So I just got out of watching the live action Lilo and Stitch and I, uhh, have some thoughts…
⚠️ SPOILERS BELOW ⚠️
The original Lilo and Stitch is one of my absolute favourite Disney films hands down; I literally grew up watching the film(s), the series, all of it. I rewatched the original last night before going to see the remake just so it was fresh in my mind.
First of all, some positives:
I’m so glad that Chris Sanders is still Stitch, literally no one else could voice that furry blue little alien 🥹
Maia Kealoha did such an amazing job as Lilo, especially since this is her first ever movie!
I really appreciate that they used some Elvis in this film given how much Elvis is featured in the original - whatever your feelings about Elvis Presley, his music is a huge part of the film
As always, Grand Council Woman slays, thank you Hannah Waddingham!
Tia Carrere who voiced Nani in the original has a pretty big role in this film as the social worker
I think a couple of the original voice actors are actually in the film, which is nice to see!
I love love LOVE the hula dancing and how it seems such a natural everyday part of Lilo’s culture to the point that she’s able to show Stitch a little dance while singing a Hawaiian song one night
THEY KEPT IN LILO GIVING PUDGE THE SANDWICH 👏🏻
Keeping “He Mele No Lilo” and “Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride” is by far the best decision they’ve made in this remake, they could NEVER top those two tracks
SCRUMP!!! THEY INCLUDED SCRUMP!!!
I can’t get over Lilo making her own friendship bracelet out of things like fishing hooks just so she could fit in with the other girls 😭 and then they were making fun of her because “it’s not the same as ours” and “you need friends to have a friendship bracelet, you don’t have any friends”
They kept in some good lines: “Meega, nala kweesta!”, “He took the red one”, pronouncing Earth as “Ee-arth” etc.
Lilo’s door with the piece of paper taped to her door that has “Kapu” (keep out) written on it
Pleakley trying to book the hotel room and saying he wants the “hot tube”💀
Stitch drinking lava lamp fluid?!? 😭
Lilo kissing Stitch’s nose was so adorable
THE TRIGGER HAPPY LITTLE PSYCHOPATH ALIEN WHO KEPT SAYING THEY WERE READY TO NUKE EARTH?!? 😭 New favourite character unlocked!
They kept in the thing with the record player where Stitch puts his claw on the player and then Elvis comes out when his mouth is opened 😆👏🏻
Even though we don’t see Lilo in her iconic red dress with white leaf print, her costumes do actually incorporate the design of it in some ways (eg. A red t shirt with the white leaves under dungarees)
The scene where Stitch is “making amends” and he gives Mertle her mini-car-thing (?) back only for it to fall apart 💀
PLEAKLEY IN THE HOT TUB WITH HIS SHOWER CAP ON?!?
When Jumba has Stitch on the space ship he mentions using Stitch to make Experiment 627?!? And he swipes and you see digital blueprints/outlines of 624 (Angel) and 625 (Reuben)?!? I NEARLY SCREAMED
Instead of Lilo being captured and Stitch trying to save her, Lilo creeps onto Jumba’s ship and frees Stitch???
…why does Jumba’s space ship have a disco feature with a disco ball and music and lights? 💀
Stitch really was willing to let himself drown to save Lilo because he was too heavy for her to pull to the surface 😭
Lilo’s sobbing when she thought Stitch was dead actually broke my heart, it reminded me of Lilo crying in the second film when Stitch “dies”
“This is my family. I found it all on my home. It’s little and broken but still good. Yeah, still good.” ❤️
Okay so I’ve got to be honest, while it was cute and I love watching Stitch, I do have some serious issues with the remake, and I’ve divided them up because some of them are worth more than just one bullet point:
My first issue: Pleakley
Billy Magnussen’s performance as a whole? No complaints to be honest. I think he did great with what he had to work with, so please don’t think I’m hating on him or his performance because that’s not my issue.
While Pleakley definitely wears some interesting outfit combinations whilst in his human form, he does not dress in drag, which is just… depressing. Somehow Disney in 2002 were more accepting of a one eyed alien with three legs dressing in drag than they are now 23 years later.
