from. There is never a circumstance where that won't be of benefit to know and understand, even if just to help you know how to take preventative measures in the future.
If I remember correctly. When she feeds Pudge. You can actually see a storm moving away from the island in the background. Giving some nice symbolism and a "what if" feeling.
Yes! I remember that making perfect sense when I first saw Lilo and Stitch and connecting the dots once it's revealed how Lilo and Nani's parents died. But so many people never make that connection. Also, there's a freaking heart-wrenching scene that wound up being cut where Stitch actually kills Pudge by taking him out of the water, and I've never forgotten that. I think it's on TH-cam somewhere.
I was looking through the comments to see if someone would connect Pudge to that. I don’t think I’ve heard about some details that you pointed out where the adults understand the situation which is more interesting
I loved Lilo as a kid because not only was she “weird”, she was poor. Her struggle to connect with her peers is only made more difficult because she couldn’t buy the dolls and toys they have, even if she wanted them.
I was very poor growing up (Head Start preschool, Food Stamps, etc.), and this movie was so much more powerful for that reason.
Bingo, same. I too was the weird little girl with difficulties socializing, and who didn't have the right toys and wasn't allowed to watch the fun tv shows that all the other girls were into so I didn't even have the angle of having something in common to befriend them. I wasn't violent in school, my sister (who is very similar to me but bit people at school) and I fought a lot at home to the point my father was constantly fed up with us, but I was constantly in trouble everywhere because I was very impulsive and also scatterbrained and socially isolated. We both saw ourselves in Lilo and loved this movie growing up.
What I love about Nani is that she really feels like the sister of a neurodivergent. Her frustrations, her connections, the way she guides Lilo, even the way she teases Lilo, all of it feels real.
So many stories have siblings who at the end of the day, only love eachother because they have to. But with Nani, when she yells that she's the only one who understands Lilo, you actually believe it. Because she has demonsrated that.
The way she treats Lilo is typical sisterly behavior. Older siblings and parents can get frustrated with a kid acts up regardless of the reason, and connects and guide and have friendly teasing as a form of bonding. I'm really frustrated that this is seen as "for neurodivergence" as it indicates that 100% typical interactions and connections are divergent. It's getting to the point that terms like "neurodivergent" are so overly broad that there's almost no way for someone to not call into that category, which is actually making it typical. We're at a tipping point where fewer kids are being called neurodivergent, making THEM the group that isn't typical.
@@Author.Noelle.Alexandria you make a fair point. I was probably too vague in my post. I merely meant that Nani's reactions are very much in line with the nuances of Lilo's divergence.
I think the best example is when Lilo asks for a lobster instead of a dog. She uses the "logic" of having a dog door, not a lobster door.
Similarly when Lilo is worried she got Nani fired, Nani made up a lie about the owner being a vampire because she knew it was the type of thing that would distract/satisfy Lilo so she wouldn't worry.
None of this should diminish how neurotypical siblings get a long, because it's not that different. It's just the nuance and detail of HOW Nani expresses it that I think is worth celebrating.
@@Author.Noelle.Alexandria I think a lot of the ways Nani loves, supports, and torments Lilo do apply to siblings in general. Meeting someone where they're at by giving them the kind of reasoning they understand (dog door- we're getting a dog), or respecting what's important to them (Elvis, hula) aren't things you only do for neurodivergent kids, or even the ones who are just some variety of "weird kid". The exact ways you support someone might change from person to person. But showing people care by trying to understand where they're coming from, that's pretty universal. Getting frustrated at siblings and yelling is also pretty widespread. Younger siblings (I am the older sister) are deeply annoying creatures. 😋
@@Author.Noelle.Alexandria I 100% agree with you and honestly I'm kinda confused what 'nerodivergent' actually means after this video and seeing th comments. It's almost like when a person has a few behaviours that align with for example OCD and suddenly they have to be labelled as OCD because no one who isn't labelled as OCD can have those traits. It never makes a lot of sense to me. Not everything in life can be cleanly categorized
@@finnsnow2495 I think that in the case of this film, it just means that a lot of people who are neurodivergent related a lot to how Lilo behaves and is treated, and decided to interpret her as being neurodivergent for that reason. You don't have to agree, of course (as far as I'm aware, it's never been confirmed either way? I might be wrong about that, though)
The scene where lilo hugs her stuffed animal and says “you like me better as a sister than a rabbit right?” And her voice starts to break freakin sends me to shambly tears everytime because she is so emotionally stoic with her sadness 99% of this movie but that moment made her so nervous and vulnerable
As someone who works with children and of course neurodivergint children, the "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I'll be good, I just want to dance" is heart breaking because it's very accurate. Quite often children can't control their impulses, and if you're a child who gets in trouble alot for the impulses this response just comes out because you are so used to getting into trouble. 😔
So true ! Also super true of adhd with the impulsivity
yeah this is so accurate I’ve been yelled at by teachers because I sounded rude or it looked like I was making fun or them or diminishing them cause I tried to explain what my classmates were saying yk to help them, and yeah they just assumed I was diminishing them and then I got yelled at multiple time even after I explained what happened they’d just do it again and tell me to “stop doing that” and it sucks
@@kittensorsmth4722 I'm sorry this happened to you. Insecure teachers do this.
I was a neurodivergent child back then, and I would get into trouble all the time. I remember specifically pleading infront of the principle after getting in trouble for the fiftieth time. She asked me why I do this, what are your reasons? And under a broken crying voice I replied with "I don't know, I don't know, I'm sorry. I can't help it, it just happens".
Now this was free public education. As we all know, it doesn't have the best reputation, and individuals are not prepared to handle children such as myself correctly. So I understand why they treated me the way that they did. I was ostracized by my peers, and my teachers sometimes used me like a punching bag, forgetting the physical, and replacing it with verbal. My parents were also woefully unequipped to deal with such a kid. It also didn't help that my mother wasn't entirely mentally sane as well. I had problems all the way up until High School, and sometimes I still even have problems today, being a 23 year old man.
The blessing and curse with being the way that I am, is that my behavior, unwillingly, is the creation of my own pain. Fortunately it also gives me the tools to correctly manage such a position. Where if a neurotypical person who didn't have autism were in my position, they would have already gone insane by this point. Life is hard for me, but I am grateful for the things that I have, and the people I now surround myself with. I wouldn't be the person I am today without those scars, I fully accept them, and I have learned from them. I wouldn't want it any other way!
I'm sorry I'm adhd and ocd since second grade. I've always been controlled. The worst part about it. Ocd isn't always a thought that leads to action. It can be a memory that plays over, or a feeling, or a song. Ocd isn't about let me wipe my counters, sometimes it's about check on that corner you littered on in 7th grade.
Another thing to note is that Lilo's parents died in a car crash during a storm. So her belief that Pudge controls the weather is likely related to this. The adults in that scene look at each other in concern. It's not the shock/mocking of the other girls; it's sadness. They might not understand, but they know it's related to her trauma in some way. So it's a funny little line that holds so much meaning. I can't remember if it was a fan theory or in the bonus features, but I remember hearing that the day her parents died, Lilo missed/forgot to feed Pudge, so she partly blames herself for the bad weather that day. To her, feeding Pudge is protecting people. She was running late to feed him, then inadvertently disrupted dance (one of her fave things; seriously, she's like the only dancer genuinely exicited during practice), and so her stress was really high. Then girls who constantly exclude/bully her call her crazy because she puts so much effort into trying to keep people safe by feeding the fish that will unleash bad weather if not appeased. So Lilo's outburst and loss of control is understandable. Yes, Lilo needs to learn to regulate her emotions and it's frowned upon to tackcle and bite people, but it is understandable why she did it. It wasn't malicious, it wasn't because she's dangerous. She's a kid with a crapton of trauma and no one who understands her. Kids without the trauma who have understanding people in their life lose control sometimes because they're kids and don't know better yet.
