The Death of Pudge the Fish

The Death of Pudge the Fish

I've been researching the effects that the omission of history has on a few different subjects. I wanted to know how we as people were affected by not knowing the existence of something that actually happened. Would these omitted pieces of information reshape who we are as a society? Would it change the way we feel about what is now considered acceptable or taboo?

We are the way we are because of history. If it weren't for the decisions that were made in the past, we wouldn't be where we are now and who we are today. History is still being made as we speak. This especially goes for cinematic history. Though cinematic history only makes up a fraction of all history, it's still a part of it, and believe it or not, there are many things that are left out of the public's gaze which is leaving an impact (big or small) on who we are as people.

An even smaller part of what we consider as cinematic history is the Walt Disney company we all know and love. An even smaller part of Disney is their 2002 film, Lilo and Stitch. An even smaller part of that film is a deleted scene involving a character we only see for a fraction of a second. As insignificant as this scrapped scene could appear on the surface, it actually holds a lot of potential for understanding why we choose to publish what we do and why we hide what we hide.

Introduction

Lilo and Stitch is an animated Disney film that was released in June of 2002. The movie was based on an unpublished children's book which the author ended up being part of the production team for. The story is of an alien convict, named Stitch, who finds himself hiding in the arms of a little girl in Hawaii, named Lilo. He was built for evil and destruction, but as he lives and learns through Lilo's difficult life, he learns that there is more to life and himself than chaos.

The movie went through many transformations before the final product was released to the general audience. Many scenes were cut and the plot went through many transformations. The final movie has already been challenged by parents for being "too violent," but they'd eat their own words if some of the original content were left in.

The deleted content I want to analyze is a scene involving Pudge the fish. I want to delve into this deleted scene and dissect why it could've been left out and how it affects us (even if we can't see it) in what see, think, and believe.

The Significance of Pudge

There are many characters who have made their appearance in the final movie of Lilo and Stitch, but the one who hasn't had their chance in the spotlight is Pudge. Pudge is only referenced to twice near the beginning. He is seen swimming with a sandwich in his mouth in the beginning musical sequence and he is also the reason why Lilo is late to her hula class. She claimed that she was late because she had to get peanut butter for Pudge's weekly peanut butter sandwich.

Lilo claimed that "Pudge controls the weather. It can be justified why this piece of information was left in the movie. Her parents died in a car crash during rainy weather and she probably wanted to prevent another tragedy like that by feeding Pudge. This also could've been a chance to build Lilo's character with her quirky tendencies. But something seems to be missing. This information could've been conveyed some other way without having to insert another character into the story.

There must have been a bigger role for Pudge in the original plot of Lilo and Stitch.

The Deleted Scene

The scene takes place at the banks of a shallow tide pool. The scene opens with Lilo playing with the water, as if she were beckoning Pudge to come closer. When Pudge lifts his head from the water, she introduces him to Stitch, who expresses curiosity when meeting the fish. Lilo lifts him out of the water and gives Pudge a kiss. Lilo then offers Pudge to Stitch so that he could kiss him too, but Stitch knocks Pudge out of her hands in disinterest. She expresses her anger by asking why he did that. Stitch doesn't seem to comprehend why his actions made her angry. Lilo tries to help Pudge but he is attacked and killed by seagulls before she has the chance to save him. While this is happening, Stitch sits and watches with interest as Lilo calls for him to help.

As the seagulls disperse, Lilo sees that her friend has died and kneels beside him, letting the realization of what happened sink in. Lilo then turns and hits Stitch, asking him "what's wrong with [him]?" She yells that "Pudge was part of [the] family. And "you don't let your family die." Lilo goes to bury Pudge and Stitch follows and watches. The screen pans to show that Lilo is burying Pudge next to her parents' graves.

As Lilo decorates Pudge's grave with flowers that were blown in the wind, Stitch leaves with the heavy realization of what he's done. The scene ends with Lilo going to comfort Stitch. She puts a flower in his fur and asks "you didn't do it on purpose, did you?"

The following is a link to see a video of the scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxmT-zQc1GQ

What Does it Mean?

This scene expressed many things within the two minutes that it took to play through. It varied from the importance of the concept of family to the development of both of the characters of Lilo and Stitch.

This scene must've taken place near the beginning of the original plot of the movie because Stitch still had the built-in evil characteristics come through that he was programmed with. This scene was an opportunity for the audience to get an understanding of the type of character he was meant to have, along with the evil he was capable of. It wasn't a type of heartless malevolent evil, but more of a circumstantial child-like evil that was displayed in this scene. He didn't pick up and throw Pudge, like it was a thought-out and practiced plan. Pudge's death was due to a series of unfortunate circumstances from a careless act that was more ignorant and rude than it was evil. If you don't want something, you don't usually swat it at of someone's hand. This was the child-like aspect that came through with this evil act. 

