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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I took 7 tweens to see 'Lilo & Stitch.' Tears were shed, blue snacks were eaten and fart jokes were enjoyed.
Hello there, Yahoo Entertainment readers. My name is Suzy Byrne, and I've been covering entertainment in this space for over a decade — and longer elsewhere, but … details! While I work with many A+ cinephiles here, I'm the first to tell you I'm not one of them. My dad tried hard by getting me to watch Hitchcock movies as a child, but — blame my seeing The Birds at age 5 — I've grown into the moviegoer who only goes to the big, buzzy films (bonus points for comedy) mostly, so I'm not left out of the group chat. Since I had a child, though, I've made it a point to see as many kid-friendly movies as possible. Maybe it's because I'm a big kid ✔ and I like a cheerful resolution ✔. But also, as a busy working parent, is there greater joy than getting two hours to turn off your phone, put up your feet and eat whatever you want — while your child is fully entertained?! So that's what this is — one entertainment reporter + her 10-year-old child + usually a group of friends (two words: silent playdate!) seeing family-friendly fare on the big screen, indulging in film-themed treats and replying all, to you, about the experience. Welcome to kids' movie club. An adult just walked into the theater wearing a full-on Stitch costume. I must be in the right place. On the day that megahit Lilo & Stitch opened, I gathered my ohana — or chosen family — to see Disney's live-action adaptation about an orphaned girl, Lilo (Maia Kealoha), raised in Hawaii by her under-resourced big sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong), after the death of their parents. Lilo, who's lonely and struggling with her new reality, befriends a house-destroying but adorable genetically engineered alien fugitive, Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders, as in the original), who teaches them the meaning of family. This was one of those movies where everyone I invited said yes — thanks to that cute and fluffy little blue guy who's a sweeter and less demonic version of the Gremlins of my youth. We were a plus-size viewing party of 11 — seven tweens (ages 9-10) and four adults (my husband and two mom friends) — at a Look Cinema dine-in theater. The big humans were hopeful it would be good. We all knew the broad strokes of the story, based on the 2002 original animated film, and that director Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel the Shell With Shoes On) knows how to tug at the heartstrings. Even the one Disney employee in our group was excited for the movie, not exhausted by internal company hype. The little humans expected it to be a masterpiece — well, based on the merch they rolled into the theater with. There were big-eared Stitch plushies all around for the kids and Pez dispensers featuring Stitch or his girlfriend, Angel. One girl in our crew wore a sweatshirt with Scrump, Lilo's rag doll. Upping our swag, a mom — who did not join for the movie — sewed all the kids custom Lilo & Stitch pouches that Etsy buyers, and probably the adult wearing the Stitch costume, would go cuckoo for. One of the girls made the others bracelets. We fit right in with our surroundings. The girl sitting next to me, who wasn't part of our group, had on a Stitch T-shirt and carried the same live-action plush as our crew. There was also a baby one row in front of us and mostly asleep (thankfully) during the movie in a Lilo & Stitch top. With the food dye ban coming, I greenlit as a last hurrah a Galactic Popcorn (regular popcorn with blue M&Ms) and an Aloha Blue Breeze (a mix of lemonade, Sprite and nonalcoholic blue curaçao). The popcorn was as expected, but the drink was surprisingly good. The one negative was the light-up ice cubes, which were unexpectedly bright, so the entire theater had a blue glow going. Though they were not bright enough to illuminate the QR on my tray table when I needed to reorder food in the dark, halfway through the movie. (Why is scanning those things so annoying?) My editor alerted me that the movie would be emotional — and it was. The kids expected the dead parents — the norm for, like, every Disney movie, am I right? — having seen the original movie and the TV series. There was a suspenseful near-drowning scene, but we knew the House of Mouse wasn't going to kill off a title character. The ending — which has been somewhat controversial — was a tearjerker, however. (What I'll say is: Thank goodness for portal guns and teleportation. And: Isn't higher education something to celebrate?) Throughout the film there's a looming social services caseworker (Tia Carrere, who played Nani in the original) reminding that Lilo could be taken from Nani at any minute. That came more