Oh good, this was touched upon later in the episode.
I’m glad you mentioned that, I was looking through the comments and was going to say this if nobody else does. When I first watched this when I was younger I obviously didn’t know, just that her parents were unfortunately dead. Once I found out, every time I watch it after that, the Pudge part hurts my heart 🥺
Just commented about grief and trauma and then saw your comment. So well put.
I was going to comment something like this. When I was a kid I understood Lilo 100%. All I seen was the artist little kid whos been through some trauma and no one relates to that. Or at least, not anymore. I don't quite understand why the trauma wasn't more talked about, and instead autism was talked about? I never really thought there was anything divergent about Lilo at all, they're kids that are raising themselves after going through horrible trauma.
I have also heard this theory.
I always thought Bubbles was just misunderstood, not a bad guy. When the house explodes, Nani says “You don’t understand, she needs me!” And he just gestures to the burning house, saying “Is *this* what she needs?” I always interpreted that as him seeing Lilo in a situation that she should not be in, something he wants to improve.
any other social worker woulda taken Lilo right when he saw the stove that was left on. Bubbles actually let a lot of Nani's blunders slide and I don't think a real life social worker would keep their job for giving all these extra chances that lead to danger.
I love the way they did Bubbles because it would have been really easy to just make him a 2D evil government agent, but they made him a real person who cares about Lilo in his own way.
Bubbles was an antagonist, but not a villain. His presence pushes the plot along, but he ultimately wants what's best for Lilo, and from his perspective, staying with Nani is not that. It's once the aliens show up, we learn his past as a CIA agent, and he reevaluates the situation to build a better life for Lilo & Nani together with the new alien family members
i feel like, not specifically bubbles, but the system that he’s apart of, could have offered nani some sort of assistance. like offer lilo counseling, provide nani with resources for raising a neurodivergent child (if lilo is), people get financial aide and nani more than qualified for it. when she says “you don’t understand, she needs me” she knows her sister isn’t going to be able to properly process this especially without nani, who knows her and knows how she deals with things, this would be hard for any kid to process but assuming lilo doesn’t have the awareness of a neurotypical kid and needs more support and attention, nani knows they can’t just take her away. i feel like this 19 year olds parents died, and she doesn’t even get to grieve them because she’s prioritizing lilo, and no one is offering her any support!
@@jhaneyhamlett We need to stop assuming that every kid is neurodivergent. Lilo is dealing with loss, yes, but that doesn't mean neurodivergence. Nothing that she does indicates neurodivergence either. That's become a buzzword for "kid dealing with something that we don't want kids to have to deal with." She's imaginative, as indicated by her story about the fish and sandwiches, WHICH IS NORMAL, and she made her own little doll, WHICH IS NORMAL (my privileged daughter prefers to make her own things like that since what she makes is unique), and she likes listening to old records...WHICH IS NORMAL. We actually have two record players in this house and hundreds of records going back to 1908, and my daughter has some original Beatles records she plays. Lilo was bummed on the floor after the other girls shunned her, which is so normal that the concern would be if she wasn't affected at all.
Regarding assistance, not every conversation between Nani and Bubbles would have been had in front of Lilo, and contrary to what some people say, how they'd "like to see X," they wouldn't be interested in watching it in a movie. If you're able to be honest with yourself, you know that you wouldn't enjoy watching a movie showing adults having those behind-closed-doors conversations, watching Nani fill out paperwork or going to therapy, watching Lilo sit with a therapist, etc, even if all else happens. That would be a boring movie since showing those scenes would slow down the pacing.
Very likely, Nani WAS getting assistance since she was able to keep the house (even a paid-off house, presuming their parents owned and paid it off, has taxes, insurance, and other expenses) and buy food and have Lilo in dance and such, despite not having a job. Bubbles telling her to "get a job" was basically an easier way for kids to understand "you need to provide stability, and you aren't doing that." I think a lot of people, including yourself, are forgetting that movies like this need to be coded in ways kids can understand. They can't understand "you need to be providing a stable environment," but they can understand "you need to get a job, which is a thing you regularly do on a schedule," which is something that kids see as stable even if they don't understand the word.
Stitch's speech at the end about his family hits even harder when you remember David's line to him earlier in the movie "You know, I really thought they might have had a chance. And then you came along." And then Lilo's line "You ruined everything." Stitch was MADE to destroy. But when he realized that he was destroying the only people who ever loved him, that's when he changed. And his speech at the end is on some level an expression of relief that, despite the hardship he'd put his new family through, they fixed him and he hadn't broken them.
Stitch in many ways represents a lot of kids who didn’t grow up with a proper foundation full of values. The beginnings of his life were quite chaotic. Not abusive by any means, but he was brought up without any real values such as love and a sense of belonging. I grew up moving around a lot (One of my parents had volatile issues that the court took note of) and lived with different people, so you can believe me when I say that it creates a sense of feeling lost. I was introverted, my sister very extroverted. All of this were captured very well and capitalized upon in the scene where Stitch looks at the Ugly Duckling finding a family that truly embodies what a family truly is.
I never read lilo as neurodivergent. I always saw her as a little kid, coping with a tragic loss, and always admired both Nani and David for the way they were each able to show up in the situation. If neurodivergence was the intention of the creators, I’ve got even more respect for the film, and definitely will be rewatching!
same, i read it as grief rather than neurodivergence, but i think both takes resonate with the audience because of how isolated Lilo feels
@@imapandaperson People can be neurodivergent AND grieving lmao. The special interests Lilo has wouldn’t be caused by grief, for example. Being autistic is genetic and wired in the brain, it’s an entire way of seeing the world, not a “symptom” of trauma or grief.
You might have misconstrued my comment lol, though I admit I may have worded it poorly. I never ever said she couldn't be both grieving and neurodivergent at the same time (she's a person, duh) --- just that I was watching from a lens of grief/trauma, and wasn't considering/didn't pick up on neurodivergence as another facet of her character on my first watch through.
(which was probably dense of me not to pick up on given I have cptsd and ocd and I'm not exactly neurotypical -- plus I have autistic family members. Feel free to facepalm lmaooo)
And that the audience was going to resonate with Lilo's sense of isolation from whatever standpoint they were looking at.
I also never said that autism was a symptom of trauma??? I know it isn't, and I wouldn't have ever written that omg
But also, not every audience member is going to read her as neurodivergent. To some, special interests may just read as a fact of her character. Tbh until my brother pointed out the possibility of neurodivergency to me (which I totally see now), I just thought Lilo was a creative kid who the other kids ostracized because she was an individual, and because they didn't understand her pain as an orphan. Not everyone who is interested in niche stuff or who is ostracized is neurodivergent. Some are, some aren't.
And the great thing about Lilo's character is that it is so well written that a diverse audience of people are going to have a million different understandings/interpretations of the character and her struggles based on what their own personal frame of reference is.
@@RenaissanceRockerBoy apologies! You are correct. Neurodivergence exists independently of emotions like grief. Like a first level filter, if you will, where as emotions are a sort of second level filter.
Originally I meant that I’d never thought of lilo as anything other than quirky and coping. There was less societal awareness of neurodivergence; most of us had no knowledge base to identify what we were seeing. Hope that’s a little clearer.
