This one’s awkward, Disney. (Lilo & Stitch)
Disney TV’s official TikTok account has shared a set of “they were roommates” memes, and we think they might have missed the point.
The viral internet joke, which has been knocking around for almost 10 years, plays upon the historical mislabelling of same-sex and queer couples as being nothing more than friends.
One particularly popular tweet about the meme, by @calebsaysthings on what was then known as Twitter, reads: “”Love reading about men in history like ‘unfortunately he never found a wife, his elaborate scarf collection sold for $1.2m in 2011, he and his closest male friend, Chauncey, with whom he shared a bed, died within weeks of one another. They were known for their dinner parties.'”
The ‘roommates’ meme went viral on the short-clip-sharing platform Vine but moved over to TikTok, thanks to fandoms and those with LGBTQ+ ships.
The operator of the Disney TV social media account tried to play in on the joke but seemingly didn’t understand the crux of the meme, sharing pictures of Disney-brand siblings and pals, including Phineas and Ferb, Lilo and Stitch, and Mabel and Dipper Pines.
…. hey person running the disney account on tiktok… i don’t think this means what you think it means….. pic.twitter.com/LwxrZ4UiUe
— bethanie ✨ (@Danrifics) March 13, 2025
The mix-up amused fans, with one person writing on social media: “Hey person running the Disney account on TikTok… I don’t think this means what you think it means.”
Another, realising that the Disney post would be removed – it soon was – said: “Taking screenshots of this before it gets deleted.”
Someone else joked: “It’s actually essential your social media person be [permanently] online if you’re going to attempt anything like this.”
The post was published not long after the release of the first trailer for the live-action adaptation of Lilo & Stitch.
The hit 2002 animated film is being a reboot, to retell the story of lonely Hawaiian girl Lilo, who befriends an alien experiment, Stitch.
The trailer caused controversy for a variety of reasons, with some people feeling betrayed by the lack of gender-bending disguises by Agent Pleakley. He’s just portrayed as a human male instead.
“Look what they’ve done to our diva,” one user wrote on X/Twitter, while another asked: “Why is Pleakley looking like that?”
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
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