23 years after the original movie first referenced “ohana,” the live-action adaptation of Lilo & Stitch has just reminded audiences how important family really is. 2025’s Lilo & Stitch brought viewers back to the Hawaiian island, Kaua’i, where the extraterrestrial Experiment 626, aka Stitch (Chris Sanders, finds himself after escaping from the United Galactic Federation. In Hawaii, Stitch learns the true meaning of family after being taken in by Hawaiian sisters Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) and Lilo (Maia Kealoha).
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Just like in the original 2002 animated movie, the theme of family is key to the narrative of 2025’s Lilo & Stitch. The movie pays respect to some beautiful aspects of Hawaiian culture, and the idea of family, or “ohana,” is one of the most prominent. Ohana has surprising roots in Hawaiian culture, and covers many different kinds of families, all of which are explored in Lilo & Stitch. This makes the joyful live-action adaptation and its animated predecessor the prime examples of how important ohana really is.
Ohana’s Meaning & History in Hawaiian Culture Explained
Ohana is perhaps the most crucial theme running throughout every movie and TV show in the Lilo & Stitch franchise. As stated by many characters, “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” This touching sentiment extends beyond just blood-related family, however, as ohana refers to anyone in one’s close community, whether that be found family, adopted family, close friends, or neighbors. Ohana is a way of describing people who provide support, love, and care for one another, sharing a sense of belonging, which is central to Lilo & Stitch’s storyline.
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Ohana comes from the root word ohฤ, which refers to the root of the kalo, a taro plant that is considered the “staff of life” in Hawaii. Therefore, family itself becomes the staff of life, a source of regeneration and growth that sustains everyone. Ohana is also a cognate – a similar sounding word – to the Mฤori term kลhanga, which means “nest.” The idea of ohana being a source of life, growth, support, and a nest to grow makes it one of the most important terms when referring to the people one loves on the Hawaiian islands.
Ohana’s etymology extends far beyond just a simple taro plant, as the kalo is seen by many as a cosmological ancestral relative. In Hawaiian historical beliefs, Wakea, the Sky Father, and Papahฤnaumoku, the Earth Mother, birthed the first human, the Hawaiian islands, and Ho’ohลkลซkalani, who was united with her father when she became a beautiful woman. Their child, Hฤloa, was stillborn and buried, where the child grew into a taro plant that became the staple food of the Hawaiian people. This ancestral heritage makes ohฤ particularly significant in Hawaiian culture, and makes ohana even more important in Lilo & Stitch.
Lilo & Stitch Stresses The Importance of Ohana in Several Characters
Ohana is woven throughout Lilo & Stitch’s narrative, fitting in perfectly with the intense family-centric themes surrounding Nani and Lilo’s story, Stitch’s adoption, and the community that they all foster on Kaua’i. Lilo & Stitch’s focus on Nani possibly losing custody of her sister, Lilo, following the deaths of their parents, puts ohana front and center, especially when considering that, in the movie, ohana means “nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” The idea that Nani might willingly give up Lilo was a huge change in the 2025 adaptation, but made her eventual fight to keep Lilo even more poignant.
Since the idea of ohana stretches beyond just biological family, Lilo & Stitch also demonstrates the importance of other aspects of ohana. Stitch’s appearance, adoption, and growth throughout the movie give audiences the chance to see a found family take shape, as Nani and Lilo become closer and stronger because of Stitch’s introduction to their unit. Ohana is also shown in the love between Nani, David (Kaipo Dudoit), and his grandmother, Tลซtลซ (Amy Hill), who eventually adopt Lilo themselves so that Nani can remain in contact while also heading off to university.
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In this regard, ohana in Lilo & Stitch could extend to all the characters who are involved in Stitch’s excursion to Earth, and his new protected exile on the planet. This includes CIA agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance), Wendell Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), and, perhaps, even the Grand Councilwoman (Hannah Waddingham), who takes kindly to Lilo and Stitch at the end of their adventure and promises to check in now and then. With talk of a possible sequel to Lilo & Stitch being planned (which is now more likely after the movie’s success), ohana will surely continue to be a prevalent theme.
Lilo & Stitch premiered on May 23, 2025, and is currently playing in theaters.