Gosh, I had never considered that Lilo is neurodivergent, that provides so many more layers for understanding and appreciating this movie, which is really one of Disney's best ever, exploring with honesty and compassion the loss and rebuilding of that family, and respectfully presenting the Hawaiian culture, it's just wonderful.
I rewatched the movie a few months back and it definitely crossed my mind a bit, but I never fully connected the dots until this video. So enlightening and insightful. I keep finding reasons to love this movie more and more.
Same! I never even thought about her being nerodivergent! Which is honestly insane because I’m autistic and look at every character I see and basically go “nerodivergent?!” And this was one of my favorite movies too
I suspected she was when she said, “My friends need to be punished.” I’m ASD and I really get feeling that as a kid. I was bullied, too. 😢
@@ambermac77 same
Only I never thought about if lilo was autistic or anything but she definitely feels like she is
I was under the impression that she had something more like Schizotypal Personality Disorder rather than Autism Spectrum Disorder. Do you know if either have been confirmed? I'd be interested in knowing for sure if there's an official answer.
As someone who was adopted, Lilo and Stitch is one of my FAVORITE movies. I always cry at the end when he says that this is his family, and he found it all by himself. Found family in general is always something I love, but this movie in particular is just so perfect.
I actually didn’t realize Lilo is neurodivergent; as a kid, I just mainly saw her as different when it came to dolls, and that she was just the classic cartoony, eccentric, flamboyant character that wasn’t uncommon in kids shows. This is profound
Neither did I. I just thought she was more outspoken about her opinions than most people. Didn't really see necessarily anything strange or weird about her personally, minus the spoon voodoo dolls she had for Myrtle and co 😂😂
I honestly don’t see it. Like, I get she’s eccentric but it’s not clear to me that she’s on the Autistic spectrum. She might be but, I’m not really convinced that.
I don’t think it’s ever been officially confirmed. Honestly, it can go either way. That’s the beauty of art!
@@avalasialove Of course.
@@msk-qp6fn I could see her autistic especially the fact that she has many interests that most would consider unusual such as her doing voodoo and the pictures of people that she collects. She also has violent outburst at times for no apparent reason which is a sign of some forms of autism which is why I think a lot of people with autism can relate to her.
I really appreciated Cobra Bubbles’ character. So often in tv shows and movies I watched growing up, the social worker was the villain, who seemed to have a goal of taking the child away from their family. But Bubbles openly acknowledges the fact that Nani was /trying/ her dammdest to provide for Lilo. And yes, he was harsh when he was putting Lilo in his car, but from his perspective, Nani had left Lilo home alone /again/ and he arrived as the fire department was rushing to their house.
It's a hard job and hard lessons, my parents lost me and my siblings becouse of neglect,, the last straw was when my sister burnt her back real bad when we where toddlers and my parents tried doctoring it themselfs till she got a very bad infection, my parents never got over it but it had to happen becouse they couldn't take care of us
That’s the thing, we know the whole story (being that Stitch was the one who was causing all these problems) and why all these things keep going wrong but look at it from his perspective. Nani doesn’t have a job, Lilo almost drowned at the beach, Lilo was left alone in a hole that blew up while Nani wasn’t there. You can tell his anger was on Lilo’s behalf because all he saw was Nani not being there.
@@liamisaac1152 and, tbf, he was a lot more understanding when he realized aliens were involved.
No, but it's okay, because Lilo's dog had found the chainsaw! (My favourite line in the movie.)
the issue is alot of times they don't. They can cause more harm then good. I have heard stories of guys like him taking a kid and the kids is NOT happy so their answer is drugs, drugs that even adults it be dangerous with.
what bubbles needed to do was study it carefully whoch they show he does.
As a Maui girl, born and raised and now living in CA, I grew up with this movie and it's one of the few Hawaii films that I don't hate because it actually represents Hawaii well and not corny and over the top and has actual voice actors from Hawaii (minus Lilo) to get the accent correct. And the addition of Aloha 'Oe reaches locals on a different level. Plus all the other subtleties of local life and jokes hits right
My kid, Logan, is 5 years old, pretty neurodivergent himself and this has manifested in that he is OBSESSED with Pacific Island culture. He just loves it all, the music, everything. Saving up for a holiday. And you can be damn sure we'll try our best not to be ars hol tourists. Love from Scotland x
He looks down sadly at his tattoo-less skin, bless him
@Gemma Hogarth Which island are you planning to holiday? I have a great list of things to eat and stuff to do for Maui if you're interested 😊
@@gemh89 Can't you get some temporary tattoos? Those that wash/rub off after some days or week? Might be a nice compromise!
@@raeceenieb9842 Oh yes, please! That would be great. I'm not sure yet, I am going to have to do a lot more research into it, any help would be greatly appreciated!
Another way Nani is awesome: when we see Nani's room, it is FULL of surfing contest trophies... and not place trophies, WINNER trophies. She gave up a promising sports career when her parents died, because taking care of her sister was even more important to her than surfing, she loves Lilo that much.
Also can we talk about how David was becoming the father figure but going at the older brother approach with lilo. Like David is underrated with the dynamic he has and actually supporting Nani from the background and helping her with bills, finding work and more. He never pushed a relationship on her and he took his time until she was ready and life wasn't so hectic.
Yes, He was very supportive of Nani and helpful with Lilo who really needed a male role model around but he wasn't pushing his way into their lives.
As an autistic child who lost both parents before the age of 10 and was adopted by a close family member who struggled dealing with me, Lilo & Stitch always hit so close to home for me. It became my entire identity for a while growing up because I just felt so close to Lilo as a character.
That's how I feel about Mirabel in Encanto. Sometimes characters in movies hit so close to the mark of people.
I was in a group home when this was released on video; it had all of us yelling at the staff, because we felt they were insensitive in showing us hopeless causes a fairytale happy ending that hit too close to home.
@@workingmothercatlover6699 how I feel about Vanellope in Wreck-It-Ralf. As an epileptic person myself, kids made fun of me and teachers kicked me out of their classes because they were scared of my seizures (which is caused by glitches in the brain).
I think another thing I also love about this movie, which is shockingly rare especially in animated films, is that Cobra Bubbles is *not* seen as a bad guy in his role as a social worker.
A lot of movies which do have social workers or some kind of child protective services always find some way to paint them as antagonistic or overly mean or grinning ear to ear at the prospect of taking a child away. But Bubbles is really just doing his job, and while he knows Nani is trying her hardest he also is thinking of Lilo, concerned as much for her future and safety as Nani is. Sure, a lot of what happens is out of the hands of Nani due to the alien thing, but he is decidedly very fair. He seems sad when he tells her what has to happen.
But yeah, great movie.
This movie truly did teach me not to judge a book by its cover. Cobra's character design is very menacing, but he turns out to be a good person. He even becomes a trusted friend of the Pelekai family! :)
And he's also the reason they get to keep Stitch. He reminds Lilo that she bought Stitch and "aliens are all about the rules." Had Cobra Bubbles not been there, Stitch would have been taken away and Lilo and Nani's family would have been broken even more.
He's also shown to be very open minded. He does need his assurances that they've got something that works, but he's not overly concerned about what shape the family dynamic has. If they want to adopt an alien war machine and do scheduled yelling days he's got their backs 100% if that's the arrangement that works for both Lilo and Nani.
Yeah, Bubbles was a well written character showing a man who also has a difficult job and is just doing his job. Also, I really want to know his CIA backstory
Because in real life Caseworkers are Evil!
I wanted to bring up something that kind of got rushed over at 18:12.
