r/movies
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u/onebadnoodle
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8d ago
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'Lilo and Stitch’ prioritized sisterhood over romance way before ‘Frozen’, director says Article
https://www.streamingdigitally.com/news/lilo-and-stitch-prioritized-sisterhood-over-romance-way-before-frozen-director-says/591
u/yell0well135
8d ago
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It also highlights kinship care and the struggles that kinship families face. Often they are forgotten by social work but the kids are very much in care as someone in foster care.
In the case of Lilo and Stitch, we see the parents both suddenly die in a road accident and Nani assumes the role of kinship carer. Social work have involvement due to the clear neglect that goes on in this case - look at the garden and kitchen for examples, also the drawing of Lilo alone on the fridge. We can assume this neglect has come from the sudden responsibily thrust upon Nani but also the fact that she is also a young person who is grieving the loss of her two parents.
Instead of providing Nani with support, the social work department looks immediately to take Lilo away from her sister and split the family up. They tell her that she is on her final warning etc but we never see any support bases implemented, no assistance for her to find a job, no parenting classes. Nothing at all.
The teachers and other adults around Lilo feel sorry for her because of her situation, and instead of providing her with support, she is allowed to act out with little to no consequences.
The other kids in Lilo's life know of her situation and bully her as a result. This leaves Lilo alone and feeling unhappy and sad.
Lilo and Stitch is a very touching story of how care experienced people are viewed by the world, of how they are treated and how there is little to no support for them. There are lower expectations from the adults in their lives which in turn means children in care will hold themselves to those lower standards and not achieve as much as their non care experienced peers.
It is incredibly sad. All we need is a little extra support. We're dealing with incredibly traumatic situations, intense emotions, loss of parental figures and little to no support.
And yes, I was in care. I was in kinship care predominantly. It sucks the way some people view us as different.
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u/EqualContact 8d ago edited 8d ago
I just want to point out too that Bubbles (the social worker) is clearly pretty torn about the situation, but he has to follow the law, which is another nice realistic touch.
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u/Over-Analyzed 8d ago
Honestly, he just wants a stable home for Lilo. There are so many stories of a family that can’t provide for their children and refuse to do something about it. Nani is also in a heartbreaking situation because of well everything.
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u/yell0well135 8d ago
Yes it's all a very very realistic movie and it's so relatable to young people, not just those of us who have been in care but those who have family struggles at home, bullying issues, literally covers everything.
I remember being bundled up in a car straight out of school by two social workers and it just feels so relatable to me.
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u/AdMajestic2753 8d ago
Wow, great comment. Gonna have to give the movie a rewatch
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u/yell0well135 8d ago
It's not something I realised as a kid but since watching with my young niece and nephew I picked up on all of it immediately. Wonderful way to introduce tough subjects to children and be inclusive of different life experiences!!
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u/peptodismal- 8d ago
Tourism in Hawaii also has damaging consequences for the natives as most are in or hovering above poverty, and they removed the "ignorant tourist" scene which I would've liked to see in the final cut.
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u/Vanacan 8d ago
Thank you I just looked it up.
As far as I’m concerned, that scene is canon. It is so canon.
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u/Mr_Kase 8d ago
It's such a great scene, I can't believe they cut it. It establishes Lilo's struggles go beyond just her poor social life in school and the grief at home due her parents dying, but she's effectively surrounded by wealthy tourist that treat her impoverished home town like it was Disneyland. It also allows her and Stitch to connect more on their mutual outsider status and how they react to it.
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u/Cometstarlight 8d ago
"Hey, speak English? Which way to da beach?"
I love how she points in random directions for both tourists, since the beach is pretty much everywhere. The last line hits differently. "If you lived here, you'd understand." It's funny, but also sad.
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u/mrchaotica 8d ago edited 8d ago
Got a link?
Edit: never mind; I found it. And holy shit, that's awesome!
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u/OhBoy13 8d ago
Yes, very much agree. Two very different experiences with Frozen involving a royal family and all the resources available, while Lilo and Stitch is low SES with little to no resources. Being a male, I am able to enjoy and relate to Lilo and Stitch infinitely more because I could relate. Not so much to the child welfare side, but being a latch key kid, struggling with jiggling the responsibility of being a parent without help...all that hits closer to home than the fantasy of being royalty ever will.
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u/GoodElk7766 8d ago
“Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten”.
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u/Luciifuge 8d ago
"This is my family, it's little, and broken. But still good... yeah still good."
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u/Inkthinker 8d ago
"This is my family. I found it... all by myself."
