Parent reviews for Lilo and Stitch (2023)

I was very disappointed. I have a pretty sensitive 4 year old that I am careful what I show him as his active imagination and sensitive soul gets troubled easily. I knew I had watched Lilo and Stich years ago and thought the characters were cute, so when a family friend wanted to watch a movie together we let her pick this. Big mistake. Within the first couple minutes my kid was whimpering. I kept fast forwarding intense parts and assuring him a cute little girl was coming up (I honestly couldn’t remember the movie mat all except the characters). I was so surprised when the little girl totally acted out, the sister acted inappropriately, the little alien acted sinister and the overall attitude was a lot darker then I remember. We kept fast forwarding trying to get to better parts but about a third of the way in we gave up. My poor kid was stiff as a board and frightened. I had to pick what age group this was appropriate for, so I picked what age we could actually have a good conversation about their behavior, but to be honest I will 100% skip this at any age. The bad attitudes (even though somewhat relatable with family trauma) are not anything I want my kids to see and internalize. Something else bothers me... Stitch himself is supposed to be cute, but really he does seem more... sinister. Though I know they are redeemable and at the end there is a positive message, I just couldn’t handle the trip there. It lacked too much. And in the end I didn’t like the characters enough to keep putting my kid through that.

Too much violence

Lilo and Stitch is rated PG, no5 for language, but for mild sci-fi action. Other western countries such as Finland, Norway, and Switzerland gave this film that incidated it's not appropriate for children under 7. Keep in mind, these countries are cultural more liberal than the US, even in 2002.I agree with our European allies in that this film is not appropriate for children under 7.Spoiler Alert!After a chase scene and gunfire at "outlaw", Stitch, the film begins with look into Lilo's life a borderline neglected and psuedo abusive, in beautiful Hawaii. These scenes wherein Lilo's sister is emotionally and verbally abusive Garner the film's PG rating right away. Stitch snarls and growls as people throughout. Not only that, his alien enemies are trying to assissinate him for much of the full. That's right, assassinate him.Be careful! While there's no swearing, some of the language is very negative and hurtful. Additionally, the previously mentiones themes are inappropriate for young children as well.

My thoughts and opinions run parallel to the other negative reviews on here. Too violent, too sad, too scary. By the last third of the movie my 5 year old was hiding her eyes wailing she didn't want to watch it any more. We ended up watching the last half hour in fast forward, where the final 10 minutes were (the ONLY) cheerful part of the movie. It's very ironic to me that disney has convinced so many people that it's movies are for children. I cant think of a single one that doesn't involve death and monsters. I wish there was a happy medium between saccharine "Winnie the pooh" and frothing beasts and crying orphans. It's tough to find movies for 5 year olds. Oh, and as an added bonus my child is afraid of aliens now, where 2 hours ago she wasn't.

Too much violence

Too much swearing

Too much violence

Too much consumerism

Started watching this with my 5 year old and had to turn it off. Scary themes and social worker coming to the house could be triggering for some kids. Lilo also bites and scratches another girl.

Too much violence

They mentioned many many times “killing” “kill” etc. LILO at some point asks the social worker if he “ever killed anyone before”. There was an obscene amount of violence, guns, explosives, etc. I would not say this is okay for 5-6 year olds. Very disappointed in the rating.

Too much violence

Lilo and Stitch is a story all about family. While the movie itself has some more mature themes, including Child Protective Services, these themes are a reality in which many people live. I greatly appreciate the authors of this story for taking steps to make these themes accessible to kids and giving an avenue for those conversations to happen within the family. This film is rated parental guidance for a reason. Because this movie's underlying structure is based on the reality of living in a broken and healing family, it can definitely be shocking in some ways. Seeing the reality of an older sister trying to take care of her child-sister and keep the remnants of her family together is heartbreaking, but it is also really important. Life isn't a fairy tail, but by the end of the movie, through working hard to repair what is broken, this movie fulfills its catchphrase: “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten."

Great messages

Great role models

Review by twin 8 yo boys. We like it because it's creative and silly. It's a bit weird but in a good way. We like its art. The music is good. It's kind of serious. And it's very interesting.

This is on eof the most honest representations of kids and families from hard places. If your family/kids have trauma background this one opens the door for conversations about how all people (and aliens) can made bad choices, but that their choices do not define who they are. Even Stich who is a terror at first - learns empathy, the importance of family, how to take responsibility for their actions, and how to apologize. This film is also great for representing non-traditional family make-ups. By the end of the story the people who are 'family' are mostly non-biological which is helpful for those of us in those families. Some in this site think the themes of bullying are too much for this age group, I think this is a fair point unless your kid is already familiar with those issues in the real world. If they are- this is a great film to help discuss all sides and characters at play in those circumstances.

Educational value

Great messages

Great role models