It's not so much that he "Doesn't get it", but that "getting it" isn't his job. His job is the safety and wellbeing of the child (Lilo) and sadly from his perspective Nani is not able to care for her. We as the audience understand that all of these weird things that keep happening are because Nani and Lilo are wrapped up in intergalactic shenanigans, however he never sees that. He sees an exploding house, he sees a caretaker that can't get a job and therefore isn't able to fully care for her much younger sister. I love that he's not made out to be the villain of 'Lilo and Stitch'm but is also able to still do his job, regardless of how cruel it might appear to be.
And considering the state of things when he first met them, Nani was angry, Lilo was left alone at home, Nani was locked out of the house, AND the stove was still on! Outside looking in it doesn’t look good at all! The fact that Cobra Bubbles gave them a few days to have at least something(Nani having a job and stitch showing that he is on the path of a good person), says a lot. He’s trying to not break the family up more than they already are, but movie gonna movie-d and things got worse
When Lilo said "I remember everyone that leaves", I really felt that. It hit me like a train 😭😭
damn this movie is depressing as an adult
And if you remember what happens to her parents it makes it so much worse
It's literally the summary of my life ;_;
This movie feels a lot different when you’re older. Lilo’s grief and inability to connect with others, Nani’s worries and feeling as though she isn’t enough, and giving up on her dreams to care for her sister. Stitch feeling completely isolated biologically and socially. I also like how they included references to Hawaii being taken by invaders/colonizers. The element of mass tourism, photographing tourists (like how tourists would photograph natives), with non native Hawaiians adopting her culture and excluding Lilo, etc.
This movie is so meaningful
There was a deleted scene that dealt with it further and even gave a reason for Stitch to warm up to Lilo. Wish it had been kept.
My mom got very ill the summer Lilo & Stitch came out, and died a little over half a year later. Throughout that whole period, and beyond, I listened to this soundtrack on repeat and watched the movie so many times. It meant so much to me to see a film for kids like me going through such a huge loss, a movie where the death of the protagonist's parents was so central to the story. The family changed, and it wasn't forgotten or ignored. The pain of living beyond such a break was acknowledged so gracefully. I still can't watch it without getting emotional.
I'm sorry for your loss. I'm glad that you were able to find some sort of comfort in this movie.
My condolences on your loss. It must have been comforting, knowing that this film helped you through a dark point in your life. 😢😇💔
That’s very sad but very beautiful ❤😢
I'm sorry for your loss.
"This is my family. I found it all on my own. It's little, and broken, but still good." Makes me bawl, every damn time.
I love that he says it, looks over at Lilo and Nani and then follows up with, "Yeah, still good."
I would kill for an episode about Treasure Planet, and have Jono talk about maturity and how much more difficult it is without the presence of a father figure
Edit: It is and will AWAYS be my favorite Disney movie
Yes please
I would love to see an episode about that.
Oh yes please TREASURE PLANET ♥
Go sacrifice our firstborn ! 12:25
Yes!!! Its so underrated.
I think a few things were missed:
1. The reaction to "Pudge controls the water" is confusion only from the children, because it flies over their heads. The teens(the older Hula girls) and adults(drummers and teacher) react with horror because they know what happened to the Pelekais and understand how it can affect Lilo.
2. Nani has always been written to be 100% neurotypical, it's her longstanding familiarity with Lilo that allows her to bridge the gap, it's why she also tells Bubbles that she needs her, bc she knows a foster family won't have the wisdom to address Lilo's emotional needs. She's an ordinary teenager(as long as you don't notice the clear implication that she was a pro surfer before becoming orphaned) dealing with being a sole guardian under probation with a limited support system(the closest she has is David, who's a teenager himself).
3. While you did show Stitch's character arc, I think there's more to be said about how important re-socialization is for destructive children, how they can truly be rehabilitated. That's the conclusion the Grand Councilwoman came to when she changed the destination of exile to Kauai and assigned the two girls who clearly turned him into a civilized being as his guardians.
Another thing that I think was missed is even though this is a celebration of Lilo's neurodivergence, I feel like Stitch is the epitome of destructive children with ADHD.
This whole movie is essentially representative of my own life.
Like Stitch, I am adopted and I feel like I'm from outer space. But like Lilo, I am also different; conforming to other people's expectations is not something I'm wired to do.
@@pinkygunty9706 Hm, my experience with ADHD has been far more in line with Lilo than Stitch, so it hasn't occurred to me, but I have attended school with a Stitch representation.
I think Stitch might represent a lot of children who are labeled as miscreants from a very early age and literally don't know anything better.
ok
Exactly! For anyone who has neurodivergent siblings/ parents, it really affects in many ways others in the family. It helped me understand my sister and when other's look from the outside they can notice my sister is "different" but I've grown up with her so ee can communicate very very well and get along
@@Kaybye555 And I'm guessing you're neurotypical yourself, just like Nani.
Something I’ve always loved about this movie is the psychology that they put into the smallest details that you don’t realize. Like how she obsessed over Pudge the fish getting a sandwich because he “controls the weather”. Part of it is because of her active imagination and part of it is her trauma from her parents dying in a car accident caused by a storm. And her fascination with taking photos of heavier set strangers is a coping mechanism, something neurotypical people would find strange that, to her, is a hyper fixation on something she believes is beautiful. She’s so complex and the whole movie is just beautiful. It’s perfect for children who are neurotypical and for children who experience loss and depression.
I think behind the scenes they explain lilo takes photos of folks on vacation because a lot of those folks kinda treat the locals like attractions. So this is just her being a lil rebel about it
David and Nani really need their own episodes. There is so much to say about their relationship as individuals and together. As funny as it is as a child I decided if a man wasn't as caring and supportive as David then he wasn't worth the energy 😂
Right like he’s so patient and caring and understanding omg my ADHD self needs someone like that.
Similar with Nani, I think David is one of those unsung characters. For all the wackiness in this movie and the tv series it spawned, I always recall David being a calm, cool presence in Lilo and Nani's lives.
Wow…that part about the importance of Pudge controlling the weather blew my mind! Just so powerful. And I had no idea that Lilo was Neurodivergent…I just saw her as representing an incredibly unique child who struggled to to connect well with others because of the trauma she’d been through so young. I always thought she was incredible because even though she couldn’t connect with the other girls her age, she never tried to change who she was or even considered that she had a problem. And LOVED how Nani never judged her…she just did literally everything to make life with just the two of them work. And I loved David for the incredible support he was to all of them despite his feelings for Nani. He showed true love for them all. Man, this was so good!! Thank you guys for what you do!!
I mean, to be honest, I don't think she's neurodivergent, I agree that she's just a weird kid. Weird kids exist, that aren't neurodivergent; and yes, you mentioned the trauma she went through and making it a method of coping. But that's just me, I'm no therapist but I don't see her like that, she's just the 'normal' weird kid.