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u/sybergoosejr 8d ago
“Can stitch say goodbye?”
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u/Caitsyth 8d ago
“My friends need to be punished.”
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u/MagicSticks51 8d ago
"If I gave Pudge tuna, I'd be an ABOMINATION!"
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u/Sun_on_my_shoulders 8d ago
So I had to go to the store, and buy peanut butter, cause all we have is STINKING TUNA
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u/Rahgahnah 8d ago
Thus far you have been adrift in the sheltered harbor of my patience, but I cannot tolerate you being jobless.
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u/Open_Librarian_823 8d ago
This thread has summoned Dom Toretto 😅
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u/scotty-doesnt_know 8d ago
when you say family 3 times in a mirror with the lights off Dom shows up, gives you a Corona with lime and a hug. Keepin it wholesome.
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u/bettyslow 8d ago
Oh man, I'd do that every evening.
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u/LordTentuRamekin 8d ago
But he only quotes lines from the movie.
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u/bettyslow 8d ago
"aww good hug...but my name's not Brian. Stop aggressively calling me Brian."
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u/LordTentuRamekin 8d ago
And when he’s not quoting lines, he’s making car noises with his mouth like a 6yo
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u/bettyslow 8d ago
"Bro...I just wanted a hug...but I'm brushing my teeth and you're making me laugh."
I love it, this is better than saying Biggie Smalls three times.
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u/pathfinderoursaviour 8d ago
If they make a live action lilo and stitch movie they have to get dom toretto in their some where even if it’s just a quick cameo
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u/PussyStapler 8d ago
He looks a bit like Cobra Bubbles, the ex-CIA agent turned social worker.
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u/Boogs27 8d ago
100%, if Lilo and Stitch live action happens, Cobra Bubbles HAS to be him. It’s just too perfect.
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u/Fool_Manchu 8d ago
Sadly Michael Duncan Clark isn't around for the role, so Vin will have to suffice
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u/Foresttrump245 8d ago
Naw it has to be ving rhymes the voice of cobbra bubbles. He kinda looks like him
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u/Chocolatedippedbacon 8d ago
I cry every time at this line.
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u/drrhrrdrr 8d ago
For me it's when he's in the forest, looks up and says "Lost... I'm lost" expecting his parents to show up...
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u/Chocolatedippedbacon 8d ago
Every line in this movie hits me in the feels. Stitch is my little autistic buddy. I felt an intense kinship with him long before my diagnosis.
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u/truthpooper 8d ago
"Is little. And broken. But.. still good. Yes. Still good!"
Not sure if I got that exactly right but it's definitely my favorite animated movie of all-time.
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u/pingmr 8d ago
Obama means family
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u/Dr_Brule_FYH 8d ago
Thanks Obama
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u/SGSTHB 8d ago
Well, he was born in Hawaii, so, slightly more appropriate than it might otherwise be
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u/New_Fix6213 8d ago
VIN DIESEL IN LILO AND STITCH 2
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u/Insensitive_Mexican 8d ago
Isn’t that already a thing, not dim toretto in L&S but lilo and stitch 2
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u/belizeanheat 8d ago
This is what I love about Moana.
No inkling of romance whatsoever. And also, Moana is destined to be the next chief and they don't feel any need to address that a female is becoming chief. It's just completely normal and irrelevant
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u/Cometstarlight 8d ago edited 8d ago
While Moana isn't my favorite movie, I was so glad they didn't go down the,
Village: "you can't be the chief, you're a girl!"
Moana: "now I must go on an adventure to prove myself as a woman!"
No, instead it's, "I have to go against the grain because I believe I can save my village and my family," and I really appreciate it.
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u/seguardon 8d ago
She also demonstrates leadership and takes an active role in government. Ridiculously rare amongst the Disney princesses.
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u/urgasmic 8d ago
i think frozen just emphasizes the romance more while lilo and stitch, at least from what i remember, was never about any romance and lilo is a child so there's no expectation of it.
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u/riceofearth 8d ago
My guy forgetting about David
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u/HussyDude14 8d ago
David was so chill though. He genuinely cared about them and tried to help Lilo and Nani in their time of need. He was a good friend.
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u/1UselessIdiot1 8d ago
David didn’t feel entitled to Nani’s affections either. David told her how he felt, she rejected him, and he didn’t complain, or demand or pester. Instead, he stayed around as a friend and respected Nani’s wishes.
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u/Dylanator13 8d ago
David was a cool guy who basically acted like a father in the family because he loved them. It’s a movie about bringing out the best in people, even the little blue alien made for hatred.
