Remakes of classic Disney cartoons in the format of films with live actors almost immediately received the unpleasant title of "marketing decision". And the failure of Snow White forced the film company to reconsider plans for the further release of similar projects. Therefore, the remake of Lilo & Stitch found itself in a tense situation, and a colossal responsibility fell on it. Fortunately, the film turned out to be good, because even in the live-action format it did not lose the charm of the original source. True, some plot changes did not benefit it.
| Name | Lilo & Stitch |
| Genre | adventure, fantasy |
| Director | Dean Fleischer Camp |
| Cast | Maya Keloha, Sidney Agudong, Chris Sanders, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Magnussen and others |
| Studios | Walt Disney Pictures, Rideback |
| Timing | 1 hour 48 minutes |
| Year | 2025 |
| Link | IMDb |
Six-year-old Lilo (Maya Keloha) and her older sister Nani (Sidney Agudong) have recently lost their parents and have not yet managed to get their lives together. Nani is listed as Lilo's legal guardian, but she herself can hardly be called an adult, so the risk of losing her sister to state guardianship is quite real. Lilo is unable to make friends: her peers do not like her, and she herself has no special desires and aspirations. The life of Lilo and Nani is radically changed by the appearance of an alien. Experiment 626 is supposedly created exclusively for destruction. However, Lilo sees in him her first and true friend. The alien is named Stitch and begins to live with the sisters, but his thirst for destruction and chaos is capable of completely destroying the already fragile family.
I will never tire of repeating that the main disadvantage of remakes of Disney cartoons is the rejection of the classic animation format. Because such animation has the greatest expressiveness, with which even the most advanced computer graphics cannot compete. Disney's works regularly depict fantastic worlds, so an attempt to translate them into realism is doomed to lose a share of charm from the very beginning.
However, Lilo & Stitch is a pleasant exception to this rule. And we should thank the original source for this. After all, most of the events in it take place in real locations in Hawaii, and most of the main characters are people. Stitch remains the main fantastic element, and when creating a new version, it is noticeable that he was given the main attention.
Stitch is a joy to watch from the beginning to the end credits. His live-action design managed to retain all the charm of the animated Stitch, but even the more "realistic" elements, such as the drawn fur, are not repulsive. Stitch is 100% expressive, his facial expressions and movements are captivating and capable of causing laughter and tears in an audience of any age. He was even voiced by the creator of the original cartoon, Chris Sanders, just like in the original source. This is an unequivocal success.
But let's be honest: if you're true to the original, Stitch is almost impossible to screw up. He's one of Disney's most recognizable characters and a key merchandising position in the company's business empire. So it's unlikely anyone would do something with such a character on the level of Sonic's first design in the movie. But the entire movie can't rely solely on Stitch's charisma.
Some fans had concerns about Lilo in the remake. After all, in the cartoon, this is a rather complex image that reveals the pain of loss through the eyes of a small child, while remaining positive and bright. And Maya Kelokha managed to cope with such a difficult task. Her every phrase and action is decided with all her heart, which makes the overall story even more poignant. The role of Lilo raises hopes for the further interesting development of Kelokha's career. And yes, this is another element that did not suffer at all due to the rejection of the animated format.
But what is definitely less impressive is the surroundings. The cartoon Lilo & Stitch felt like the most summer work, filled with warmth and freshness. The remake lost this feeling. For some reason, the film crew does not use the natural beauty of Hawaii at all, but focuses instead on various houses and hotels. Of course, the main characters will squeeze the most out of it, but visually there is nothing interesting in such scenery.
The film as a whole feels too simple and local. You can see why Disney initially wanted to release it straight away on its own streaming service Disney+. The most expensive scene in the new Lilo & Stitch is the opening scene in space with aliens. Then the film slows down, as if budgets and resources would allow for no more.
Also questionable are some plot changes that begin to manifest themselves closer to the finale. The authors tried to give more weight to the characters of Jumba and Pleakly - these are aliens who were sent to Earth to catch Stitch - but they didn't go beyond a few comedic moments. The climax turned out to be too simple and naive, as if it was designed primarily for children. And this despite the fact that the story had successfully kept a balance between "children's" and "adult" themes until then.
But you still can't call the film Lilo & Stitch 2025 bad. The film almost perfectly tells a story about overcoming inner evil and shortcomings for the sake of people who have become truly close. About an imperfect and almost ephemeral, but family that you want to love and protect from everything. You can even see something about the differences between species, but this topic has become quite common in the 2020s, so "Lilo and Stitch" doesn't go beyond the hints. By the way, there was also a place for relevant and appropriate jokes in the story, another plus.
Perhaps someone in the film version of Lilo & Stitch will not have enough scale, pathos and star names - of the latter, one can only mention Zach Galifianakis - because previous Disney remakes emphasized these elements. However, this does not make the film any less good. Quite the opposite: having got rid of unnecessary gloss, "Lilo and Stitch" found a direct path to the hearts of the audience. And at the same time it demonstrated that Disney remakes can still be a bit of art, and not just marketing.