I’m sure this will seem minor to some BUT…Pleakley’s full name is Wendy Pleakley originally. The remake changed it to Wendell Pleakley, probably to be more “gender appropriate”, which…again, is so disheartening to see.
No scene where Pleakley is swarmed by mosquitoes?!?
My next issue: Jumba
Hearing Zach Galifianakis’ voice come out of Jumba was a fucking JUMPSCARE I tell you. He’s just…not got that deep voice? And it’s so jarring to me. Maybe that won’t matter to some people but yeah, it threw me for a loop
My BIGGEST complaint about the entire movie quite frankly is that Jumba is straight up just a villain here - he doesn’t get any kind of redemption, he’s not even part of the family at the end like Pleakley and Cobra Bubbles are shown to be?!? Yeah, he’s an evil genius - but he is also a part of Lilo’s Ohana. He is part of the family just as much as Stitch and Pleakley and Bubbles are.
I’m assuming the reason they made Jumba the main villain is because they got rid of Captain Gantu (another thing I’m mad about) so they needed some other threat, but not even a tiny redemption??? He’s just imprisoned in space again?!?!
And now the rest of my nitpicks and issues:
Let’s say it again…NO CAPTAIN GANTU?!? WHAT EVEN IS THE FUCKING POINT?!?
In the original, there’s a whole thing about how Lilo takes photos of all the tourists because when the white tourists go to Hawaii, they treat her a certain way because she’s a native of the island - just as they gawk and point at her like she’s some tourist attraction, Lilo takes photos of the white tourists as if they’re the tourist attraction instead. In this version, Lilo does NOT take pictures of all the tourists or at all, which also pisses me off.
Bearing in mind in my screening there was an ad saying if you booked tickets you could win a Hawaiian getaway, and then they cut out all the anti-tourist stuff… yeah, it’s obvious what Disney are doing.
On that note, they changed white sunburnt ice cream man into a snow cone eating Hawaiian which just rubs me the wrong way for obvious reasons.
The closest this film got to any kind of commentary about the tourists in Hawaii is Lilo running around a hotel/resort causing havoc, first on her own and then with Stitch (stealing a towel, getting in the hot tub etc)
I’m not saying the actress playing Nani was wearing fake tan to look darker but… you know.
I know the film wants to be more modern but playing “Uptown Funk” when Stitch is rampaging just before he gets hit by a truck?
Also instead of “I read her diary” it’s “I read her texts” 😔
Even though she feeds the fish a sandwich and mentions that the fish is called Pudge, there’s no mention of why Lilo actually feeds Pudge - nothing about how she and Nani lost their parents, no “they were driving and it was raining”, nothing.
I’m actually personally offended that they removed Lilo’s line when Stitch is leaving where she says “you can go if you want but I’ll remember you. I remember everyone who leaves”.
It goes without saying but there’s no Ugly Duckling metaphor, no Stitch crying in the forest “I’m lost” wanting to find his family
How long can Nani hold her breath for?!? She was holding Stitch and ran along the bottom of the ocean floor to the shore while carrying him 💀
In the original the reason Stitch is allowed to stay is because Lilo signed a contract saying she’d adopted Stitch, meaning she owns him, and “aliens are all about rules”. In this one the Grand Council Woman just decides to let Stitch stay after seeing him with Lilo etc.
I’m not sure how I feel about the ending being changed as much as it was; Nani goes off to study Marine Biology, leaving Lilo to be cared for by the lady next door (I can’t remember her name?), David, Pleakley and Cobra Bubbles. There’s no montage of them all doing things like shopping, Stitch doing laundry, Graceland, holidays, the hover-cars for them to play with…
Overall it’s not the worst Disney remake, and I think that if I didn’t love the original as much as I do, maybe I’d have enjoyed it more. It was sweet and emotional, but I do think that maybe I love the original too much to embrace most of the changes. I’m glad it’s not exactly shot for shot, I’m fine with some changes, but some of the stuff I’ve listed just… annoyed me? The original came out 23 years ago - I don’t think it needed a remake (but then I don’t think any of these remakes are necessary frankly)
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