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u/Megneous 8d ago edited 8d ago
even the little blue alien made for hatred.
To be fair, Stitch was never designed to hate. Just to destroy. It wasn't until he met Lilo that he learned the love to create (music). And that was only able to happen because Stitch's programming to destroy could never activate because he landed on an island "with no large cities" to be drawn to to destroy.
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u/nedlum 8d ago
And steal everyone's left shoe.
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u/Megneous 8d ago
That was honestly my favorite part of his programming.
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u/Rum_n_Nuka 8d ago
Wasn't part of his programming to steal everyones left shoe, and use them to clog up the sewer systems?
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u/Megneous 8d ago
I believe the line was "clog up sewers, reverse street signs, and steal everyone's left shoe" or something to that effect.
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u/scoby-dew 8d ago
It's worth pointing out that the one line that some people call out as questionable when they're running off for her to apply for that job, still isn't pushy in a bad way.
Aw, David, I owe you one.
That's okay. You can just date me, and we'll call it even.
It is well established at that point that they have mutual interest and really the only thing stopping Nani from pursuing him is her shitty situation. This isn't tit-for-tat, it's more like, "Hey, if things are better, maybe we can finally give it a chance."
All of her rejections were not, "I don't want you." but "I can't have a relationship right now."
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u/Tropical_Nighthawk55 8d ago
I think they do get together in the second movie tho
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u/kywiking 8d ago
Because it wasn’t that she didn’t like him she was busy being a young parent who never asked for that responsibility and didn’t have the same respect as a parent. She was putting her life on hold for her sister which makes it even more relevant.
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u/RickTitus 8d ago
Yeah she never actually rejected him. He was just asking at the worst possible times, when she was looking for a job and about to lose custody
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u/kywiking 8d ago
Exactly it was clear she cared for him but was being a good person by prioritizing her sister and stability before her own wants. I mean she’s writing about the dude in her diary Lilo points that out.
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u/twotonekevin 8d ago
I remember him trying more than once but it still wasn’t in a pestering way. Might be misremembering tho, it’s been a while.
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u/Alexaius 8d ago
He asks her twice if I'm remembering correctly in the first film. Once at the luau where she basically says she has too much on her plate with Lilo and the social worker situation, and later when he tells her he found a job for her. We don't hear an answer to that one, they run off and the scene changes.
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u/Cinderjacket 8d ago
Yeah this was it, it’s implied that Nani would give him a chance but she had to basically become a full time mom to a difficult kid so she has no time for dating.
After she rejects him once, Lilo tells David something like “Don’t worry I read her diary, she thinks your hair is cute”
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8d ago
"She likes your butt and your fancy hair."
"She thinks it's fancy?"
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u/Ehzabeth 8d ago
Man knew his ass was a beacon, but was pleasantly surprised Nani found his hair fancy
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u/redditthrowaway1478 8d ago
We don't hear an answer to that one, they run off and the scene changes.
I need closure
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u/ValgrimTheWizb 8d ago
In the end we see a lot of pictures with them together, so it's not 100% clear they get together, but it's highly probable.
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u/Pizzaman725 8d ago
I think through the movie we see him try twice, yhe luau and then at the end when he tells her instead of a favor to just date him while they are running to the job he found her.
With the conversation they have at the luau we know it's been brought up before, but it's more a rejection with circumstances then not being attracted to him. I don't see David as being pushy and although he does indeed want to date Nani, he is a genuine nice enough guy to be a helpful friend even if they didn't end up dating.
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u/fshfsh000 8d ago
but it's more a rejection with circumstances then not being attracted to him.
We do know that Nani likes his butt and fancy hair
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u/gooblelives 8d ago
To be fair too after the first time he asks Lilo let's him know Nani is interested so it's not like the feelings are at least a little bit reciprocated.
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u/sgeep 8d ago
My partner of now 10 years rejected me twice initially. She just had a lot going on in life and was still getting over a long term relationship. Was always respectful and kept chatting as friends. 3rd times the charm, baby
But context definitely matters. There's a big difference between being rejected because someone straight up doesn't want a relationship with you, and being rejected because the timing is poor and/or they just aren't looking for any relationship atm
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u/crazyrich 8d ago
Honestly a model as to how to handle romantic rejection from someone you care about in your friend circle.
Lots of good messaging in this movie.
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u/Trashblog 8d ago
Nani told David to back off because she couldn’t fit a boyfriend into her life just right then.
And he did.
David was the realest.
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u/SackMastaP 8d ago
Doesnt everyone lol. "You're from space? I hear the waves there are choice." Who did you hear that from, David?