into focus at the end — amid a pile of medical bills — so did the prospect of Lilo and Stitch potentially being separated, despite the 'family means nobody gets left behind' mantra. The end led to a household milestone when my daughter — who reached out to hold my hand, in front of friends, but spared of embarrassment by darkness — shed a tear for the first time watching a movie. That was nothing compared to my sweet adult friend, who was still crying after the credits (which are worth staying for) rolled and we walked to the lobby. She said it was a good cry though, a cathartic release. During the movie I had to accompany a child to the bathroom. During a slow handwashing, she informed me that she didn't need to rush because she was going to see the movie again that weekend. The interlude led to me missing the Angel cameo, among the many fun easter eggs. If I learned anything from this day, it's that the kids really like Stitch's little pink girlfriend and would have liked more of her. What got the most laughs from the kids was — no surprise — anything fart, burp or diarrhea related. I saw one of the kids we took to the movie four days later and the first thing she did was recite the Lilo line, 'The only superpower that I have is that sometimes when I run too fast, I fart.' The kids also loved mischievous Stitch's quest for cake and thirst for lava lamp juice, seeing the 'Ice Cream Man,' all animal sightings (goat, frogs), multi-eyed Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) being called a 'hairy potato' and one-eyed alien Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) becoming part of the family. This adult loved the music — Elvis, Elvis, Elvis. The soundtrack features almost all of the songs from the original movie. I learned that the young love of 'Uptown Funk' still runs deep in elementary schools, 10 years after its release. I was also a superfan of the use of the original voice actors, which shows the attention to detail and nod to nostalgia while still moving the franchise forward. Also, seeing Hawaii on the big screen was like a mini mental vacation. As one adult told me, every beach scene swept them a million miles away — if only temporarily, being snapped back to reality with near-drowning scenes and underwater goodbyes. Though another said: It also showed that it's not necessarily easy to live in paradise. My husband pointed out that this is the first film he's seen in which jumper cables saved a life — well, alien 626's life — and neither of us remembered breath spray being in a movie since the '90s. The folks who make Binaca must be delighted. While the kids couldn't stop laughing at the fart joke, my favorite line was more sentimental about how 'sometimes family isn't perfect' and that it's OK. I mean — that's pretty much the motto at our house. On the ride home, I tried to listen in on the kid convo in the back. They burst into laughter talking about all the dead moms in Disney movies ('I'm starting to think that all the people who made those movies were too lazy to add moms,' said one girl) and how so many of the early Disney princesses look alike. ('There are so many blonde ladies who wear pink, blue or purple,' said another.) My daughter talked about crying in the movie, comparing Lilo saying goodbye to Stitch recently losing a family pet. A friend supportively replied, 'I didn't shed a tear, but I was about to.' Another said, 'It's OK — we all cry from time to time.' Spoken like a kid in touch with their feelings — probably from seeing Inside Out 2. Both the big and small members of our group seemed most excited by the Zootopia 2 and Bad Guys 2 trailers. Makes sense — everyone in our group had seen the originals. Zootopia originally came out in 2016, so the anticipation for a sequel has been building. Bad Guys is also such a popular book series that the kids want more. No. 3 was Elio, about the boy who wants to be abducted by aliens because he feels like he doesn't fit in on Earth, which is relatable for all ages. There wasn't as big of a reaction to Superman (maybe if there were more boys?) or Karate Kid: Legends from the kids. Mom here was a different story about the latter, as Ralph Macchio's face covered the walls of my childhood bedroom. It's next on my viewing schedule. The theater didn't show the How to Train Your Dragon live-action trailer, unless I missed it while ordering seven popcorns, pretzel bites, mini pizzas and those blinding drinks my eyes are still adjusting from, but the kids talked about it nonstop on the ride there. Dragon love remains strong among tweens, so Universal must know: If they build it — in this case, the land of Berk — the kids will come. These ones will, for sure.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I took 7 tweens to see 'Lilo & Stitch.' Tears were shed, blue snacks were eaten and fart jokes were enjoyed.
