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 KZfaq 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 KZfaq 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.

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

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 ❤🎉

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 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 ❤❤❤❤😂😂😂😂

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.

Good

Good

Great video

👍

Good

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.

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.

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.

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.

damn this movie is depressing as an adult

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

That's so sweet!

🤯

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

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.

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

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 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.

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

I love that he says it, looks over at Lilo and Nani and then follows up with, "Yeah, still good."

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

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.

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.

It's in the works!

Also the fact they BOTH benefited from the relationship.

​@@CinemaTherapyShowthis delights me

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!

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 KZfaq 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

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)

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 ;)♡

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

well...neurodivergence in kids especially little girls wasn't something that was talked about at all when this movie came out...

Idk if it’s confirmed that Lilo is neurodivergent but I think it’s rily nice if people can relate to it even if I never saw it personally

not gonna lie but- You might be neurodivergent. Everything you described is signs of not being neurotypical, haha. And the thing is- being neurodivergent just means your brain works different. It just means you figure things out differently, think of things differently, process shit differently. And it's okay, and normal. I think the reason more films 'harp' on the identity nowadays is because autistic, adhd, and neurodivergent people in general are becoming less of a taboo. More and more people are discovering that their oddities are because their brain is just wired differently. Honestly, as soneone bullied for my autistic traits by people who openly described themselves as accepting of neurodivergency, it's a chance for neurotypical people to see a neurodivergent person on the screen and be TOLD that they are neurodivergent. People who don't know what neurodivergency is, who don't know the signs of neurodivergency, they don't realize that these characteristics are neurodovergent. Neurotypical people often proclaim they would never bully an autistic kid- but then proceed to bully the kid who wears weird clothing, or cries and rocks at the 'noisy lights', or talks for too long about their hobbies or makes social blunders that they don't understand. The more people understand that these things are not failings of a person, but the result of people's brains being built on different hardware, the more people will empathize, understand, and help those around them who are different. I've had someone immediately switch their treatment of me between when they thought I was 'just weird' to when I blandly said 'I'm autistic'. The more people realize these traits are normal for many people, the less people will hurt others for them.

I think the line is quite fuzzy between genuine “my brain doesn’t process things like a normal person” and “lol look at me I’m just so different and special and can’t even and stuff.” It gets more questionable when some people grow out of it and others don’t. Like a catch-all term. And I say this as someone who is also on the spectrum.

​@@Slythegirl123 Being slightly weird doesn't mean you're neurodivergent. You say it's just being wired different, but it also has drawbacks. Diagnosing right kids and treating them right may help them, but you can do that without overdiagnosing anyone...

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

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.

@@KazKindred613 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.

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.

She vastly improved the episode. We can't wait to have her back!

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Mhm especially when you don’t understand what your doing is seemed odd. (Neurodivergent children/adults)

I am dyslexic. When I was a child, most states did not recognize it, so there was very little recorces for help. Most people never heard of it. I remember my whole childhood the importance of "looking normal". that was really important to my parents. It made me feel broken and a burden. I know I studied more and harder than most students and it still was not good enough. Everyone wants to "fit in".

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

It also explains why she likes taking pictures of tourists! She remembers everyone who leaves.

@@tripleg2513 Ah! Connections! Very cool.

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.

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.

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.

Also, it’s the reason she feeds Pudge the fish… he controls the weather… her parents died in a car crash in severe rainy weather. She tries to keep Pudge happy so now one else loses their Ohana. She finds every life “beautiful” as she says in her photo collection. She truly is a beautiful character.

Thanks for pointing that out! It's so fascinating how Stitch and Lilo are a direct contrast to each other. Both feel lonely, unwanted, misunderstood and lost. Because they get treated like outcasts and judged by their environment, since they're "difficult to deal with" and are very destructive. Lilo AND Stitch are different then other People/Aliens, they act weird, have uncommon traits or interests, they have these violent outbursts as a response to a lack of acceptance. At the beginning there is literally a scene where Gantu threatens Stitch while putting him under arrest at his ship, and Stitch attacks Gantu and bites him apparently, so Gantu turns towards another random person at the ship and asks if this wound looks infected, which is the exact same response Myrtle had, when she got attacked and bitten by Lilo after mocking her. Often the emotional elements of Stitch as a character and how he serves as a direct mirror to Lilos Situation often gets ignored because he also serves for a lot of the comedy and action. But the moment Lilo asks him about feeling lonely, that she hears him crying at night and what happened to his parents, is clearly showing they totally share the same trauma and struggles. And both just want a place where they get accepted as they are and feel like they belong to. Also the scene where Jumba describes Stitch is so sad actually: "626 was designed to be a monster, but now he has nothing to destroy. You see, I've never gave him a greater purpose. What must it be like to have nothing, not even memories to visit in the middle of the night". Also how Stitch is shown the relate to the story of the ugly duckling, poor guy.

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

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.

That’s relatable and heart breaking. Never realized that part of her character before

I also think they made Lilo take pictures of foreigners because that's how they treat her, since there is a bit more interactions between her and tourists in the deleted scenes. (Rebecca mentioned this right after I wrote this)

Same, this line hurts so much more now as an adult who knows they're autistic, and has lived through so many people leaving because they got tired of my restricted interests and activites. I remember them all too.

@@urheehoo I wasn't diagnosed until 25, too, though I have forgiven my childhood bullies. They didn't know what to do with the loud, uptight kid who never *quite* managed to act human.

I relate, and still struggle with the reality of it. It feels like it's so easy for others to move on and forget that I happened in their lives, while I myself not only don't get to forget, but am *haunted* by the fact. Wounds keep reopening and refuse to heal...

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

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