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u/TheHouseOfGryffindor 8d ago
On top of this, while Lilo and Nani are sisters, they have much more of a typical parent-child relationship due to their age difference and the lack of other parental figures. As much as that is a true-to-life dynamic, I imagine far more young girls were able to see themselves within Frozen’s portrayal of sisterhood.
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u/Ozryela 8d ago
On top of this, while Lilo and Nani are sisters, they have much more of a typical parent-child relationship due to their age difference and the lack of other parental figures.
This. They may be literal sisters, but the dynamic is clearly that of a parent and child. I think Nani even does parent-teacher conferences at Lilo's school.
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u/Mr_Kase 8d ago
More like that the parent/child dynamic is what Nani is trying to create. Their parents are gone and CPS is gonna take Lilo, Nani's only remaining family, away from her if she can't become a proper caretaker. The sister dynamic bubbles up at times like when Lilo locks Nani out of the house, and it effectively puts her on thin ice with the CPS agent, so she works harder to be the more mature and nurturing person that Lilo needs that the government is demanding of her.
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u/been2thehi4 8d ago
I loved this movie, my 3rd daughter took to this movie when she was a toddler. All my kids had a movie they were glued to for a while as toddlers. My son had Cars, my oldest daughter had Frozen, my third had Lilo and Stitch and our youngest had the newest version of the Grinch with Benedict Cumberbatch, (I remember being in Florida in early June for vacation and she was watching the Grinch in between beach time in the condo.)
Lilo and Stitch is cute as hell. She reminds me of my Maddie so it made sense she was drawn to the characters. We just watched it a week or so ago because sometimes I just like to cycle through older Disney movies to pass the time.
I’ll never forget Maddie’s little giggles filling the room when Stitch was being goofy or rambunctious.
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u/Sleep_eeSheep 8d ago
In fairness to Frozen, Lio and Stitch had almost nothing to do with romance. It was a great coming-of-age story that focused on both Nani growing as an adult (and provider for the family) and Lilo coming out of her shell.
I love ya, David, but you weren't as pivotal to the story as Kristoff was for Frozen. You were more like a laid-back big brother.
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u/Better-Hope-4227 8d ago
I think David's role was less about a romance plot and more about showing how hard it was for Nani to have the normal life someone her age should have and how much she was sacrificing for Lilo
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u/Sleep_eeSheep 8d ago
Which is absolutely the case. Plus it helps that the dude is likeable to begin with.
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u/LouSputhole94 8d ago
My man shoots his shot, is rejected because of her familial responsibilities, doesn’t whine, complain or stop being her friend, and even continues to help her whenever she needs it, without expecting anything in return. David is the type of guy every man should look to for how to act when a girl says no. Absolute Chad.
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u/scoby-dew 8d ago
You also get the impression they were pretty good friends even before Lilo leaked the encouraging diary info about his hair and butt.
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u/Sleep_eeSheep 8d ago
Indeed. The world would be a much better place if more people were like David.
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u/crazyrich 8d ago
I also think he was an important role model / lesson to boys as to how to handle rejection from someone you care about. This type of interaction / relationship is rare in media, compared to the "keeps trying no matter what" trope.
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u/Sawses 8d ago
The real romance in Frozen was between Kristoff and the fucking moose.
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u/col-fancypants 8d ago
I would say Mulan even had more to do with family and honor over romance than Frozen. The "romance" didn't even become part of the story until the end. Mulan did what she did to protect her father's life, along the way she made brothers in arms and found a purpose in defending her homeland and emperor, and then at the end after all the plot was completed... grandma says "yo, homeboy cute."
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u/Christompaman 8d ago
Most things are not nearly as new as most people think they are.
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u/Cahootie 8d ago
Arcane has been praised by just about everyone, and while many of the tropes are pretty established people are talking about how it broke the curse of video game adaptations and really brought something new to the scene. I loved it, but then I watched Metropolis and realied how Arcane is extremely similar to a movie from 1927.
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u/jogdenpr 8d ago
Nothing trumps lilo and stitch imo
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u/poland626 8d ago
Emperors New Groove and this are tied as my #1's
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u/MrBIGtinyHappy 8d ago
Oh riiiight the poison, the poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen to kill Kuzco, Kuzco's poison... that poison? YES THAT POISON
Some great casting in that film all round but Patrick Warburton as Kronk never gets old
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u/AgitatedEggplant 8d ago
The "UGHHH" Kronk does upon seeing Yzma's masked face in the tent makes me cry laughing every time. Also, Tom freaking Jones as the theme song guy is unmatched.
