Lilo & Stitch's Director Reacts To Pleakley Backlash
More than 20 years later, we're getting a Lilo & Stitch live-action remake, but fans have reservations about drastic changes from the original.
In March, the live-action trailer revealed Billy Magnussen and Zach Galifianakis as Agent Pleakley and Dr. Jumba Jookiba.
In the 2002 animated movie, the alien characters (voiced by Kevin McDonald and David Ogden Stiers) wore human clothes to blend in while on Earth.
Most notably, Pleakley dressed in women's clothing with a wig, instantly becoming one of the franchise's fan-favorite looks.
In the live-action movie, they appear to use a device that transforms them into humans instead.
Sadly, there's not a dress or wig in sight in the trailers.
Director Dean Fleischer Camp recently replied to fans who wondered why Pleakley looked different, and fans immediately had a lot to say when they heard his response.
In the first video of the two-part TikTok series, Dean reacted to a comment that said, "How dare they ruin Pleakley's disguise like that 😭😭😭"
"I have had people message me 'why is Pleakley not wearing a dress' and I just want to say — I tried. I tried."
In the TikTok, Dean also showed a concept drawing of Pleakly as the alien in his disguise, and while it looked pretty awesome, we'll never see it on the big screen.
Perhaps it was the stare into the camera or the apparent look of defeat when he repeated, "I tried," but fans had a lot to say about the director's response.
"That 'I tried' speaks volumes. Your concept of Pleakley in his pretty clothes looks great," one user wrote.
One person wrote, "Baby when he said he tried, he means Disney said no. Given the political climate - its not shocking Disney wanted no part. Sad, but I won't blame the director. Ill blame Disney."
"Thanks for addressing the Pleakley concerns. At least we know it's not your fault. ♥️," another user replied.
Someone said, "poor guy created an original piece of genre art and immediately got swept up by the bureaucratic capitalist machine."
"WHAAAAAAAT WHAT WHAT DO YOU MEAAAAANN THEY DIDNT CHOOSE YOUR VERSION OF PLEAKLEY?! THATS THE *ONE* THING ABOUT THE TRAILER THAT MADE ME SO MAD," this person wrote in ALL CAPS, so they meant business.
"My comments here to hate on the fact they turned Pleakley into a human," another user wrote. "They should have remained aliens with silly disguises. I fear the CGI costs would have been worth it."
This person is still holding out for last-minute changes, writing, "FIX PLEAKLEY. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. THEY FIXED SONIC YOU CAN FIX AUNTIE PLEAKLEY."
Finally, someone wrote, "i'm glad to hear you tried but still really disappointed in the decision."
It's a real bummer that we won't get to see Pleakly as an alien in a dress with a wig, but the good news is that Stitch's creator and original voice actor, Chris Sanders, is lending his talents to the photorealistic animated Stitch. "One of the first discussions we had was we had to get Chris Sanders back," Dean said in the video.
I'm excited, but after repeatedly watching the trailer, I have one serious question that I feel hasn't been addressed — where's my boy Gantu?
Watch the trailer for the Lilo & Stitch below:
What do you think about movie's changes? Share your thoughts about the new Lilo & Stitch in the comments.
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