Hello there, Yahoo Entertainment readers. My name is Suzy Byrne, and I've been covering entertainment in this space for over a decade — and longer elsewhere, but … details! While I work with many A+ cinephiles here, I'm the first to tell you I'm not one of them. My dad tried hard by getting me to watch Hitchcock movies as a child, but — blame my seeing The Birds at age 5 — I've grown into the moviegoer who only goes to the big, buzzy films (bonus points for comedy) mostly, so I'm not left out of the group chat. Since I had a child, though, I've made it a point to see as many kid-friendly movies as possible. Maybe it's because I'm a big kid ✔ and I like a cheerful resolution ✔. But also, as a busy working parent, is there greater joy than getting two hours to turn off your phone, put up your feet and eat whatever you want — while your child is fully entertained?! So that's what this is — one entertainment reporter + her 10-year-old child + usually a group of friends (two words: silent playdate!) seeing family-friendly fare on the big screen, indulging in film-themed treats and replying all, to you, about the experience. Welcome to kids' movie club. An adult just walked into the theater wearing a full-on Stitch costume. I must be in the right place. On the day that megahit Lilo & Stitch opened, I gathered my ohana — or chosen family — to see Disney's live-action adaptation about an orphaned girl, Lilo (Maia Kealoha), raised in Hawaii by her under-resourced big sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong), after the death of their parents. Lilo, who's lonely and struggling with her new reality, befriends a house-destroying but adorable genetically engineered alien fugitive, Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders, as in the original), who teaches them the meaning of family. This was one of those movies where everyone I invited said yes — thanks to that cute and fluffy little blue guy who's a sweeter and less demonic version of the Gremlins of my youth. We were a plus-size viewing party of 11 — seven tweens (ages 9-10) and four adults (my husband and two mom friends) — at a Look Cinema dine-in theater. The big humans were hopeful it would be good. We all knew the broad strokes of the story, based on the 2002 original animated film, and that director Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel the Shell With Shoes On) knows how to tug at the heartstrings. Even the one Disney employee in our group was excited for the movie, not exhausted by internal company hype. The little humans expected it to be a masterpiece — well, based on the merch they rolled into the theater with. There were big-eared Stitch plushies all around for the kids and Pez dispensers featuring Stitch or his girlfriend, Angel. One girl in our crew wore a sweatshirt with Scrump, Lilo's rag doll. Upping our swag, a mom — who did not join for the movie — sewed all the kids custom Lilo & Stitch pouches that Etsy buyers, and probably the adult wearing the Stitch costume, would go cuckoo for. One of the girls made the others bracelets. We fit right in with our surroundings. The girl sitting next to me, who wasn't part of our group, had on a Stitch T-shirt and carried the same live-action plush as our crew. There was also a baby one row in front of us and mostly asleep (thankfully) during the movie in a Lilo & Stitch top. With the food dye ban coming, I greenlit as a last hurrah a Galactic Popcorn (regular popcorn with blue M&Ms) and an Aloha Blue Breeze (a mix of lemonade, Sprite and nonalcoholic blue curaçao). The popcorn was as expected, but the drink was surprisingly good. The one negative was the light-up ice cubes, which were unexpectedly bright, so the entire theater had a blue glow going. Though they were not bright enough to illuminate the QR on my tray table when I needed to reorder food in the dark, halfway through the movie. (Why is scanning those things so annoying?) My editor alerted me that the movie would be emotional — and it was. The kids expected the dead parents — the norm for, like, every Disney movie, am I right? — having seen the original movie and the TV series. There was a suspenseful near-drowning scene, but we knew the House of Mouse wasn't going to kill off a title character. The ending — which has been somewhat controversial — was a tearjerker, however. (What I'll say is: Thank goodness for portal guns and teleportation. And: Isn't higher education something to celebrate?) Throughout the film there's a looming social services caseworker (Tia Carrere, who played Nani in the original) reminding that Lilo could be taken from Nani at any minute. That came more into focus at the end — amid