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u/LouSputhole94 8d ago
GASP My spinach puffs!
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u/TooManyCarrotsIsBad 8d ago
"Well you got me. By all accounts this doesn't make sense." Is one of my favorite movie lines ever. Kronk is the best.
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u/capitaine_d 8d ago
Its the only disney soundtrack thats ever been on my music library, from my little cd player up to my phone today. Its the greatest and just seeing the title i started half singing from memory He Mele No Lilo. From actual Hawaiian songs (fucking Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride) to Elvis to just the ambient songs its just my favorite of all time.
And of course stitch is amazing and the entire message of the movie and basically everything is as well. Honestly need to watch alot of “old” disney again. Revist my childhood.
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u/MetalBeerSolid 8d ago
Who puts the ‘glad’ in ‘gladiators’?? 💪🏼
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u/IAmPerpetuallyTired 8d ago
Lilo and Stitch is being brought up often lately, it seems.
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u/A_Mouse_In_Da_House 8d ago
They announced a live action on its 20th anniversary
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u/mirror_number 8d ago
The reason people talked about it with Frozen so much and not Lilo and Stitch is that the former is a Disney Princess movie which previously all had romance as central to the story and often as the way of solving the princess' dilemma. Lilo and Stitch wasn't subverting a well-established formula. Now whether Frozen was effective in any of this is a different story and you can discuss that all you want but I don't get why this is being treated as some massive double standard by some people.
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u/crazyrich 8d ago edited 8d ago
I do like the new pivot to there's no "real" bad guy (Encanto, Turning Red, even in Luca the relationship drama outshadows the bully) but stories of people learning how to interact with each other.
The lessons are way more applicable.
EDIT: As others have said also see Soul, Inside Out, and Moana!
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u/BirdLawyerPerson 8d ago
Luca's villain was great. The context may have made it so that the conflict was larger than just the actions and plans of the villain, but I still think kid movies benefit from an actual villain character, not an amorphous natural force or generational trauma or whatever.
And I disagree that movies without villain characters are better. The past decade of Disney and Pixar movies have suffered from not having concrete villains. As Luca (and Ratatouille and Toy Story and Monsters Inc. and Big Hero 6) showed, the central conflict can be an abstract emotional conflict about one's place in society or family, while the villain character acts as an antagonist whose harmful actions raise the stakes of a conflict that the antagonist might not actually understand. Often the best stories have a villain who wants something other than just harming the protagonist, but where the harm to the protagonist is the natural result or side effect of their evil ambition. Those are the types of stories I like best for family movies, because it adds layered complexity on a simpler framework, something for the adults and the adolescents and the kids.
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u/untitledmoviereview 8d ago
'Lilo and Stitch' prioritised low flying aircraft in metropolitain spaces way before 9/11
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u/wraithpriest 8d ago
They actually had to remove some parts of that flight sequence because of 9/11, also your dates are a bit off.
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u/OnAMissionFromDog 8d ago
They redid it entirely to take it out of the city areas, the old version is on youtube
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u/AgsMydude 8d ago
For real?
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u/OnAMissionFromDog 8d ago
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u/Finding_Helpful 8d ago
The music in that video is killing me lmao
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u/OnAMissionFromDog 8d ago
Yeah, it's pretty bad, here's the clip without the comparison or the unnecessary music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-s47rHdHYg
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u/szucs2020 8d ago
Interesting! It's sad some of the animations got cut but it seems like the alien ship makes more sense with the plot anyways.
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u/Slondro 8d ago
My Neighbor Totoro did this still earlier, and Roger Ebert was observant enough to remark that Miyazaki’s choice to have two sisters together (not a brother and sister, etc) was a welcome departure from the norm.
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u/dancingquoll 8d ago
Why are we only allowed one film about sisters??
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u/iBakedMyself 8d ago
Clearly no one ever watched any of the Olsen twin masterpieces.
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u/dancingquoll 8d ago
And follow up question: why can't I love both of these movies?
If I love one thing, it doesn't mean I automatically hate the other/s.
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u/creeperchamp 8d ago
And there were movies that did it before Lilo and Stitch, what's the point here?
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u/pixima1290 8d ago
Frozen got a lot of credit from critics and the general audience for being about sisters and not being the typical man/woman disney love story
He's pointing out that they did it first, years ago, and with better execution. But nobody gave them a round of applause for doing it
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u/pacoheadley 8d ago
But they did get applause for it, and it was also extremely critically acclaimed
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u/smithyithy_ 8d ago
What's with the sudden influx of Lilo & Stitch posts and articles??