It's also an interesting note that one reason she is so set on getting Pudge a sandwich is he controls the weather... And her parents passed in a stormy night
That is part of our cultural ignorance of autism and other neurodivergent situations at the time and even now. We didn't often label kids as autistic because it wasn't really a common word for us to know in those years. We just labeled them 'weird', 'ADHD', 'disruptive' until the kids learned to mask their behaviors and pretend they weren't experiencing the world in a different way
The beauty with fictional characters is that you can interpret them in many ways. One group of people can interpret her one way, and another group can interpret her another. And even growing up as your view point changes, the character can read differently too. Growing up the term neurodivergent was not part of my life, autism isn't really part of my life either. But I related highly with Lilo, in the sense I saw the world differently, and I was bullied because I was Asian. So I interpreted Lilo as being someone who was different and bullied for her experience and her different family, her's being only her sister, later on a whole intergalactic non-earth family members, and mine being from a different country. Growing up I later saw her as someone who was hyper focusing on her interests and hobbies to cope with her anxieties and her pain, especially from losing her parents, her sister no longer being her sister but mother too, and the whole lost of the family dynamic she had, on top of it, Lilo is also very aware that Nani is having trouble keeping a stable job, in my school, that was something I noticed, kids from lower income families, processed risk and situations differently from the classmates who were well off. Then when I became an adult, I was focused on Nani and her unsaid financial and social struggles, and Stitch, then when I started to teach I refocused on Lilo and her classmates and Stitch and her behavioral issues and it was then I was like "Oh.....she sorta reads neurodivergent." And watching Nani helped me learn to let kids feel what they feel and be gentle with them, be frank, honest but also know that you can't always just logic their behavior away.
And David is *chefs kiss* Yes he can come off a little pushy and unable to read the room sometimes, but....for most of it, he is never only focused on Nani, he is always focused on Nani and Lilo as a whole. He's patient, kind, warm, in the series he's a bit clingy sometimes with a bit of a attitude but he's human. At the end of the day, he knew who he liked, but he also could see that Nani could not participate in the usual courtship as other people their age and he adjusted to show his love and support in a different way. And Lilo and David have a great relationship in the series from what I remember too. As far as I'm concerned, Nani and David are my favorite Disney ship.
she gives food to pudge because her parents died during a bad storm so she thinks she needs to give him offerings to keep that from happening to anyone else.
Wow, I never explicitly identified Lilo as neurodivergent. I related to her so much as a kid. I remember using the movie to express to my mom how I felt especially around making friends. That humans were hard but animals were easy, that I talked to the wind cause the wind never left.
It’s been over a decade, I think it’s time for a rewatch
Oh man have you read The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale? It sounds like it might also resonate
I never saw her as Neuro divergent but more that she was wise beyond her years because she had SEEN more than others had by her age. Her finding joy in weird/unique stuff was because she had to occupy herself due to not having friends and no close in age siblings. It's why Nani got her a "dog" in the first place.
My nephew lives with me full time and we watch this movie a lot. We say Ohana a lot and I have to hide under the blanket for a little cry every time because this one hits home. ❤
That's so sweet!
I love Lino's pictures. In a way, she's doing to the tourists what the tourists do to her. The creators address this in a deleted scene; she takes pictures of them because the tourists treat her like she’s some sort of attraction that’s there for their amusement. But taking the photos she turns it around of them and makes these intruders her source of amusement. That her sister develops those pictures is not only showing support of Lilo's special interest, she is also quietly telling Lilo that she's right in how she feels about the tourists and the way they treat them.
"I hear you cry at night. Do you dream about them?"
"I remember everyone who leaves."
Those hit me WAY too hard. I did not remember those lines. And I relate to them excessively.
It also explains why she likes taking pictures of tourists! She remembers everyone who leaves.
@@tripleg2513 Ah! Connections! Very cool.
When I was 19 my idea of cooking was pop tarts and I played video games and watched Disney movies all day, I cannot imagine loosing my parents and then becoming a full time caregiver and legal guardian to my 8 year old sister. Nani is the unsung hero of all Disney movies
You mention Treasure Planet in this episode, and I think it really deserves its own episode. The dynamic between Jim and Silver and the interaction that had with Jim's memory of his father and his life up to that point are so impactful and worth talking about
It's in the works!
Also the fact they BOTH benefited from the relationship.
@@CinemaTherapyShowthis delights me
That line “it’s little and broken, but still good,” absolutely CRUSHES me every time. Such a great movie!
I don't know if you've seen many service dog patches, but this is a common one because it speaks so clearly to the disabled community.
My grandparents (RIP) had a childlike stigma against cartoons, and sought out live-action versions of things whenever they could. When I convinced my grandma to watch Lilo & Stitch with me, she was so caught off guard by the opening minutes she asked me if we were even watching the right movie, and by the end, she was absolutely jaw-dropped with how maturely handled the social worker plot and family dynamic was. She just thought Stitch was a cute cartoon dog having adventures and not much else. She had no clue he was a rehabilitated evil.
Oh gosh. This one. This movie came out 1 year after my mom’s first medical incident and 3 years before my single mother passed away and left my older sister to raise a 15 year old on her own. I also grew up doing competitive hula dancing from the age of 5-16 and my Hawaiian name is similar in sound to Lilo: Lili’i. This movie was the greatest comfort to me. I felt so seen. I felt so understood. I also have ADHD and ASD.
The movie continued to help me feel seen as I got order. The line “I like you better as a sister” just hits so hard. My sister was my best friend and the transition from being my sibling to my parent wrecked us both. We are still very close 16 years later but we are still healing from the roles we had no choice but to take. You lose so much when you are orphaned, including the relationships you get to “keep”, they change forever. I love this movie. I’m so thankful for it. Thank you for this video ❤
Also one of my favorite parts of this movie is you don’t understand why Pudge the fish is so important to appease in the beginning until you realize Lilo’s parents died in a rain storm. That desire for control over things we don’t control manifests in seemingly strange ways with children ❤️
@@stephaniedayonot Magical thinking
“Lost” and “put back together” … literally what Lilo and Stitch means… so much wonderful and deep meaning was put into this movie. It’s a beautiful story!
I love the scene, where Stitch tries to find his family through reenacting the ugly duckling. It is so well connected to his growth, because he evolves in a way he himself did not expect. He thought he needed a straight out-of-book family which would find him and be perfectly good. But the family that was actually best for him was already there. Lilo told him so, while he left, but he kept clinging to the idea of traditional family. And it is so heartbreaking. Especially when Lilo tells the audience about him crying at night.
My dad cried at that part
"Reenacting", friend! For your future use. Your comment is interesting... I'd never really thought of it that way. I know as a kid it always kinda confused me. Haven't seen it in a long time tbh, so I probably would've picked that up just fine as an adult. Doesn't help I have severe memory issues lol
@@Kiss_My_Aspergers Thanks, not a native speaker as you can tell :D
That scene where Stitch is alone in the forest and reenacts The Ugly Duckling hoping his family will show up makes me cry 😭 every time
@V. S. I couldn't tell, actually. I just figured you'd either never heard the word, or never seen it, or both. 🤷 You sound about as fluent as anyone else who speaks English.
I also love Cobra Bubbles in this because they actually treat a social worker like a good person, instead of a vindictive monster determined to destroy love and fun. Bubbles is an antagonist, but he's also a good guy. He wants what's best for Lilo. He pushes Nani when he has to, and is gentle with her when he gives her the bad news. He only gets mad at her when he thinks she put Lilo in danger. And in several scenes he shows genuine concern for this little girl that he just met and barely understands.
And then he saves the day from aliens. Again.
As someone on the spectrum, Lilo’s struggle with social connections reminds me of myself growing up, and even now. It’s why I get so emotional with this movie.
same here, this episode was the therapy i didn't know i needed
Same here, this episode was the therapy i didn't know i needed
I relate. This was the first movie I cried on when I was around 6yo. It kicked me hard and my parents didn't understand why. Now I do...
I do too. So much of how I grew up was in this movie and it hits hard.....every time I watch this movie.
me too,, im autstic and seeing the scenes of her fighting with her sister and being disappointed with family is just TOO real... especially with the emotional outbursts we both get. one of the best and most beautiful disney films out there to represent those on the autistic spectrum
I am autistic and thank you for humanizing us. I didn't know Lilo was a Nero divergent icon but I always relate to Lilo growing.
