Oh so ‘Lilo & Stitch’ is going to break me

There is no place I’d rather be than on a surfboard out at sea with Stitch. And the new trailer for the live-action Lilo & Stitch movie had me surprisingly emotional. Well…it’s not that surprising, I love my little guy.

The original animated movie came out in 2002. As an 11 year-old at the time, I fell deeply in love with Stitch and wanted one of my own. To this day, if there is something Stitch related, I am inclined to buy it. But what that means is that I was very skeptical of this idea of the live-action Lilo & Stitch.

I’m happy to say that I was wrong. This trailer had me crying within two seconds. As Stitch looks at Lilo (Maia Kealoha) and says that “Stitch bad,” I knew I was in trouble. What do you mean this little blue guy still has the ability to make me sob at any given moment?

The trailer itself is cute and shows a bit of what the movie is doing differently from the animated film. It is both very much a remake of the original but does seem to have some moments that are exclusive to this film and I think that’s really fun!

But what makes Lilo & Stitch such an important story is that it is about finding your family and loving those who need you most. It has always made the film such a special one for Disney fans and this live-action remake really does seem to understand what made the animated film work so well.

Stitch is alone and Experiment 626 has always been told he was an abomination and not worthy of life. So when Lilo loves him unconditionally and finds a friend in him, he has to adapt to learn what being loved feels like.

Ohana means family

Watching this trailer transported me back to watching Lilo & Stitch for the first time. As a kid, I loved the music of the film and truly was so fascinated by Stitch’s journey as a character. It led to a lifelong love of this movie that I have since shared with my niece and my nephew, who was born on Stitch day! But I think that’s the beauty of Lilo & Stitch that is going to live on with this live-action remake.

You could have just ignored it completely and made this movie the exact same but the trailer shows that the live-action take on Stitch and Lilo’s story does have the same heart we know and love from the animated film. And that’s what makes it important to me.

Look, I watched this trailer and a single tear rolled down my face and then slowly but surely I just started sobbing over how sweet this film is going to be but more than that, it is a movie I get to share with my niece and we both get to watch it for the first time together. That is what makes these live-action remakes work for me and I cannot wait to sob over my furry angry little guy.