While not a mega hit upon initial release, Disney’s Lilo & Stitch has developed a cult following over the years, with Stitch turning into a $2.6 billion franchise in 2024. With the company remaking many of its classic animated properties into live-action films, it was only a matter of time until Lilo & Stitch received the remake treatment.
Lilo & Stitch (2025) follows Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha), a troubled orphan Hawaiian girl under the care of her older sister Nani Pelekai (Sydney Elizabeth Agudong), who struggles to manage a home and keep a steady job. When their social worker, Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere), stops by, she deems Nani unfit to care for Lilo, giving her one week to shape up or else Lilo will be taken away. One day, Lilo unknowingly adopts escaped alien Experiment 626, whom she thinks is a dog and names him Stitch (Chris Sanders). Two aliens, Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) and Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), are sent to Earth to capture 626 and return him to the United Galactic Federation before Stitch can create even more havoc on Earth and wreck Lilo’s family forever.
Overall, the film is a lot of fun. Maia Kealoha has big shoes to fill as the feisty Lilo, but does a great job capturing Lilo’s animated essence as a real child. Agudong is a fantastic Nani, and original Lilo & Stitch director Chris Sanders is a natural reprising his role as Stitch. Nani’s original voice actress makes a cameo as the social worker, a role CIA agent Mr. Bubbles filled in the original film. While it feels a bit unnecessary to split this role, it’s enjoyable to see her anyway.
The first half is enjoyable and familiar, with Lilo’s antics and the double trouble she and Stitch cause around the island. All remakes have changes, some minor and others drastic, and overall, Lilo & Stitch sticks to the source material without feeling foreign or alienating the audience. While the film mostly follows the story beats of the original, the ending does deviate, which will undoubtedly polarize fans.
It’s underwhelming that a place as beautiful as Hawaii can look so drab, but somehow this film fails to capture the island’s splendor on the big screen. The landscape is muted green, the water gray, and the characters blend into the background. On the flip side, Stitch looks great, and you can tell a lot of care (and money) went into his CGI design. Due to the smaller budget, Jumba and Pleakley don’t get much screen time in their alien forms, but having their disguise be actual humans (instead of hilariously poor disguises from the original) is an adequate change and doesn’t affect the plot too much.
As far as remakes are concerned, Lilo & Stitch is one of Disney’s more decent entries: it sticks to the source material, makes necessary minor changes based on budget and time, and keeps most of the heart intact. Is it better than the original? Absolutely not, but it will be inoffensive enough (well, except maybe the ending for some) to allow for a fun outing at the theater.
Morgan is an Arizona native who's had a lifelong passion for animation. Her favorite animated films are Aladdin, Beauty & the Beast, and The Iron Giant. She earned an MBA in Marketing from Arizona State University, climbed the corporate ladder in the tech world, and now is a stay-at-home mom of four kids. In her (rare) free time, she enjoys analyzing animated films on the Animation Addicts Podcast and making videos for the Rotoscopers YouTube channel.
