15 of Disney’s most underrated characters
By Andi Ortiz
14. Nani (Lilo and Stitch)
If anyone, anywhere deserves a “Best Big Sister” award, it’s Nani from Lilo and Stitch. She did everything for her little sister, and handled it as well as any fully grown adult would have.
It’s easy to forget that Nani is only 19 in the movie, considering she acts beyond her years — usually. Raising a six year old is tough for anyone, and sometimes Nani’s teenage tendencies come through.
Her stress is unsurprising though. Nani has to provide for herself, and her sister, with no help. Well, not no help; she did have David, who deserves an honorable mention on this list. He isn’t technically dating Nani, but he goes out of his way to help her and Lilo.
Unfortunately, sometimes all you can do just isn’t enough. When it looks like Nani is going to lose custody over Lilo, she manages to let Lilo know gently, and reassure her through song.
In an odd twist, it isn’t Cobra Bubbles that ends up taking Lilo away; it’s Captain Gantu. That’s when Nani really gets fierce. She swats Stitch with a tree branch, yells at Jumba and Pleakley, and chases down Gantu’s ship.
But it is Disney, so the sisters get the happy ending they deserve. In the hard times, Nani is great. In the good times, she’s even better. She always jokes and plays with Lilo when the time is right.
Nani even tells Lilo that her boss was actually a vampire, who wanted Nani to join his coven, to keep Lilo from thinking that she was the reason Nani got fired!