Quick(ish) Thoughts on Lilo & Stitch Controversy, Predator Finding its Way and a Couple of Big Anniversaries

Two Disney-owned aliens recently returned, while Survivor and Universal Studios Florida hit major milestones.

I’ve been terrible at keeping up with this newsletter on a regular basis lately thanks to a bunch of miscellaneous busyness but I’m determined to be better about getting back on track, so I might do some more quick hit style dispatches in the future - off the cuff thoughts on this or thought.

In the spirit of that, here’s a bit of a hodgepodge of thoughts on recent entertainment, beginning with one I had actually begun a much longer version of when it would have been more current, only for that to fall by the wayside.

Lilo & Stitch and Nostalgia Leading to Bad Faith Takes

Spoilers in this section for the end of Lilo & Stitch (2025)

Hey, remember when the Internet was super pissed about the ending to the new Lilo & Stitch way way way back like three weeks ago? There were so many people who were so very angry about it, with a ton of tweets that were some variation on “The new Lilo & Stitch ends with Nani giving Lilo up to the state! I guess Ohana doesn’t mean family anymore!” and then a bunch of people replying “That’s awful! I’m not seeing that!”

Anyway, it’s a few weeks later and the movie’s a giant hit that’s been holding up well, so no, there was no sweeping bad mouth hitting it. Which is funny, because you’d think audiences, especially kids and families, would have completely rejected watching what sounds like an incredibly depressing ending, as Nani abandons her little sister and never looks back. Except of course that doesn’t happen at all.