Along with showing a little bit of Stitch's evil nature, this scene was a chance to develop Stitch's character. Near the end of the scene, Stitch shows remorse for his actions. There could be a couple of reasons why he regrets his previous actions. One reason could be that he realizes the importance Pudge had in Lilo's life and he regrets taking that away. The other reason could be that he understands the harshness of the abrupt and permanent nature of death. Since Stitch is unable to die, he could never know what it's like personally. But, he saw the impact that death had on Lilo and was able to sympathize with her situation.

This scene was also able to give an idea of what Lilo's character was supposed to be like. It displays a little bit of her quirky nature by showing that she's befriended a fish. This also shows how lonely she is since she refers to Pudge as her "other best friend." Pudge can't talk back so he wouldn't be able to hold a conversation, but Lilo still sees enough in him in order to befriend him. The biggest character trait this scene demonstrates is Lilo's priority of family in her life. She became very emotional over the death of her friend. A young child would usually, at most, be traumatized if they saw a fish getting torn apart by seagulls. But for Lilo, this was someone killing a family member, which heightens the trauma ten fold. She gave Pudge a burial near her parents, which showed how important he was in her life. He was important enough to be buried in the family plot. This scene finally showed a forgiving nature Lilo had. She didn't stay angry at Stitch throughout the whole thing. She was still able to talk to Stitch as she was burying Pudge, and she was also able to comfort Stitch when she saw him crying about his actions.

Family is a unifying concept in this movie. Family is the motive for the actions that were taken in this movie. It only makes sense that this scene also utilizes the concept of family in order to propel the story forward. This scene sets up Lilo's reasoning for the importance of family. Though we get an explanation later on as to why her family is broken and why she's desperately trying to keep it together, this scene shows it. Her parents died on a rainy night after their car crashed. Seeing her parents graves adds another dimension of sympathy for Lilo and her situation.

Why was it Removed?

There could've been a couple of reasons why the decision to remove this scene was made. It could've varied from cutting back production costs to how it could've affected the audience.

One of the most realistic reasons as to why it got cut was because it didn't hold enough relevance to the story in order to be kept in. The scene is pretty redundant when talking about the importance of family for Lilo. This fact is stated throughout the movie, and this scene is just another way it does that. Keeping this scene it would've made the movie too long without adding any new information to it.

Another reason why this scene could've been cut was because it was too violent. Disney movies are targeted to a much younger audience, and having such a violent death could've ruined Disney's usual "happy-go-lucky" image. Having such a lovable character die that kind of death wouldn't look good for anybody, especially Stitch.

This brings me to my final point. The final reason why this could've gotten cut was because it would've made Stitch too irredeemable of a character. Stitch can't afford to have this kind of death on his track record because he's a main character and protagonist. It's not like Scar killing Mufasa because Scar was a villain. That kind of action is expected. If people hate him (Stitch), they wouldn't be able to sympathize with the rest of the story. Killing Pudge looked like too big of a blunder to come back from, even if Stitch felt bad for it. This scene would've been a spike in his character development that is too difficult to come back from, so it was easier to cut it out instead.

How Does the Cut Affect Us?

We can actually benefit or hurt from not having this in the movie. Within the two minutes of this clip, there are many things we can apply to our own lives if we had been exposed to it from the beginning. 

This scene could've been used to teach kids about the concept of life and death, a very difficult truth that we'll all have to face but won't have to suffer through. Even though this sort of topic should be taught when the parents decide, it would've lightened the blow by teaching it with characters instead of someone who the child is actually close to. The scene being cut doesn't drastically change how a difficult concept like death could've been taught, but it could've been of use when aiding that situation when it does arise.

Being taught the difference between right and wrong could've been taught with this scene. Stitch knew that he screwed up by accidentally killing Pudge, but he realized his mistake and was capable of showing remorse for his actions. The inability to do that could cause damage to one's psyche if left unaddressed. This scene isn't powerful enough to completely teach this concept to another person, but it does bring to light this phenomenon which, thereby, leave impressionable people, like children, with enough tools to understand what is normal and what isn't when someone is in the wrong.

Finally, this scene could've taught the audience about forgiveness. I was going to say friendship but that concept is implied throughout the entire movie. It takes a lot of self control and humility in order to forgive someone. This scene teaches that forgiveness isn't a weakness, but is in fact a quality which involves a lot of strength on the forgiver's part. Being wronged, and being able to put the dispute to the side and move forward is something that many people have a hard time doing. The way Lilo was able to speak to Stitch after such a traumatizing event could've proved to be a moment we could all look up to.

What's My Point?

Lilo and Stitch, though a small part, was a part of cinematic history and whatever scenes that were kept in were immortalized through cassettes, DVDs and our memories. Whichever scenes that were chosen to stay told a story that didn't just entertain, but taught us many valuable lessons which we could take with us throughout our lives.

This scene, even though it was deleted, was conceptualized for a reason. There was a bigger plan for it before it was scrapped. Just because it didn't make it to the final cut, doesn't mean it has lost all other value. By deconstructing it and writing about what it means, I hope to have brought to light the majesty of this unseen gem and what it had to offer.