I love the detail that the storm clouds vanish at the start of the film after Pudge gets his sandwich, but also the reason behind her concern over the weather is heartbreaking.
the ending scene when stitch is about to be taken away is such a great ending because in the beginning, the only thing they really wanted from stitch was to show signs of intelligence. that’s what his monologue in the end, an intelligent and cohesive sentence that displayed empathy. hence why he was able to stay
A sad thing I never really thought about is Nani had to take custody of lelo and take care of her when they lost their parents. That kind of implies they didn't have any grandparents, aunts or uncles or anything. Makes it all the more sad because they truly only have eachother and Nani is trying her best.
As someone who was late diagnosed with ADHD I hadn't before considered that one reason I've always empathised with and loved lilo so much is she's also coded neurodivergent. This is a real comfort movie to me thank you so much for diving into it!
I also was diagnosed with ADHD later, and had a similar experience. I always related to Lilo and could never explain exactly why until I heard the theory that she was written as neurodivergent. Then everything made so much more sense.
What's strange to me is I have severe ADHD and I was diagnosed at age 7 (which considering that I'm a girl and born in the 90s is kinda remarkable that they caught it so early) and I adored this film and rewatched it frequently but I never clued In to the fact that Lilo was neurodivergent but even more interestingly is that I empathized much more for Nani.
I don't know if it's simply because I'm an eldest sister who gets extremely frustrated with her younger siblings (neurotypicals) especially the youngest or what it is. I always latched on to her emotions more than Lilo and I cannot quite figure out why that is.
Realistically I can relate to aspects of Nani, Lilo and stitch today at 28 but it's very surprising to me that I never identified with Lilo as a kid and realized I share traits with her. The only thing I think that made me disconnect fundamentally with her is that I never acted violently or angrily towards anyone, including my bullies... I have an incredibly short temper for stress and patience and machines not working etc but in regards to people I have a temper but it's extremely short lived and I'm more likely to say something I'll regret over doing something like throwing punches although within the few moments of anger I do fantasize about throwing punches, flipping tables, choking someone but I've NEVER acted on these thoughts.
My method with bullies was to kill them with kindness which thankfully worked out for me but doesn't for a lot of people. I found things to genuinely compliment them on and the teasing eventually stopped. We didn't become friends or anything but they realized I was nice or something.
I didn’t know she was but I think it’s awesome that Disney made a character like her people can relate to
Pudge controlling the weather hits harder when you remember her parents died in a car crash in the rain. Then you realize Nani was like 18 when she stopped any goals for her life (I mean look at the surf medal and whatnot in her room) to raise and help her baby sister. That's always a surprise when people try to say Frozen is first Disney sister love movie
Honestly that is one of the reason i get salty at frozen
Well, it’s the first Disney *princess* movie to do that. Ariel barely had any interactions with her sisters.
@@avalasialove kinda only Frozen isn't an official Disney Princess movie. Neither Elsa or Anna are official Disney Princesses
I feel like Stitch's role in Lilo's healing and his own need for healing isn't talked about enough. Stitch is just as neurodivergent as Lilo he just exhibits different tendencies. Whereas in Lilo many see autism, in Stitch i saw myself represented through ADHD. He's impulsive and destructive and can be a little mean like with mertle and the dog who wants to sniff him, but you're even told in the movie that it's all he knows how to do, and he doesn't even have memories to comfort him in the still quiet moments. It feels like he destroys to distract himself, and also because people both in space and on earth don't respect his autonomy, treating him like and animal, freak, or monster for things he can't help. Lilo is the only one who truly sees him and acknowledges his personhood, his feelings. Because she sees herself in him. That's part of why it's so important for her that Stitch not be seen as some sort of irredeemable monster and she takes his "model citizenship" training seriously. if he can't be redeemed, what does that say about her? when the two of them are so similar?
another thing is how nani and david both accept Stitch rather easily. They don't get him, but they include him, like when they're surfing. He needed family too. Stitch is just as lost and broken as Lilo is, and they needed to see themselves in each other so they could both learn that they are loved and accepted exactly as they are. That their family is a place where they'll always belong.
Your line about stitch "not having the memories to comfort him in the still quiet moments" hit me. I think that's what took me so long to get to the point I wanted to heal. It wasn't until I started making memories to hold on to that I started wanting to live with my neurodivergence.
@Isabella totally agree with you 💯💯
I do wonder if stich is also being potrayed as having ptsd, for example at the beach when everyone was taking pictures of him and he reacted with violence, it seemed like he was triggered then
so nicely put, i relate to stitch so much
This movie has been a part of my childhood. Will never forget how Nani and Lilo made it seem like sisters always have each other til the end.
Precisely, I really related to Nani and Lilo's bond. As a big sister myself, I would jump over fire for my brother, and we've grown closer the older we've gotten.
chaos, chaos catch me if you can
chaos, chaos catch me if you can
chaos, chaos catch me if you can
chaos, chaos catch me if you can
Great idea bringing an animator/VA on for this movie! Rebecca provided a ton of lovely insight to the video with her field of knowledge and experience! Thank you all for bringing some real unsung qualities of this film to justice.
She vastly improved the episode. We can't wait to have her back!
As a person from Hawaii, this movie meant so much to me as a kid. From the special aspects that relates to how tourists and native Hawaiians think of each other to the culture. Thank you so much for covering this movie :)
The integral message that family is neither left behind or forgotten is so powerful. Lilo understands that people leave her, yet I think her saying “I’ll remember you” is her way of saying she still thinks of them as family.
As a neurodivergent kid (although I didn’t really know at the time) and who had abandonment issues and was mostly raised by my older brother (who was called David btw!) this movie meant the absolute world to me and honestly made me feel seen and helped me through so much. I’m so glad they made this movie ☺️
I am a neurodivergent individual who never got the chance to get diagnosed in my youth. When you said often neurodivergent children don’t get the credit for their wisdom (20:01〜) it wrecked me. It reminded me of the day when my grandfather had passed away, and I was mourning him the best I could, telling my little brother that it is ok to cry, after a while you will feel better, trying to help my mother like an adult (at that time I was only like eight years old), asking my father why he is fighting back tears when he clearly seems distressed and sad. My relatives treated me a bit like a freak since I was making the conversation in a very monotone manner and voice. Still hurts a lot when I think about it.
I know I can't fix the hurt you went through then and carried all these years, but you were doing an amazing job and I'm sorry no one acknowledged that in the moment and made you feel as proud and appreciated as you should have felt. You were just a little kid and it wasn't on you at all to help the others around you like that, but you did it anyway and that's amazing
@@Vi_Vi_1 Gosh you're so so sweet. Your comment made my day and I hope you have a lovely day too. This means so much to me ;)♡
It hurts to see so many only care for Stitch. Lilo & Nani deserve more attention. Thank you so much for doing this video! As an adoptee, sisters 15+ yrs older & disabilities Lilo spoke volumes to me.
Here freaking here. My first reaction on seeing the film was "wow, sibling relationships as they actually are." Also as a chance to start to know a culture I'm thousands of miles away from yet recognise as a minority in my own country. It gave me so many feels. Stitch is a fantastic character but he's a loony toon at best without that family.
That’s because many grew up watching Lilo and Stitch and as a kid, you pay more attention to the cute and crazy talking animal than the emotional moments in the movie. Though now that we’re older, if you talk about Lilo and Stitch then people will often bring up how awesome David and Nani are.
It’s worse in Japan. They apparently hated Lilo, but loved Stitch. Despite their issues being so similar. It makes sense with their complete neglect of mental health, so they hate the kid who’s grieving & not processing her emotions well, and with the culture of being always obedient and appealing to those in higher positions to the neglect of themselves.
