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Lilo and Stitch was changed drastically after 9/11

Home> Film & TV> Disney

Published 14:17 13 Aug 2023 GMT+1

Lilo and Stitch was changed drastically after 9/11

Though Lilo and Stitch was released in 2002, most of the animation was completed prior to 9/11

Rhiannon Ingle

Rhiannon Ingle

Featured Image Credit: Walt Disney Pictures

Topics: Film and TV, Disney, US News, New York

Rhiannon Ingle
Rhiannon Ingle

Rhiannon Ingle is a Senior Journalist at Tyla, specialising in TV, film, travel, and culture. A graduate of the University of Manchester with a degree in English Literature, she honed her editorial skills as the Lifestyle Editor of The Mancunian, the UK’s largest student newspaper. With a keen eye for storytelling, Rhiannon brings fresh perspectives to her writing, blending critical insight with an engaging style. Her work captures the intersection of entertainment and real-world experiences.

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The terrorist attacks that took place on September 11 2001 rocked America - and the world - to its very core.

The 9/11 attacks, also known as the September 11 attacks, took the lives of 2,977 people following a series of airline hijackings which saw 19 terrorists deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex.

While the attacks were clearly devastating for New York City given the tragic loss of life, subsequent conflict and change in policies all over - it's clear their impact also led to smaller pop culture changes too.

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One example was Walt Disney's family comedy, Lilo and Stitch, which was changed drastically after 9/11.

The animated classic, which first hit our screens back in 2002, saw some major tweaks after the attacks, namely surrounding one scene in particular.

Now, if you're a 90s kid, you'll be more than familiar with Jumba's iconic red spaceship flying through the mountains at the end of the movie.

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However, what you may not know, is that the original version of that scene used to look completely different and had an entirely different aircraft altogether.

One of the biggest revision was turning the commercial plane into an alien spaceship.
Walt Disney Pictures / YouTube/Vox

In the initial animated version, Stitch and Jumba hijack a bluish gray commercial plane to try and save Lilo from the evil Gantu.

Even the interior of the craft - from the seats to the hand controls - was amended to look more like an otherworldly spaceship as opposed to a regular airplane.

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The characters can be seen taking the Boeing 747 on an action-packed ride that almost perfectly replicates the movements of the spaceship in the final cut.

And it wasn't just the aircraft that was changed.

The background was change from a cityscape to Hawaiian mountains.
Walt Disney Pictures / YouTube/Vox

Another major notable difference was to do with the background setting during the plane chase.

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While the final cut sees the alien spaceship twist and turn through a lush oasis of Hawaiian mountains, the original version saw the commercial plane dodge in and out of a cityscape to avoid crashing into buildings.

And remember that guy on the beach who gets his ice-cream cone knocked right out of his hand by the spaceship?

Well, the original version saw that same guy walking down a marked crosswalk.

Most of the editing was done by replacing the CGI model of the plane with the spaceship, however a few scenes from the original version were also scrapped completely, including the plane skidding across and damaging a nearby skyscraper.

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