Lilo & Stitch (Disney film)/Tear Jerker

Lilo & Stitch

• Cobra Bubbles seems a lot less funny when he comes to take Lilo away. Even worse is Nani's slow, horrible realization that she can't stop him, and Lilo's total incomprehension of what's going on. That and the fact that Bubbles truly seems sorry for what he has to do and does genuinely care about Lilo's well-being.
• Later on, when Lilo is kidnapped by Gantu and Jumba and Pleakly have refused to help, Nani falls to her knees in tears heart-breakingly, truly believing she'll never see her baby sister again. And just before that, she happens upon Jumba and Pleakley arresting Stitch, and asks them about her little sister. When they start playing dumb, Nani gets furious at them, and her voiced frustration is rather heartbreaking to listen to.

Nani: Lilo! She's a little girl this big, she has black hair and brown eyes and she hangs around with that THING! (points accusingly at Stitch, whose ears droop, hurt)

• As well as:

Stitch: ...I'm lost.

• • "Lost" translates into Hawaiian as "Lilo". In a way, It's almost like he's calling out for her.
• Also, the conversation that ensues when Jumba finds him the next morning.
• And this quote from Lilo as Stitch makes the decision to leave (roughly paraphrased):

Lilo: Our family is little now and we don't have many toys... but you can be a part of it. You can be our baby and we'll raise you to be good. But if you want to leave... you can. I'll remember you though. I remember everyone who leaves.

• • It's not even just what she says, but the matter-of-fact way she says it. This girl is 6 years old and has dealt with so much loss that it's become almost a normal occurrence to her.
• The exchange between Lilo and Stitch when Stitch comes to save Lilo after she is taken by Gantu. Lilo, still trapped in the pod, pleads with Stitch not to leave her, and Stitch sounds so heartbroken when he whimpers, "Okay." And then, when he spots the gasoline truck approaching, he repeats it in a much more determined tone.
• Stitch's speech at the end of the movie.

Stitch: This is my family. I found it all on my own. It is little, and broken. But still good. ...Yeah. Still good.

• When Nani and Lilo sit in a hammock in the backyard; Nani is looking for a way to possibly tell Lilo goodbye without alarming her or making it seem like they'll be forever separated, but Nani can't articulate the message through all her pain and sadness. So she sings the most beautiful, depressing rendition of Aloha Oe and...
• In the beginning when Nani and Lilo are making up after their fight, when Lilo says, "I like you better as a sister than a mom," then starts to cry and asks, "And you like me better as a sister than a rabbit, right?" It was so perfect because it's SO what a little kid would say — not very articulate, not even making much sense, just so terrified that her sister really doesn't want her.
• Any of the strong Nani and Lilo scenes (especially the backyard scene) are tear jerkers for someone with an older or younger sister.
• Any time Ohana is mentioned.

Lilo: You came back... Stitch: Nobody gets left behind.

• Tears were shed during the "Aloha 'Oe" part of Lilo and Stitch on the night when Nani and Lilo were talking about family for what could have been the last time as Lilo was to be taken into child custody soon.
  • "I remember everyone who leaves."
  • "This is my family. I found it all on my own. It is little, and broken. But still good. Yes. Still good." I'm getting weepy just writing it...
  • "I wonder what it must be like, to have nothing. Not even memories to visit, in the middle of the night..."
• This deleted scene, featuring the death of Pudge the fish.

Lilo: (enraged) What's wrong with you?!? Stitch: *looks guilty and confused* Huh? Lilo: Pudge was part of our family! You don't let your family die! You don't EVER!!!

• • Guh...

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch

• The climax of Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch. After malfunctioning and accidentally attacking Lilo, Stitch decides that it is too dangerous for him to live on Earth anymore and tries to escape to an uninhabited planet using Jumba's ship. Lilo ends up chasing after him with a hovercraft, and witnesses him crash into a mountain. Knowing the only way to save Stitch's life is to put him in Jumba's Fusion Chamber to recharge him, she activates the machine with Stitch inside, but he doesn't awaken. Lilo believes him to be dead and cradles his motionless body in her arms until Stitch suddenly grabs her arm, revealing that he did in fact survive.

Lilo: Stitch...I'm so sorry. (sighs) I kept saying I needed you...but you needed me more. (sniffs) You're my Ohana, Stitch. A-and- (she hugs him) And I'll always love you. (sobs)

• • Actually Stitch did die and Lilo's love brought him back. Makes it even sadder, doesn't it?

Leroy & Stitch

• The montage set to Elvis Presley singing "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry".
• Lilo crossing the Despair Event Horizon near the end. "Ohana is supposed to mean hello and goodbye. But for us...it mostly seems to mean goodbye."
• Lilo saying goodbye to Stitch at the beginning when he decides to become captain. "Aloha..."
• Lilo's story to Scrump. A friendless rooster befriends some pieces of debris, only for a giant wave to sweep them all away. Though he is sad, he's grateful that he met them in the first place.

Stitch!

• The "Lilo" episode.
  • The flashback scenes of the original movies, but then comes the real tearjerker scene. After waiting in vain for Lilo to appear at the beach like they had promised, Stitch thinks Lilo abandoned him so he grabs the tiki necklace from the third movie, hangs it on a tree and leaves the island on Jumba's ship. The sobbing hasn't even begun, though, because there's nothing more heartbreaking than seeing Lilo running towards the beach, finding nothing but the necklace and then hold it against her chest before screaming his name and falling to her knees, sobbing histerically. That single scene is enough to make you sob for the rest of the day.
• The whole idea that Lilo and Stitch aren't together anymore is enough to make you cry.
• In "Stitch Dreams", one of Stitch's nightmares has him destroying Yuna's party after he accidentally drinks coffee. Yuna's guests insult her before leaving, and Yuna, in a state of angry tears, disowns Stitch right there. Feeling horrible, Stitch lies down and begins to weep. It's only a dream, but it's still heartbreaking.
• In "A Recurring Nightmare", Yuna's grandmother reveals that Yuna's mother was killed in a storm when Yuna was only a baby. Yuna only has one photo of her mother to remember her by, and her face isn't even visible in said picture.
  • The ending might bring on Tears of Joy, though. Yuna hums "Baby Mine" (the song that her mother would hum to her), and the clouds form into the shape of the photo of baby Yuna and her mother.