Disney has lifted the curtain on their newest film, Lilo & Stitch, unleashing Stitch onto theater screens once again. After audiences had a little over a week to take it in, many are voicing their distaste with the way the story unfolded towards the end of the film, specifically with what it represents.
Among the many parts of the movie that etched itself into pop culture is the phrase “ohana means family,” a saying used in the original 2002 Disney classic several times, and served as an expression of the main theme of the story. The phrase was carried over into the new live action remake, but to a degree that many fans were unhappy with.
A user on X posted a video comparing the pivotal moment of “ohana means family” between the original and remade versions, sparking a wave of backlash against the way the new film tried to portray it.
The backlash doesn’t end there. The “Ohana” in question in both films is Lilo and her older sister, Nani, who is forced to care for her younger sibling after their parents die. The original film ended with Nani keeping guardianship over Lilo, but the new one took an unexpected turn. Rather than keeping Lilo, she gives custody to a neighbor of theirs, who serves as a pseudo-grandmother for the two characters, so Nani can go to college in California.
Mariah Rigg, a born and raised Hawaiian author, told Hollywood Reporter that she was quite taken aback at how the ending of the remake handled things.
“Obviously, there is all this discourse on how ‘ohana means family’ is not really represented in that ending, but in an even larger way, it’s harmful on how it contributes to the narrative of displacement of Hawaiians from their ancestral lands.”
The film’s director, Dean Fleischer Camp, defended the change in narrative after reposting a fan talking about their satisfaction with the ending on X.
Lilo & Stitch is now playing in theaters.
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