It was a running gag rooted in cartoon absurdity, played for laughs without deeper commentary. In the original film pleakley dresses in women’s clothing as part of his disguise Throughout the film, pleakley and jumba are forced to wear disguises to blend in with the humans around them as they hunt for stitch, with pleakley opting to dress as a woman tourist wearing.
Pleakley as a lady by Fortnermations on DeviantArt
To go “undercover,” they dress as a tourist couple — jumba wearing a fake mustache and sunglasses, pleakley in various wigs with their face beat for the gods
And yes, i’m they/themming pleakley because, as reddit declares, they’re a genderfluid icon
Fans loved pleakley’s attempt to dress as a woman, and they were upset that disney chose to take away such an iconic moment. Jumba and pleakley’s drastic changes are indicative of my wider feelings about the lilo & stitch remake, and how revivals like this have no reason to exist beyond profits, especially when you need to remove so many key themes, characters, and jokes to make them a reality. Lilo and stitch director dean fleischer camp hinted that the alien pleakley won’t be wearing a dress in the new film He said he “tried” and posted concept art
