Okay, I’m going to be honest here – I had no idea that Lilo & Stitch got that deep.
Seriously. When I was younger, more than twenty years ago, this movie was just a silly film about an alien causing mayhem wherever he went, and how he found a family with Lilo. But I took the time to re-watch the movie as an adult and I can fully say that I was not expecting to cry as much as I did. I pretty much cried as much as I would during a Hayao Miyazaki film.
Lilo & Stitch has a surprising amount of heart that I wasn’t expecting to experience but loved regardless, and one character that I really found myself relating to so much was Nani – someone who I genuinely did not like as a kid. But we need to talk about her now, and why I suddenly see her in a whole new light.
Anyone Like Nani Would Be Extremely Stressed In This Situation
I think as a kid, the reason I didn’t like Nani at all in Lilo & Stitch was that she symbolized the maternal figure, the person who kept Lilo from having fun and would yell at the girl that I related to the most throughout the film.
But now, as I’ve become older, I’m starting to realize just how stressful this whole situation was. Nani, believe it or not, was nineteen in the film, and it was her job to take care of Lilo after suddenly losing their parents. I don’t know about you, but at age nineteen, I didn’t have to worry about some kid. I was more worried about the next Marvel film, or if Daryl Dixon was going to die on The Walking Dead.
Never in my life could I imagine the stressful situation that Nani was going through, and she wasn’t even in her twenties yet. Not only does she have to learn to be a mother to Lilo and make sure her little sister doesn’t get into trouble, but she herself has to try and deal with her own grief after losing their family. It’s incredibly sad and stressful and it makes me appreciate her so much.
And The Fact That She Searched For Several New Jobs To Take Care Of Lilo Is Admirable
Let’s start out with something big – I graduated from college in the year 2020, when jobs were impossible to find. For a time, I didn’t even think I would get one because of how the world was, and that in and of itself sent me into a spiral that was hard to crawl out of until I finally did find work after some time.
But just imagine – you haven’t even gone to college yet. You’re a nineteen-year-old who has to take care of a child and is just barely scraping by in order to keep your parent’s home, when you suddenly have to go looking for a new job thanks to the pet that your kid just got. Now, you have to go from place to place hoping someone will hire you.
I’m pretty sure I would lose my damn mind. I can barely handle the stress of normal everyday life sometimes, but Nani is like a super-sister as she goes from place to place in order to get something in order to care for Lilo. It’s extremely admirable.
Also, Just Saying – Lilo Isn’t A Super Easy Kid To Take Care Of
Okay, so I think the reason I liked Lilo so much as a kid was because I related to her so much. As a child, I barely had many friends because I was eccentric like her. I was into weird things that many girls my age weren’t (like witches in Harry Potter and zombies in games like Left 4 Dead) so I was pretty alone and characters like Lilo from the early 2000s Disney movies made me happy.
Get excited, because a Lilo & Stitch live-action is in the works.
But as I’ve gotten older, my mother has openly admitted that I was a tough kid to take care of because I was exactly like Lilo – always getting myself into trouble because people just didn’t understand me as a kid. Nowadays, I can look back on that and cringe at how silly I was, but at the time, it was really lonely. And I’m only just starting to realize that Nani is basically how my mother felt.
Lilo isn’t an easy kid to take care of because she’s so different, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but having someone so close to her that’s her family is so essential. She didn’t have anyone else, and Nani was her safe space despite the fighting they would do. I have to give Nani a lot of props because I’m not sure I’d be able to handle that responsibility.
It’s Really Sweet That She Overheard Lilo’s Wish And Thought A Dog Would Be Good
I mean, I’m all for movies about dogs (especially the ones where they don’t die), but how on Earth did these people think even for a moment Stitch was a mutated dog? I like that Nani was able to tell straight away but Lilo didn’t.
Even then, I find it incredibly sweet and wholesome that Nani’s first thought when she overheard Lilo’s wish for a friend was to get her a dog.
Look, I know that from a realistic view, it probably isn’t the greatest idea. Lilo is enough of a hassle as it is for Nani, as much as she does love her sister, and CPS is literally at her door checking in and seeing if Nani is a good guardian. It’s a real issue that seriously is scary for many people. But Nani is seriously trying her hardest to make her sister happy at such a young age, and getting a dog was one of the best ideas she had.
It would be a friend for her sister, something she desperately needed – and good on Nani for adopting and not shopping, even if, uh, what they adopted wasn’t necessarily a dog.
And She’s Willing To Let Stitch Stay If It Makes Lilo Happy
I totally forgot just how much of a freaking menace Stitch is. Completely.
For about half of this movie, Stitch is causing mayhem and destruction wherever he goes. Granted, that’s literally in his programming, but it honestly had me surprised and lowkey annoyed as an adult because I wouldn’t put up with that either and probably would have kicked Stitch’s butt to the curb, just as Nani was about to do when they got home.
But Nani listens to Lilo’s words, saying that “Ohana means family,” and that nobody gets left behind or forgotten. In that moment, Nani gives in, showing that she does have a compassionate side. It wasn’t because she wanted to keep Stitch by any means – but she could see the happiness it could potentially bring her sister.
That’s what really sold me on Nani. She knows keeping Stitch (at that time) was probably a bad idea, considering everything he had done. But she could see how much Lilo already cared for the beast (later finding out he’s an alien) and was willing to sacrifice her own happiness for her sister. That’s the true sign of a loving guardian.
Nani has seriously won me over in this film and I totally see her in a new light, and I honestly can’t wait to see her in live-action form. I’m not sure if it’ll bring the same heart as the original, but I’m eager to see her again in the upcoming Disney live-action remake, because she truly is the perfect example of a sister who is willing to do anything for her family.
