Audiences frequently get annoyed when changes are made to their favorite films, and Disney is notorious for making tweaks to its movies for various reasons. The latest identified instance, in Lilo & Stitch, sees the eponymous troublemaker hiding from her sister Nani under furniture blocked by a pizza box instead of the dryer in the original version of the movie.
The reason for the change was less arbitrary than such alterations often are, as clambering inside a dryer comes with the potential for a child to injure themselves, and with many small children being kept acquiescent by Disney+ while their parents attempt to work from home, they’ll likely be viewing things by themselves and not have an adult nearby to tell them to please not do that when anything dangerously imitable appears on screen. This way, instead of a kid becoming scared and trapped inside a household utility, making a glorified fort out of furniture and cardboard has considerably less potential for injury, and in the right circumstances might actually be funny.
Of course, a lot of fans aren’t too happy with the little alteration and have now taken to Twitter to voice their thoughts on it, with just a sample of what folks are saying seen below:
It's Not the Mandela Effect! Disney Actually Altered a Scene in "Lilo & Stitch" #disneyplus #liloandstitch https://t.co/pOJI8e8Ltr pic.twitter.com/nmXEBQhNLX
— Inside the Magic (@InsideTheMagic) March 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/JimAllder/status/1243378140472320002
https://twitter.com/TroyStJames/status/1243261776201834496
This is so fucking dumb
— 〽️ike (@Zolfo94) March 28, 2020
Care to explain yourselves @disneyplus #liloandstitch #DisneyPlus #DisneyPlusUK @DisneyPlusUK #Disney pic.twitter.com/uP5wpTuVln
— ღKαтıεღ (@Katiie90_x) March 30, 2020
Often the changes Disney makes to its movies are for localization reasons, such as the Japanese version of Inside Out seeing toddler Riley refuse to eat green peppers instead of broccoli as the latter is greatly enjoyed over there, or Moana being renamed Vaiana in parts of Europe to avoid trademark infringement and to also avoid association with a mononymous Italian porn star of the same name popular in the ‘80s. Some are more insidious though, such as in Onward, where the reference that cyclops cop Specter makes about her girlfriend was edited out of the movie’s Russian cut due to the country’s rampaging and state-mandated homophobia.
It’s only a minor alteration, and unlike, say, the persistent meddling George Lucas undertook with Star Wars where each pointless alteration further irritated fans, this doesn’t affect viewers’ enjoyment of the rest of the film. After all, Lilo & Stitch is a joyful assortment of anarchic fun, and without the danger of little kids being inadvertently inspired to endanger themselves, everyone can continue to enjoy it as such.