Disney’s Lilo & Stitch was a real hit for the company and has remained a very popular movie within Disney’s incredible library. The 2002 movie is all about family and its importance, which is something that is very easy to connect with, and because of the plot, this movie brings out a lot of heartfelt emotion at points.
Of course, that is all well balanced with the fun science fiction elements and the comedy that is often brought by Stitch causing chaos. However, at its core, this is a movie about family, about sticking together through the tough times, and with that Disney delivers some of its best quotes about family throughout.
Updated on September 29th, 2021 by Mark Birrell: Disney’s Lilo & Stitch is a movie that’s all about ohana (family) and whether it’s from Lilo, Stitch, Nani, Bubbles, David, or even more villainous characters like Dr. Jumba, the dialogue is always giving some interesting insights into the idea of family. The best quotes from Lilo & Stitch are impactful for all members of the family, young or old, and each of them deserves to be noted and remembered.
When it comes to Lilo & Stitch, there’s no doubt that this is the most iconic quote, with this actually being one of the most memorable lines of any Disney movie. This quote is a very heartfelt one, as it’s all about not leaving others behind and the true importance of family sticking together.
It’s something that connects with a lot of people and the emotion that is shown from any of the numerous characters throughout this movie that they say this line serves to make it the film’s most heartfelt.
While the classic Ohana line is one that most people know and is often thrown around as a catchphrase from this movie, this quote from Stitch himself has even more heart and impact. Because he’s an alien who primarily causes nothing but carnage and destruction, hearing Stitch talk in this way really shows the impact that Lilo and her family have on him.
Stitch is able to learn the values of what a family means more than any character within this movie, and when he admits it is his family, there is a really strong emotional moment. It’s great to see Stitch in this light, and the fact that it pushes that a family being a little broken isn’t a problem is a great message that a lot of people can appreciate.
Full Quote: “Our family’s little now, and we don’t have many toys… But if you want, you could be a part of it. You could be our baby, and we’d raise you to be good.”
Lilo has to accept a lot of hard truths throughout the movie about the position that her family is in now, and she knows that it’s only small and isn’t perfect. However, when she explains the situation to Stitch, it really is a heartfelt moment.
She opens up about the fact that they don’t have much, which is because Nani is working hard just to keep them in their home. However, she still welcomes Stitch and invites him to be in the family, which is heartbreakingly sweet.
While Stitch does cause Nani and Lilo a lot of problems throughout the movie, by the end, he proves himself to be the ultimate pet and someone that both the sisters love dearly. They want to keep him and he wants to stay, but the Grand Councilwoman has other ideas and plans to take him away.
It seems like the two lead characters are set to be ripped apart, which is incredibly emotional within itself. However, when Stitch asks about saying goodbye, it demonstrates that the glimmer of something that she had been searching for at the beginning of the movie before sentencing Stitch to exile was there after all. The fact that he’s well-behaved, respectful, and considerate begins to convince her that Stitch can stay on Earth and be happy.
Stitch’s creator, the delightfully diabolical Doctor Jumba Jookiba, has some of the best quotes in Lilo & Stitch, not to mention some of the funniest also. When he’s introduced in the movie, he’s been captured and put on trial for his illegal monster experiments but he denies any wrongdoing.
As he tries to talk his way out of the situation by saying that he would never actually create something, Stitch is brought in and revealed with perfect comedic timing, leaving Jumba finishing his sentence with a hilarious addition that he wouldn’t make more than one.
The sister relationship between Lilo and Nani is the most emotional part of this movie. It’s a unique bond that makes them one of the best sister duos in movie history, with Nani doing her best by Lilo, while also dealing with the fact their parents are gone herself. This leads to them having a lot of arguments, as Lilo doesn’t make things any easier.
During one hilarious argument, Nani yells that she might get a rabbit instead of Lilo as it would be quieter and better behaved. However, when things calm down, Lilo brings up this cute and heartfelt comment, just reassuring herself about how much Nani truly does care for her.
One of the best characters in Lilo & Stitch is the tough-but-fair social worker Cobra Bubbles. When he and Lilo first meet, he gives her a card and tells her to call him the next time that she’s left alone. So Lilo, being true to her word, calls Cobra Bubbles when Nani leaves to secure a job and Jumba attacks her house to get Stitch.
