Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch is one of the biggest hits of the movie year, remarkably juxtaposing the failure both financially and in audience response of the recent Snow White remake. Receiving an incredible 93% audience score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with a notable 72% critics’ score to boot, Lilo & Stitch is an unquestionable success, although it seems not every aspect of the movie has landed positively with fans. The acclaimed animated original’s ending sees Stitch granted life on Earth via the Grand Councilwoman, with Lilo and Nani designated his carers as they all live together as one happy ohana. However, in the remake, director Dean Fleischer Camp, also known for his work on Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, makes the bold choice to split up this ohana physically as Nani (Sydney Agudong) is encouraged to leave and study marine biology in San Diego. Controversial to some, director Camp has since come out to defend this narrative choice, even suggesting that “a fair amount of the people who are dunking on that premise have not actually seen the movie, and they write me stuff that is clearly wrong.” Explaining that he wanted to “expand the meaning of ohana,” Camp noted that it was Hawaiian screenwriter Chris Kekaniokalani Bright who promised that the local community would never leave the girls “to fend for themselves.” This is the catalyst behind one of the remake’s best additions, with Camp noting, “that led him to create this character of Tutu, and she ultimately takes Lilo in as hanai, which is this culturally specific term and tradition that is a form of informal adoption. It isn’t about blood or paperwork, but love and responsibility for the greater good and for one’s community.”
It Is Impossible to Keep Everyone Happy When Crafting a Remake

For an animated movie as beloved as Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois’s 2002 original, crafting a remake was always going to leave some unsatisfied. “I think you can’t satisfy everyone with these remakes. You are treading on hallowed ground when you make one of these, because these are films people grew up with, and I’m one of them, and I totally understand it,” Camp admits. But it’s important to find your own identity, allowing the film to stand out against its predecessor, not through bitterness or correction, but through a desire to provide something fresh. Camp continued, “But we didn’t want to just restage the beats of the original film, as much as we both loved it. We wanted to tell a story that’s honest about what it means to lose everything and still find a way forward. People do get left behind, like what Nani says, this is, and it’s incumbent upon the community to make sure that they aren’t forgotten.” Lilo & Stitch continues to prove popular in theaters. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for more updates on the latest movies.

Lilo & Stitch

Release Date

May 21, 2025

Runtime

108 Minutes

Director

Dean Fleischer Camp

Writers

Chris Kekaniokalani Bright, Mike Van Waes, Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois

Producers

Tom C. Peitzman, Dan Lin, Ryan Halprin

Chris Sanders

Stitch (voice)

Source: Variety