a pile of medical bills — so did the prospect of Lilo and Stitch potentially being separated, despite the 'family means nobody gets left behind' mantra. The end led to a household milestone when my daughter — who reached out to hold my hand, in front of friends, but spared of embarrassment by darkness — shed a tear for the first time watching a movie. That was nothing compared to my sweet adult friend, who was still crying after the credits (which are worth staying for) rolled and we walked to the lobby. She said it was a good cry though, a cathartic release. During the movie I had to accompany a child to the bathroom. During a slow handwashing, she informed me that she didn't need to rush because she was going to see the movie again that weekend. The interlude led to me missing the Angel cameo, among the many fun easter eggs. If I learned anything from this day, it's that the kids really like Stitch's little pink girlfriend and would have liked more of her. What got the most laughs from the kids was — no surprise — anything fart, burp or diarrhea related. I saw one of the kids we took to the movie four days later and the first thing she did was recite the Lilo line, 'The only superpower that I have is that sometimes when I run too fast, I fart.' The kids also loved mischievous Stitch's quest for cake and thirst for lava lamp juice, seeing the 'Ice Cream Man,' all animal sightings (goat, frogs), multi-eyed Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) being called a 'hairy potato' and one-eyed alien Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) becoming part of the family. This adult loved the music — Elvis, Elvis, Elvis. The soundtrack features almost all of the songs from the original movie. I learned that the young love of 'Uptown Funk' still runs deep in elementary schools, 10 years after its release. I was also a superfan of the use of the original voice actors, which shows the attention to detail and nod to nostalgia while still moving the franchise forward. Also, seeing Hawaii on the big screen was like a mini mental vacation. As one adult told me, every beach scene swept them a million miles away — if only temporarily, being snapped back to reality with near-drowning scenes and underwater goodbyes. Though another said: It also showed that it's not necessarily easy to live in paradise. My husband pointed out that this is the first film he's seen in which jumper cables saved a life — well, alien 626's life — and neither of us remembered breath spray being in a movie since the '90s. The folks who make Binaca must be delighted. While the kids couldn't stop laughing at the fart joke, my favorite line was more sentimental about how 'sometimes family isn't perfect' and that it's OK. I mean — that's pretty much the motto at our house. On the ride home, I tried to listen in on the kid convo in the back. They burst into laughter talking about all the dead moms in Disney movies ('I'm starting to think that all the people who made those movies were too lazy to add moms,' said one girl) and how so many of the early Disney princesses look alike. ('There are so many blonde ladies who wear pink, blue or purple,' said another.) My daughter talked about crying in the movie, comparing Lilo saying goodbye to Stitch recently losing a family pet. A friend supportively replied, 'I didn't shed a tear, but I was about to.' Another said, 'It's OK — we all cry from time to time.' Spoken like a kid in touch with their feelings — probably from seeing Inside Out 2. Both the big and small members of our group seemed most excited by the Zootopia 2 and Bad Guys 2 trailers. Makes sense — everyone in our group had seen the originals. Zootopia originally came out in 2016, so the anticipation for a sequel has been building. Bad Guys is also such a popular book series that the kids want more. No. 3 was Elio, about the boy who wants to be abducted by aliens because he feels like he doesn't fit in on Earth, which is relatable for all ages. There wasn't as big of a reaction to Superman (maybe if there were more boys?) or Karate Kid: Legends from the kids. Mom here was a different story about the latter, as Ralph Macchio's face covered the walls of my childhood bedroom. It's next on my viewing schedule. The theater didn't show the How to Train Your Dragon live-action trailer, unless I missed it while ordering seven popcorns, pretzel bites, mini pizzas and those blinding drinks my eyes are still adjusting from, but the kids talked about it nonstop on the ride there. Dragon love remains strong among tweens, so Universal must know: If they build it — in this case, the land of Berk — the kids will come. These ones will, for sure.