I get why, but it still bothers me how they threw her character away and obsessed over the alien who exhibits similar traits to Lilo, but cuz hes an alien, it’s okay. They completely missed the point of the movie
@@ma.2089
Japan also has a very apathetic view towards orphans and foster kids seeing them as "unwanted children." And since they still hold onto to family lineage as a measure of a person's character, children with no lineage are too much of a wildcard.
@@ma.2089
For a more in-depth explanation, LadyVirgilia's video titled "The Truth about Goro Akechi," is a good starting point in understanding Japan's koseki system. But there are spoilers for the videogames Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal.
This movie gets better the older you get. You truly grow to understand how nuanced, mature, substantial and beautiful it is.
Fantastic writing that gets you with the whimsy as a child and the depth as an adult 👏
16:20 This really spoke to me.
I was diagnosed with ASD as a child (Autistic Spectrum Disorder; formerly Asperger's Syndrome). Something I got a lot was the line "Why can't you just me normal!?", mostly from my own Father.
It's amazing how much people miss when it comes to Autism. ND people aren't wrong or right, weird or normal, they're just 'different'.
I always hated the word "special" because it felt like positive discrimination. It exoticized a mental illness. I don't think Autism should be praised or judged, just accepted wholesale, faults and all.
ASD isn't a mental illness, is it? There is a big difference between mental illness and mental disorder. Illness implies something that can be treated. Disorder implies a fundamental difference in brain wiring that cannot be changed. Hence why Autism is a disorder and not an illness, right?
Very well said.
I relate so much. 😢 My mother was in permanent denial, that nothing was 'wrong' with me, that it was a phase I would grow out of. I didn't get diagnosed until just over two years ago, at the age of 32. Getting that validation was a huge relief.
@@nykolhaebrd I sympathize with you on that. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 35.
"Exoticized" is an incredible way to describe that phenomenon, thank you for exposing me to it
This movie hits me so hard as an adult. I now realize this was and still is one of my all-time favorite movies because of my complex PTSD! As a kid, I was able to relate to Lilo in some ways. Loss and grief happened three years after this movie came out which makes it hit even harder.
One thing I love about Lilo is she actually acts like a kid. I have a lot of cousins who are her age and they messy, loud, annoying and sometimes violent. Love her so much, she will always be my favorite child protagonist
Thank you guys so much for this session. Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite movies ever. I related so much to Lilo as an autistic being, that for a while I hyperfixated on the movie, tv show, and sequels. Thank you so much Alan. Jono, and Becca. Big hugs and many thank yous for each of you.
Thanks for watching!
It's important to note that many of lilo's eccentricities actually come from the trauma of losing her parents. They probably grew up in the 1960s when Elvis was very famous in Hawaii, having done several films there. She keep their memory Alive by connecting with Elvis Presley's career and music every chance she gets. Because their parents died in wet weather, and she believes that Pudge the fish controls the weather, she offered him sandwiches every Thursday since the accident to make sure that nobody else died in rainy weather. Most interesting of all, however, I would argue at least, is the fact that lilo Forgives stitch for his destructive programming that compels him to instinctively destroy everything he touches comma because she believes that it's simple neurodivergence. There is nothing malicious about it. She knows, because she is the same way.
I love this movie so much. One time I road the Tower of Terror and thought I broke a rib with how many Stitch pins slammed into my chest on my lanyard.
the second movie has made me cry without fail
It's a bit of column a and a bit of column b. It's not unreasonable to see ASD traits in Lilo. She would follow a lot of the DCIM5. It's just worth remembering that Sanders and DeBlois never intended to make a ND character. Their notes, their animation practices, the lot of it is pretty available. This was the era of DVD extras. At one point Lilo was going to a cowgirl. Yet, they expanded on her over time and the TV series even gave her an episode explaining how she mourns every year.
What is without doubt is she is hands down the best written Disney kid, possibly to date. She is flawed, truly loving, aspirational but also real. I fell in love with Sanders work after this film. He is also How to train your dragon, The Croods and is Stitch's voice.
He wrote the soul of Lilo and Stitch's story because he wanted to ask why villains had to die at all (after being in Mulan's story team). So he created a little girl who could find his heart.
As a big sister I relate so much to Nani,I’m just starting to watch but for sure I’m crying with Allan today 🥹
Agreed, we need ALL of the tears! As an older sister myself, I still worry about something happening to my brother, even in adulthood!
I grew up with this movie and I never fully got the relationship with Nani and Lilo until I was an adult older sister to someone 9 years younger than me. I watched it with her as an adult when my relationship with her was at its worst and I just broke down into tears and hugged her and promised I would do better. I had resented her for "getting babied" because mom learned how to be a better parent, for getting more attention from Mom, for having both parents living together (she was born around when Mom remarried after divorcing my dad). Growing up, we shared a room but I only saw her on weekends and all she wanted was to hang out with me while I was there, but I saw it as the baby bothering me when I wanted to be alone. It took over a decade for me to see my mistake and luckily we have a better relationship now.
@@epicureanbard I identify with both because I'm an older sister and an Aspie. My parents also circumvented a lot of potential resentment by talking to us, particularly me, about how they *learned* to be parents. It's kind of a running joke now that I'm the family guinea pig. I still got annoyed at my little sisters because they seemed to *always* want to play with me and I didn't know *how* to play with others. Or they'd sit outside my door and giggle while I practiced guitar. I thought they were laughing at me because I sucked. They thought I sounded great and were giggling from how sneaky they thought they were.
"This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It´s little, and broken. But still good".
Everytime I cry my eyes out at this scene.
As someone who lost many family members and only has a tiny number left this hits so hard.
Ohmigosh! I just realized Stitch could be a representation of Lilo's subconscious struggles. That's why she's able to voice all of the things he is going through. The whole movie is actually about Lilo's inner wounding and the compassion that sort of struggle can give us. 🤯 Whoa!
You should look into Disney Conspiracy threads across the internet, because I think you're on to something and could become a contributor. From Cars being cyborg humans who came to earth after Wall-E, to Sully from Monsters Inc being Boo's method of interpreting the trauma of getting kidnapped, I think you'd fit right in and have fun.
The reason Lilo gives Pudge a sandwich is as she believes controls the weather and her parents died in a storm so she thinks if gives the fish a sandwich then bad weather won’t happen to cause anyone else to lose someone.
Also if you look in the background of Nani's room you will not only see a Mulan posted, but many surfing trophies and she gave it all up to raise Lilo.
Which going into the next point when they first showed the film to test audiences they were confused thinking Nani was Lilo's mom so to clarify this they have the word "sister" said many times throughout the film.
Lastly some Disney film recommendations I have very few people have reacted to include:
The Rocketeer,
Sister Act (1 & 2),
Something Wicked This Way Comes,
And Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
yeah i dont think you really get it the first time but after you watch it again it makes sense and the scene becomes kinda heart wrenching ;;
@HornetDrip
You took my comment word for word from Timothee Reacts video on Lilo and Stitch.
@@jamesmoyner7499 Damn. Here I was thinking you were being hyperbolic, but no... they just straight up copy/pasted it.
@@chrisoneill325 Exactly I have never seen anything like that before.
You can see the adults' reactions too! They immediately understood why Lilo did it, strange as it was.
As someone on the spectrum, I just want to thank you all for speaking about neurodivergent people with such openness and kindness.
