Walt Disney star 'Lilo' gets 'lost' in translation

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

From Honolulu to California to Idaho, Honolulu Advertiser readers want to know: Just what does "Lilo" mean, anyway?

In Disney's new animated film "Lilo & Stitch," Lilo is a lonely orphan cared for by her older sister, Nani. Stitch is the unruly alien experiment who Lilo takes in as one of the family.

One caller who tried tracing its roots found the word used most often in terms of exchanging money.

Hawaiian language experts at Kapi'olani Community College said the word does not translate directly as a name, but is used to connote "loss."

The Illustrated Hawaiian Dictionary by Kahikahealani Wight defines "lilo" like this:

"1. to be lost, gone. 2. to become, turn into. 3. to be engrossed, absorbed in an activity. 4. far, distant."

Although using a verb as a proper name might be a little awkward, the translations are at least meaningful — though perhaps more for Stitch than for Lilo.

Both Lilo and Stitch are "lost" — Lilo figuratively; Stitch, literally (Stitch is also "far" or "distant" from from his home mothership). The movie itself, like most good stories, is about "becoming" or "turning into" something, in this case, a family. And, of course, Disney hopes audiences will be so "engrossed" in the film that they'll see it many times and buy all of its related merchandise.

The movie's directors, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, said they got the name either from a telephone book or from hearing it somewhere in public during a two-week research trip to Hawai'i.

"When they found out it meant 'lost,' it just came together for them," said Disney spokesperson Sasha Lord. "It was perfect."