Despite all the reassurances and background rearranging to turn Disney from its woke era and into a new frontier of entertainment people can actually stomach, old habits die hard, and it seems Disney still doesn't understand what makes a great story.
One of the most beloved films from Disney is "Lilo & Stitch," the story of a feral alien who crash-lands on the island of Hawaii and finds himself entangled with a broken family doing its best to stay together. It's a heartwarming story that pulls at the heartstrings, and one of the reasons it works so well isn't because of the little sister Lilo, or the alien Stitch, it's because of the big sister, Nani.
To understand the egregious move Disney made in its live-action version of "Lilo & Stitch," you have to understand the core theme of the movie.
For those who've never seen the animated classic, Nani and Lilo are two sisters who live alone together after their parents died in a car crash. A lot of the film's emotional weight revolves around Nani now having to grow up at lightning speed while becoming a parent to her little sister, and Lilo having to navigate this turn as a child. This often causes the two to clash, with Lilo often acting out in ways that range from bizarre to violent, and Nani trying to exhibit authority and deal with adult responsibilities she clearly wasn't ready for.
Nani is tasked with keeping her broken family together, as child protective services watches her closely, threatening to take Lilo away if Nani doesn't get it all together. When Stitch is introduced to the mix, chaos ensues, but soon the alien begins understanding the value of love through Lilo's heart, and Nani's perseverance.
The entire film revolves around the principle of "Ohana," which is Hawaiian for family; the phrase "Ohana means family" is repeated throughout the film to drive home that one of the single most important aspects of life is one's family.
Nani's entire theme is self-sacrifice. She's the glue that holds them all together, and she goes above and beyond to make sure that her family stays together.
So, guess what Disney did.
*SPOILERS*
Nani is a bit less involved in the live-action film. In fact, they introduce a new neighbor character who ends up doing some of the heavy lifting in Nani's place, including the moment Stitch is adopted by Lilo at the pet shelter.
This guts Nani's character in a way, as this moment was one where she's attempting to introduce something to Lilo's life that can give her some grounding. She sees her little sister hurting and alone, unable to make friends due to her emotional instability, and she decides to let Lilo adopt a dog to help remedy this. It's a selfless moment from Nani who decides to take on another mouth to feed amid financial and familial instability.
Now, it's just passed off to the neighbor, and puts a huge crack in the theme of "Ohana."
But if it was just that moment, it wouldn't be that bad. The entire theme of the film is entirely undercut by the ending where, instead of Nani succeeding and solidifying her family, even gaining a male love-interest who is suggested to become the father-figure of the household, Nani gives Lilo up to the neighbor and goes off to college.
The film tries to excuse this by giving Lilo access to a teleporter gun that allows her to visit Nani, but regardless, this completely guts what made Nani so special, and her character so admirable.
The point of "Lilo & Stitch" was to show that love is worthy of sacrifice and that sometimes, going to great lengths to keep your family together in spite of the odds is a worthy pursuit and good for the soul.
Disney, in all its modern obsession, tossed that deep message into the garbage in order to foster the "women can have it all" empowerment message. Nani is no longer the self-sacrificing big-sister/mother figure, she's pursuing girl power by leaving the core of her heart behind to study marine biology.
I've been covering Disney's downward spiral for some time, and heavily covered its "Snow White" disaster on my YouTube channel. Yet, something about this change just feels even more disgusting to me than all the others. Race and gender swaps are just stupid, girl-bossing beloved Disney princesses is horrible storytelling and bad messaging... but something about this change to "Lilo & Stitch" just feels gross.
READ: Disney's Latest Move Proves They're Terrified of You Seeing Their New Snow White Movie
It's like Disney is trying to push the message that love isn't worth sacrificing for, and that women should pursue their own interests instead of fighting for something far more worthy than a degree. Abandon your charges. If your family is broken, leave the responsibility to someone else and go get yours, girl.
Disney really had the opportunity to show its fans it learned from its mistakes after repeated massive failures, including "Snow White," but it would appear that it's still high on woke.