Same same, a lot of people sorta brush over neurodivergency so it's nice to see the representation being discussed
It’s impossible not to cry with this movie. What Allan said, about this working without the action and comedy scenes, is so real because I cried 6 different times while watching this video. This movie is SO good!
When I was a kid, I was Lilo. At 16 my family was "broken" so I had to become Nani. When this film came out, I cried the whole way through.
Once I found out I was neurodivergent and learned to manage my mental health, life became easier. Still one of my favorite films, and I thank you guys for keeping this going
Being a child diagnosed with autism later in life, this video made me cry. Because Johnathan is so right, people don’t get it. I grew up my entire life wondering why I wasn’t like other people. Getting older, with maturity, other people started accepting me which honestly startled me at first. I wasn’t used to observing others engaging with me first simply because they wanted to. Neurodivergents certainly are still people. Thank you for this video 💕
diagnosed by the age of 12 myself people do not want to give me an opertunety because i am diagnosed.... FUCKING HATE IT
At age 6 I was diagnosed with "undiagnosed spectrum disorder," which is now recognized as Asperger's. My mother was so afraid of the stigma that she refused to let me get treatment, so now later in life I still struggle with interpersonal interactions; one of the key things Johnathan pointed out is a neurodivergeant person's affinity towards truth, and it's really very frightening to live in a world of lies when you're hardwired to be honest.
They didn’t talk about it in this video but David is probably one of the best Disney love interests. He helps take care of Lilo, helps Nani look for jobs, and most of all respects the fact that Nani has to play the role of a parent now and tries his best to support her in that, all without actually dating Nani.
As the eldest in my family who essentially helped raise my brothers when my moms health took a dive and my dad got too busy with work, I still relate so hard to Nani. But I’m also neurodivergent like Lilo (I have ADD, anxiety, and depression). So I connected with both of them and I just still love this movie so much to this day, it helped me understand myself better and got me through some rough times.
My dad passed away when I was 9. After that, it was just me and my mom. The line, “This is my family. It’s little and broken, but still good” always resonated with her. Now it’s just me. Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite Disney movies, but I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever find the strength to watch it again
I can relate to you very much. I have loved this movie even before my dad died in 2021. But now it’s hard to watch. If I didn’t have hope from the Bible that I would see him again I don’t think I could live each day. I hope that you have a hope that gets you through.
I’m so sorry for your loss
I'm so sorry for your loss. I've lost a lot of family in the last few years and hadn't watched this movie since I was a kid. But now just watching the few clips they showed caused me to tear up thinking about the family I've lost physically and just lost touch with period. I was starting off this video thinking of how much I loved this movie and how much I want to rewatch it, but honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to make it through without crying.
Fun fact Nani, was the best surfer around. Hense the trophys in her room. She was going to win first place in one competition the time their parents passed away. So it’s also touching because Nani put her dream of surfing to be there for lilo. ❤️
I never saw Lilo as weird, i found her just relatable and never got why others did treat her like that, just like how i experienced childhood. I'm still waiting for a spectrum diagnosis but my brother is diagnosed with autism which made me question my own life.
I got diagnosed after my then 2-year-old son did. 👍🏻
Same aha. I got an autism diagnosis 2 years ago at 27.
I was fortunate to get a diagnosis very early on at 3.5 years old. I've had to fight hard to get where I am today, but it was worth the while
same, definitely considering getting tested
@@possums154 You should
David is the man they deserve. Nani and David deserve so much credit for trying so hard. I have an absolute respect for Nani doing the best she can.
I love all these characters but yeah, Nani and David are amazing. Nani works so hard, and David is so accepting and understanding, being helpful and supportive even though Nani can't be with him the way he wants. He isn't upset at her or ignoring her because he isn't getting his way--he understands her struggles and does his best to show up for her in whatever ways she needs, because he so genuinely cares about her AND Lilo. It's really beautiful
The hammock scene in this movie broke me as a kid, and broke me again today. not only do I come from a severly broken family, the reality of the government tearing your family apart hit home. CPS is terrifying when your parents love you, but struggle to care for you. I'm forever grateful that we're all still here.
The transition of starting childhood and identifying with lilo, and now growing up and identifying with Nani.. just shows how well they captured the reality of both stages of life.
Nani is my most favorite character ever. I always love how hard Nani tries to allow Lilo to be herself. If Lilo says something that other people would think is strange, Nani follows along. She always works within Lilos understanding instead of trying to force her to think like “normal” people. Even when she looses her job, she tells her sister that the manager is a vampire. Or when they go to the animal shelter and Lilo suggests they get a pet lobster and Nani’s response fits within Lilos logic. “Do we have a lobster door? No we have a dog door”. When she yells at MR. Bubbles as he’s trying to take Lilo away “but you don’t know what you’re doing, she needs me!”, you can feel how worried she is for Lilo to end up with a family that will make her feel weird, different. Nani never does that. As hard as it is for Nani’s life, trying to be a mother to her sister at a young age, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to provide out of her love for her sister and her love for their family. 😢 I’ll never not cry during this movie
While I can see Lilo as neurodivergent, more so I see her as a child trying to make sense of grief and loss. Feeding the fish because it controls the weather is bargaining. Treating Stitch as a misunderstood child is trying to parent after losing her parents. Desperation to keep family together is the fear of losing family out of nowhere. Fits of anger and violence is emotions she doesn’t quite understand. Knowing children who lost a parent very young, they don’t always express that loss obviously. It comes out in the ways similar to Lilo.
I was coming here to comment something similar, so I will just reply to this comment. As someone who is neurodivergent myself, I do love the idea of Lilo as neurodivergent and she COULD be neurodivergent, and perhaps more importantly she is relatable for many neurodivergent people. AND I happen to know that it is VERY common for children with PTSD to be misdiagnosed as autistic or autistic children to be diagnosed as having PTSD (if there is trauma there) and autism ends up overlooked. Someone once said that if someone isn’t VERY knowledgeable about both autism and PTSD things can sometimes go wrong in the diagnosis process. Outwardly, autistic children and children with PTSD can have very similar behaviors. Also, autistic children commonly have PTSD themselves. So it can be very complex.
Lilo could be autistic. She could be an ADHDer. She probably DOES have PTSD (though they do not show nightmares they certainly show other signs like mentioned in the above comment). She likely is neurodivergent AND struggling with PTSD. But I wouldn’t be upset at all if she is not neurodivergent and is dealing with PTSD because that is also important to have representation of in such a beautiful way.
And Lilo can still be so helpful for neurodivergent people, and for kids with PTSD and their loved ones, etc.
This movie keeps finding new ways to make me emotional. I think many oldest siblings have thought about how we would go about trying to do exactly what Nani has been forced to figure out. That anxiety was incredibly hard to get past even after my siblings were grown. Nani was drawn with realistic proportions for an audience accustomed to having EDs reinforced by the media we consumed. David is an amazing example of a man genuinely being friends with a woman and accepting boundaries within that relationship. Everything mentioned in the video about Lilo and the effort the animation team put into depicting Hawaii and the realities of modern life there especially for the native residents. Most importantly Lilo & Stitch is one of the main things which taught me family isn't necessarily who I happen to be related to, it's who I decide is worthy of being kept close and treasured.
" I think many oldest siblings have thought about how we would go about trying to do exactly what Nani has been forced to figure out."
This.
I remember that my parents were out one night and the police rang our bell. The whole 10 seconds or so it took me to open the window to talk to them my mind was racing. I thought about how I could take care of my siblings and how I could keep us together. I think I was 15 at the time and my siblings were 10 and 9. This memory hasn't left me in nearly 30 years.
(It turned out that the police was just asking after a neighbors house they couldn't find.)