Back in 2013, ‘Frozen: The Kingdom of Ice’ was released, one of the most successful animated films in recent Disney history. The film was a real hit: audiences and critics praised the innovative aspects of the plot, such as prioritize the story of brotherhood above any romance. A necessary and groundbreaking contribution that, however, was already made long before by another film from the studio: ‘Lilo & Stitch’.
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On the occasion of 20th anniversary of ‘Lilo & Stitch’one of the directors and screenwriter of the film, Chris Sanderswanted to vindicate her and remember that the story of the sisters Lilo and Nani was ahead of that of Elsa and Anna:
To be honest, I think ‘Frozen’ is great. But it was a little frustrating for me to see people saying, “Finally a non-romantic relationship with these two girls,” and I was like, “We already did it! We did that way before.”
in 200211 years before ‘Frozen’, ‘Lilo & Stitch’ was released in theaters and was a success, causing a furor in merchandising and having several sequels and its own TV series (it even had an anime version later). Already at the time, the film marked a certain break with the style to which Disney had accustomed us, not only due to the absence of the main romantic plot but also due to its mix between science fiction and a different sense of humor to the most classic works of the studio.
Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois (the same duo that brought us ‘How to Train Your Dragon’) directed this story centered on Lilo’s friendshipa Hawaiian girl with trouble relating to others, and Stitch, an alien experiment who lands on Earth fleeing from his captors.
The relationship between Lilo and her sister Nani is also of vital importance, since they only have each otherafter losing his parents. On this, the producer of the film, Clark Spencer, commented:
When the movie came out, that’s what the critics were talking about. Those moments based on reality, so that people could see themselves reflected and not feel that they are just animation characters.
Despite the absolute success that was ‘Lilo & Stitch’ at the time, it seems that it has been somewhat diluted over time. Sanders hopes that new generations will appreciate the merits of the film, which She was ahead of her time in many ways. and that you have available on Disney +.