Lilo & Stitch: A lonely Hawaiian girl befriends a runaway alien, helping to mend her fragmented family.

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Introduction

Disney quickly bounces back off of their tragedy called “Snow White” with this live action of yet another classic Disney film. Just stop being woke Disney, see? You can make people happy, just stick to what you know is best, don’t please this woke sh1t and force it on people. There were some changes but I could let it slide. Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp.

Lilo & Stitch tells the story of the bond formed between a lonely human girl named Lilo (played by Maia Kealoha) and a dog-like alien named Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders), who is engineered to be a force of destruction. Lilo lives with her big sister Nani (played by Sydney Agudong), but they’re struggling financially and social service workers are giving Nani an option to put Lilo into foster care. As destructive as Sticth is, he would be the final piece of a puzzle that creates Ohana.

Characters (Spoilers)

First off, I want to thank Disney, specially the casting director, for not going down the route of inclusivity. It never ever works out, so thanks for noticing that. Stop trying so hard to please other people.

• Maia Kealoha was great, she’s so cute and charming, what she lacks in experience, she makes with her natural reaction. Her acting was fluid and not awkward in any way. I love her laughter, its very contagious and its something you’d hear and woukd brighten up your day. Best scene of hers, acting-wise, was towards the end when Stitch wasn’t moving. She was legitimately crying, tears and snot and all.
• Stitch’s movements and iconic moments were imitated here and it was spot on. A cherry on top being voiced again by Chris Sanders (Director of The Wild Robot 2024, and the original voice of Stitch 2002)
• Sydney Agudong had perfect chemistry with Maia. It actually felt like they were sisters in real life. And I think that in some way, Maia felt the same way. Her boyish movements and how she talks clearly imitates that of the animation’s Nani, and I loved it.
• Kaipo Dudoit (David) nailed his character. Nothing else to say about him, he was great.
• It was a pleasure to see Amy Hill (Tutu) still active in the industry. I won’t forget her performance in 50 First Dates.
• Tia Carrere (Mrs. Kekoa, social worker) is the voice of Nani in the original 2002 motion picture.
• Chris Sanders voiced both Stitch 2002 and live action 2025.

Differences between animation and live action (Spoiler)

Its still up for debate whether fans want a carbon copy story of the animation, or a tweaked one for the live action. If they tweaked it too much, fans complain — if they stayed true to the source material, they’d complain as well. Anyway, let’s get to the differences.

• Cobra Bubbles is not familiar with the Grand Councilwoman, whereas in the animation, they knew each other from past events.
• Jumba became the main antagonist.
• Captain Gantu was opted out, instead they put the role of Gantu onto Jumba.
• Towards the end of the animation, we see Lilo showing the receipt of which she bought Stitch from the dog pound, whereas here, they cut that out.

What I didn’t like

When Nani was rescuing Stitch from the sea bed, she was carrying Stitch and walking on the sand. Its very unlikely and kind of felt like a forced heroic moment. They were clearly kilometers away, and she walked underwater without going up for air? The tweaks they made were understandable, it made it stand on its own and not rely fully on the source material.

Music Magic

Dan Romer, the composer for Lilo & Stitch (2025), did not disappoint. He was able to continue the legacy that Alan Silvestri left from the original Lilo & Stitch (2002).

Conclusion

Lilo & Stitch is a fun family movie to watch, specially with your kids. Regardless if they’ve seen the animation, this live action, in my opinion, did it justice. The tweaks were minor to be honest, and doesn’t hinder the fans from experiencing Lilo & Stitch yet again. Highly recommended.