With his irresistibly huggable design and Chris Sanders’ memorably gruff voice performance, Stitch transforms from a chaotic alien menace into a fiercely loyal, sibling-like protector to young Lilo. Along the way, he introduces audiences to the Hawaiian idea of ohana, or family. So it was only a matter of time before Disney gave him the live-action treatment. But, like every remake of a beloved animated classic, the 2025 version — directed by the skilled Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) — invites inevitable comparisons to its source material. This is especially true in scenes that closely mirror the original, like Stitch’s crash-landing on Earth or the iconic surfing sequence, which feel more like reenactments than reinventions.
Unsurprisingly, the original still shines brighter. Its characters, world-building, and humor were crafted specifically for animation — a medium where exaggerated colors, heightened emotions, and cartoon logic give the story a unique charm that live-action simply can’t replicate. The new version, scripted by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes, sticks closely to the same narrative. We still follow 6-year-old Lilo (Maia Kealoha), a quirky Hawaiian girl who doesn’t quite fit in with her peers. And in Stitch — whom she initially mistakes for a strange dog — she finds a fellow misfit who, like her, is seen as inherently flawed.......Read More