The words of Stitch lingered in my ears for years after as he spoke, “Ohana means family, family means no one gets left behind, or forgotten”. This feel good and emotional story of family, explores the tale of a rebellious lost soul finding his way to an unexpected better future. The journey of unconditional love, needing to belong, and self-sacrifice is evident in the dominating theme of family unity; the bringing about of two unlikely friends forming a unique bond.
Lilo and Stitch is the heart-warming animation produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, released by Walt Disney Pictures and written and directed by Chris Sanders (Stitch) and Dean DeBlois. Released in June 2002, but not viewed by myself until 2005, the striking success of…show more content… It expresses, analyses and highlights the expression of ‘ohana’ being not only a symbol of family unity but also a philosophical lesson about family. The one little phrase, ‘no one gets left behind’, can and has enough philosophical and theological weight to fill a text book. It signifies that everyone, from third world countries who are living in poverty to people living in affluence, have value. No matter what you may think of them, there is no such thing as an ‘expendable’ person. Every person belongs to a family unit and contributes to the development of the family bond in a unique way. If an individual is lost, the family bond is broken. For instance; Lilo’s family was broken with the tragic loss of her parents leaving herself and her sister struggling to reform the family bond. Brought together by fate when Lilo adopts Stitch from a dog pound, the broken family reforms a new family bond, discovering their…show more content… To be united as a family is to be united as a community. The Australian sense of family is one of a few dominating ideologies which are valued in day to day society. This belief is so dominant that we feel as if it is a part of us, family being our friends, friends being our family and our community being both. But who’s right is it to define a family? As quoted by DeBlois, ‘Ohana is also a sense of family that extends far beyond your immediate relatives’. This concept relates to the fact that even though you may not have a family that cares for you, there is always someone who considers you as family in some way. So when Stitch expresses his sense of a family, ‘This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It is little, and broken, but still good. Ya. Still Good’. He is again assessing that even though his ‘family’ is not blood related they are still considered as