Lilo And Stitch Box Office Hit Highlights Appetite for AAPI Representation
By Romen Basu Borsellino | 27 May, 2025

Among the factors for the film's smashing success, its unabashed celebration of Polynesian culture likely ranks near the top.

Disney’s live action Lilo and Stitch reboot just dethroned Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning and shattered Memorial Day weekend records at the box office.  

In fact, it secured the second largest four day opening weekend ever, led only by 2018’s Black Panther.

There are a number of reasons for the film’s success. Entertainment news outlet Variety even ran a piece titled “5 Reasons Why ‘Lilo & Stitch’ Shattered Memorial Day Box Office Records." The list includes factors like “healthy competition at the box office” and the “power of PG movies,” all of which are likely accurate. But we’d like to add an important one: AAPI representation.

Asian American Pacific Islanders are not only the fastest growing demographic in this country, but hold the largest buying power. And much like any other diverse group in this country, will turn out to see characters who represent us on screen.

Lilo and Stitch's success is a reminder that AAPI representation on screen isn’t just a morally sound decision, it’s a winning financial strategy.

Yes, at its most basic level, Lilo and Stitch is about an alien encounter. But contrary to science fiction, the crazed blue alien Stitch serves to make a point about human connection. And it’s all done through the lens of the Hawaiian concept of “Ohana."

Diversity on screen can come in many forms, like simply casting an actor of color or setting the film in a particular location. But Lilo and Stitch — both the original animated version and the remake — goes a step further. The film is an unmitigated celebration of Polynesian culture. “It’s my kuleana,” one of the film’s main characters states, using a Polynesian word that describes responsibility. The movie doesn’t just allude to Hawaiian themes. It goes all in on them.

Sure, one can only draw so many conclusions from a single film. But Lilo and Stitch's success doesn’t exist in a vacuum. 

This past Thanksgiving, Disney released the sequel to Moana, another property centered around indigenous Hawaiian culture. Moana 2 grossed over $5 billion dollars and set the record for a Thanksgiving weekend release, nearly doubling the one set by Frozen 2 the previous year (I’ll refrain from reading too deeply into the symbolism of Moana 2 beating out a film with a blue-eyed, blonde-haired lead character and a supporting cast that is literally white as snow).

It’s also worth adding that while the AAPI community has proven that we will show up to see ourselves represented, this is true for other demographics as well. Look at the success of Black Panther or Disney’s Coco, which revolves around Mexican culture.

Some may find Lilo and Stitch's success surprising, given that it was originally slated for a direct-to-streaming release on Disney+. While it's unclear why that was the initial plan, it could be that Disney was uncertain of whether or not the film would succeed, particularly in a time when anything related to diversity is decried as "woke" or "DEI."

While it’s unfair for any single film to have to carry the weight of an entire culture on its shoulders, it’s likely that Disney will look at the numbers from this past weekend when deciding whether or not to green light future AAPI properties. Hopefully they do.