Why I like Lilo and Stitch so much

I have had a few conversations, with friends and co-workers, about Lilo and Stitch.

Some of the conversations go like this:

“Oh, I thought that movie was terrible! They were trying to take her away, and the other kids picked on her, and she was always fighting with everyone, and their parents died…”

Here’s why I like it so much (I’ll do bullets, heh):

  • Nani has a big butt. And is voiced by Tia Carrere (rawr!)
  • Lilo isn’t skinny / popular / pretty / rich. We’re not talking your typical Disney Girl.
  • Nani and Lilo obviously care a great deal about each other, but circumstances don’t always work the way they want. In fact, they seem to have a string of bad luck going. I resemble that.
  • Elvis!
  • The other kids don’t understand Lilo because she’s “different.” She wants nothing more than to be understood, but gets standoffish when they reject her (defensive). She has an over-active imagination, perhaps, and knows a lot for a little girl.
  • Six legged super strong indestructable alien with a sense of humor.
  • Favorite quote: “This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It’s little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good.”
  • Set in Hawaii, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
  • There are more Elvis songs in “Lilo and Stitch” than any other movie, including Elvis movies. Yes, we have the soundtrack. Somewhere.
  • “Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten.”
  • Later: “Ohana” means “family.” “Family” means “no one gets left behind.” But if you want to leave, you can. I’ll remember you though.
    [looking at her picture of her dead parents] I remember everyone that leaves.
  • Lilo: Your knuckles say “cobra”…”Cobra Bubbles”… you don’t… *look* like a social worker.
    Mr. Cobra Bubbles: I’m a special classification.
    Lilo: Did you ever kill anyone?
    Mr. Cobra Bubbles: We’re getting off the subject. Let’s talk about you. Are you… happy?
    Lilo: I’m adjusted.
  • We watched this movie in a mostly-empty theater with our two kids, and by the end we were both bawling (the kids, of course, just like the surfing scenes and the space ships)
  • Few people that I’ve talked with know this, but when they initially scripted the movie (and most of the animation was done) the big final chase scene between the good aliens and the bad aliens involved Stitch stealing a 747 from the airport and flying through downtown Honolulu; narrowly missing buildings and such. After 9/11 the producers thought this would be a bit much (even for aliens in an animated Hawaii) so they changed it to where they were over open water or rural/volcanos. Plenty of trivia, interviews, etc. here.
  • Grand Councilwoman: What is that monstrousity?
    Jumba: Monstrousity? What you see before you is the beginning of a new species. I call it Experiment 626. It is fire-proof, bullet-proof, and can think faster than super computer. It can see in the dark, and lift objects three thousand times its size. It’s only instinct… to destroy everything it touches! Ha ha ha ha!
    Grand Councilwoman: So it IS a monster.
    Jumba: Just a little one.