Thanks to Bubbles’ odd name, this sentence is just funny by itself but it’s Lilo’s characteristic matter-of-factness that sells it as one of Lilo & Stitch‘s best quotes, with Lilo joyously giving the also-brilliant follow-up line “Oh good, my dog found the chainsaw.”
An often overlooked family dynamic from Lilo & Stitch–that is just as interesting as the others–is the one between Stitch and his creator, Jumba. Just about everyone other than Lilo is immediately terrified of Stitch throughout the movie and Jumba mistreats him too but his mistreatment comes from a place of understanding.
Jumba is a weird and maniacal guy himself, and he clearly put a lot of his own characteristics into Stitch. So, when he knows Stitch’s programming so well that he knows that Stitch will steal everyone’s left show just to presumably annoy them, it demonstrates the quirky bond that the two have. It’s also another brilliantly well-delivered line too, building up Stitch as a monster but reminding the audience that he’s oddly funny too.
This quote is both heartfelt and absolutely hilarious at the same time, which really sums up Lilo and the personality that she has. It comes after she explains that she was late to her dance practice because she was giving a fish named Pudge a peanut butter sandwich as she believes that he controls the weather. With no peanut butter in the house, Nani had initially suggested giving him a tuna sandwich, the idea of which makes Lilo yell out this memorable quote.
Lilo speaks in a really mature manner here, dropping in the word abomination, which is very unexpected. But even though this quote showcases the comedic side of this movie, it also shows what a kind and caring character Lilo is at the same time.
When Lilo explains the death of her parents to Stitch, she shows incredible maturity which really helps to make her a terrific character. She turns things to Stitch and asks if he lost his parents, revealing she hears him crying on an evening, which she thinks is why he’s so angry.
It’s a really heartfelt and clever moment for several reasons. It shows that people act out in this manner when things are going wrong, and while Lilo projects this onto Stitch, it is also her own way of admitting that’s why she behaves the way she does to Nani at times.
Another aspect of Jumba that’s often overlooked is that he is, in many ways, technically a villain in a lot of the story yet doesn’t meet any of the typical villain fates of Disney movies. He’s redeemed by the end in a similar way to Stitch and sticks around to become a part of Lilo’s new family.
It’s a big turn from his introduction in the movie’s big sci-fi opening, where he’s sent down to prison as he screams that he actually enjoys being called an evil genius. But Jumba is always funny as an antagonistic force, his design is too cuddly for him to be truly scary and he just comes off as lovable, even in his most dastardly moments.
Part of what makes Lilo and Nani arguably Disney’s best sisters is that they grow together. During one emotional scene in Lilo & Stitch, the two of them have a real heart to heart in order to repair things. They discuss being a broken family, and Nani says sorry for shouting at her.
However, Lilo cheers her up by making it clear that it’s their job to fallout, as they’re sisters and it’s what they should do. Their relationship dynamic isn’t clear-cut and Nani needs Lilo in her life as much as Lilo needs her.
Another of Jumba’s perfectly delivered lines of villainous comedy is one that he gives to Stitch after he gets the drop on him. Considering that it’s just been a very sad time for Stitch, the audience is hoping for a little sympathy from Stitch’s creator but he makes sure to emphasize that he cares about how much money he’s invested in Stitch, a classic bad dad trait.
Still, voice actor David Ogden Stiers as Jumba delivers the line with such impeccable comedic timing, without even stressing it for laughs, that it’s hard not to laugh, showing just how effortlessly the movie slips between emotional moments and comedic ones.
Prior to getting Stitch, Lilo really hits a low point which leads to her literally praying for a friend. It’s an emotional scene that showcases how lonely she is, especially since Nani is now really acting as her parent, rather than her sister.
It’s a tough scene and it adds real emotional stakes to the entire relationship between Lilo and Stitch because she is simply desperate for a friend to help her grieve and get over this tough spot in her life.
It’s impossible not to feel emotional when Lilo delivers this line to Stitch, especially considering she is looking at a picture of her parents as she delivers it. When Stitch is considering leaving, Lilo speaks openly with him, clearly upset about him possibly going, yet also accepting that it could happen.
The quote really hits home just how much she has lost within her young life though, with her having lost both of her parents. She desperately doesn’t want to lose anyone else, but the fact that she remembers everything at least gives her those memories, which provides some positivity to the moment.