NEED TO KNOW
- Disney’s live-action reimagining of Lilo & Stitch premiered on May 23, over 20 years after the animated original
- The new film was directed by Marcel the Shell with Shoes On filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp
- Several key changes and updates were made to the story, including the omission of one major character
There were plenty of changes for Lilo and Stitch in Disney’s latest iteration, but their core friendship remains the heart of the story.
The fluffy blue alien first crash-landed in Hawaii for the 2002 animated film Lilo & Stitch, directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, the latter of whom serves as the voice of Stitch. Now, 23 years later, the live-action reimagining of the classic came to theaters on May 23, this time helmed by Marcel the Shell with Shoes On director Dean Fleischer Camp.
Lilo & Stitch comes after a growing list of Disney’s live-action updates, including The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and more.
To Camp, Lilo & Stitch felt “perfect” for the live-action treatment since it takes place in a contemporary setting and follows “normal humans going about their lives and striving for happiness.”
While still honoring the original, “there’s so much opportunity in terms of digging into the emotional realities of those human characters and grounding it in a lived experience,” the filmmaker said in notes shared with press.
But what did the director change about Lilo and Stitch’s iconic story? Read on for the four biggest changes made to Lilo & Stitch for the live-action remake.
Warning: Spoilers for both versions of Lilo & Stitch ahead!
One main character is gone and there is a new villain
The main villain of the animated film, Captain Gantu, is absent from the live-action iteration. Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, the original harbinger of evil is the towering whale-looking antagonist sent to hunt Stitch on Earth.
In the place of Gantu, the character Jumba instead assumes the primary villain status in the remake.
He was voiced by the late David Ogden Stiers in the original, serving as a lovable, quirky mad scientist responsible for creating Stitch. In the new film, played by Zach Galifianakis, he’s still the mastermind behind Experiment 626, but more of a ruthless bad guy.
“What was fun for me, personally, was to play someone villainous, or a villainous creature,” Galifianakis said in notes shared with press. “I don’t think I really did any of that, and it was kind of fun just to act with your menacing face.”
Pleakley’s human disguises do not include women’s clothing
Kevin McDonald voiced the clumsy alien Pleakley in the animated version, while in live-action he takes the form of Billy Magnussen, known for his roles in Aladdin (2019) and Into the Woods (2014).
The cartoon Pleakley opted for women’s clothing when going undercover on planet Earth with Jumba. Though the costumes for Magnussen are playfully quirky and off-beat in the live-action remake, Pleakley never appears in drag on-screen, despite director Camp advocating for the disguise.
“I have had people message me, ‘Why is Pleakley not wearing a dress?’ And I just want to say: ‘I tried. I tried,’ ” Camp said in a TikTok video, showing conceptual sketches that showed live-action Pleakley in a wig and dress.
In a September 2024 interview with Collider, Magnussen said, “I hope [fans] just embrace it as its own story. When they make these live-action films, sometimes I think people hold on to what the other one was, but they’re not in competition. That’s what I want to clarify. There’s no competition here. It’s honestly just celebrating. … I hope people don’t compare it.”
There are new characters played by actors from the 2002 voice cast
Tia Carrere brought Lilo’s big sister Nani to life in the 2002 original, and in the new iteration, the actress found a fresh role. She plays Mrs. Kekoa, a caring social worker who tries to help Nani (Sydney Agudong) navigate being a guardian to Lilo (Maia Kealoha) after the death of their parents.
“Nani, I couldn’t have imagined anybody that they could find to fill these roles, and they fill them beautifully,” Carrere told PEOPLE of passing the torch to Agudong. “It was wonderful. But it’s her torch. She’s so good, and she’s so strong.”
Agudong, in notes shared with press, described her Nani as “hotheaded.” The actress added, “She is type-A, she’s a go-getter, and nothing’s going to stop her.”
Tūtū, the supportive neighbor and grandmother of David (Kaipo Dudoit), is another new addition to the mix. Amy Hill embodies the role after she voiced Mrs. Hasagawa in the animated film.
“It was exciting to come back now with a different role, because I was able to create a character that didn’t exist in the original,” Hill said in notes shared with press. “I did have to go back and rewatch the animated film because it had been such a long time. It is such a warm-hearted, lovely movie.”
The ending is different (and more emotional!)
The endings of both versions involve Stitch being allowed to stay on Earth to live with Lilo and his newfound ohana. But the live-action version gives more focus on Nani’s future and responsibilities.
A montage at the conclusion of the animated version shows Lilo, Stitch, Nani and David living happily ever after as a blended family, but in the live-action take, David’s grandmother Tūtū takes in 6-year-old Lilo after their house is destroyed.
Then, Lilo encourages Nani to follow her dreams and go to college for marine biology, taking the pressure off the older sister to be both parent and sibling after they were orphaned.
But she is never too far away — Nani still manages to visit Lilo and Stitch via the portal gun that allows her to transport between her dorm room and home.
Read the full article here
