How ‘Lilo & Stitch’ Live-Action Butchered Nani’s Character & Why Fans Are Divided Over It

It didn’t take long for Disney to get back on track after the Rachel Zegler-led box office bomb Snow White, with Lilo & Stitch’s new live-action remake promising better times for the mouse-house.

The movie started off pretty well and has already grossed more than $300 million worldwide four days after its theatrical premiere, also getting lots of praise for (mostly) sticking to the 2002 animated film’s original storyline.

However, some still feared Disney would follow the same path it did with its previous remakes, and Nani’s major plot twist does suggest the studio never really learnt a lesson after all.

‘Lilo & Stitch’ Fans Slam Disney For Completely Mishandling Nani’s Storyline Arc

Even though Disney’s new classic reboot mostly fulfilled a requirement to follow the original movie’s plot line pretty faithfully, things about Lilo’s older sister Nani and her final decision to pursue her academic dreams were pretty unsettling for some fans.

The live-action remake offers additional background about Nani that wasn’t included in the animated movies. It turns out that she wanted to study marine biology, but she had to prioritize her family (Lilo) after their parents died. But in the end, when their neighbours offer to have Lilo live with them, Nani is completely fine with changing her priorities once again.

“I’m sorry but Nani would have never given Lilo up. I liked some things about the live action but absolutely HATE how they wrote Nani’s character for the live-action and the ridiculous ending. You really felt how much Nani loved Lilo and would do anything for her in the original, while in this one she tries to explain her abandonment via some crazy surf camp analogy that would also leave Lilo blindsided and confused when they’re no longer living together”, Redditor UpstairsTune7454 complained in a thread.

They then also added that it doesn’t make any sense from Lilo’s perspective either since “a traumatized orphaned 6 year old would never tell her sister to leave her and go follow her dreams, that she’ll be fine and perfectly well adjusted with the neighbors”.

“Who thought that the remake, in a franchise whose tagline/message is 'Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten', should end with Lilo being left behind?” MissKoalaBag agreed.

To be completely fair, the live-action ending tries to make sure that Nani doesn’t leave Lilo: she calls her frequently and even uses alien portals to surprise-visit her sister. However, fans are upset that Nani still chose to go to university instead of living with her sister, even after fighting to avoid being separated.

“My friends and I were talking and the movie was very corporate... vibes hidden behind chasing your dreams. Especially since in the animated show, Nani's original passion was surfing and given the trophies, she was damn good at it. Instead it feels like they chose a very "corporate friendly" dream for this movie for her to have cause ya know - go to college, get a degree, make lots of money... Not true in reality but good for "corporate””, RainbowLoli added.

Despite Criticism, Live-Action ‘Lilo & Stitch’s Altered Message Still Gets Support

It might be that some missed out on Disney’s attempt to make its original movie’s idea even grander, but other fans also found reasons to believe it was nothing like replacing one message with another modernized one.

“In the original movie, Nani was getting ready to tell Lilo that she was giving her up, but she was interrupted by David knocking at the door with a potential job offer. In this movie she agrees because she can’t afford proper medical care. The community stepping up and supporting Nani instead of letting her wither on the vine as a single parent is definitely an example of Ohana and leaving no one behind”, Mhunterjr explained.

“The whole movie she literally tries her hardest to not get separated from Lilo, and gives up on her marine biology dream. The ending has Lilo literally tell her to go to college, what more do you want from her? She's in trusted hands, can visit whenever, and they are still very close? Is she supposed to just stay in the house and be completely miserable?” Ancient_Chocolate809 chimed in.

On the one hand, we have a strong female character who no longer has to limit her life exclusively to family. However, the original Nani was also able to do that: she could be there for her little sister and have a job and a personal life. It's as if the filmmakers felt the need to make a scandalous change to a beloved character in an attempt to remake something that was already good enough.

Lilo & Stitch is currently playing in theatres worldwide.