USA Today
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Spoilers! How the new 'Lilo & Stitch' ending is even more 'emotional'
Spoilers! How the new 'Lilo & Stitch' ending is even more 'emotional' Show Caption Hide Caption Young new star, Maia Kealoha joins Stitch from 'Lilo & Stitch' Hollywood's newest young star, Maia Kealoha, joins Stitch in studio to talk new remake 'Lilo & Stitch' Spoiler alert! We're discussing major details about the ending of Disney's live-action 'Lilo & Stitch' (in theaters now). Beware if you haven't seen it yet and don't want to know. The original "Lilo & Stitch" had a high-flying finale, centered on an air chase between alien spaceships. But in the live-action remake, director Dean Fleischer Camp ("Marcel the Shell With Shoes On") was keen to bring the story back down to Earth, with a tear-jerking third act that diverges almost entirely from Disney's 2002 animated hit. For the uninitiated, the Hawaii-set comedy follows a lonely little girl named Lilo (Maia Kealoha) who adopts a "dog" called Stitch. Unbeknownst to her, Stitch is actually a mischievous alien experiment who escaped his home galaxy and is now being hunted by extraterrestrials. As a result, Lilo gets caught in their crosshairs and winds up getting kidnapped herself. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox Here's how the two films' endings differ: How did the original 'Lilo & Stitch' end? And how was it changed after the Sept. 11 attacks? At the end of the original "Lilo & Stitch," Stitch pilots a spaceship through a Hawaiian mountain range on a mission to rescue Lilo, who has been held captive on another alien spacecraft. Initially, the animated movie was set to end with Stitch hijacking a Boeing 747, taking a joyride as he zips through buildings in a crowded Hawaiian cityscape. But after the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the movie was retooled with a new finale before being released in theaters on June 21, 2002. 'The animated film had a very different ending that was impacted by 9/11,' Camp says. 'They had to totally rejigger that third act. It's kind of a miracle that it makes as much sense as it does, and is as powerful and iconic as it is.' What is the new ending of the 2025 live-action 'Lilo & Stitch' movie? The live-action movie ends with Lilo and Stitch on a spacecraft together, after Stitch has been abducted by an extraterrestrial mad scientist named Jumba (Zach Galifianakis). But when Jumba's ship crashes into the ocean, the little girl and her furry blue companion get trapped at the bottom of the sea by debris. Stitch frees Lilo from the wreckage, and she attempts to swim with him up to the surface. Realizing that he's weighing her down, Stitch mournfully pulls Lilo's hands away and sinks to the ocean floor while Lilo floats back up to safety. Lilo's sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong), dives down to retrieve and help revive Stitch, although he nearly pays with his life. 'In some of the ways that we deepened the emotional realities of the human characters, we also did that with Stitch,' Camp says. 'He starts the film as a self-interested weapon of destruction, who only cares about cake and drinking coffee and ruining things. In fact, he only goes with Lilo in the beginning to save himself; he is using her as a meat shield at the animal clinic' so Jumba won't shoot at him. But ultimately, Camp adds, 'Stitch sacrificing himself for Lilo felt like the natural catharsis for a character who starts off so selfish.' Is there a 'Lilo & Stitch' end credits scene? The animated movie ends with Lilo, Nani, Stitch, Jumba and the alien Pleakley (played by Billy Magnussen in the remake) all becoming a happy family, with Polaroid pictures of them reading, dancing, eating and watching movies together. The latter snapshot – of the humans and aliens snuggled on a couch – was inspiring for Camp. 'I was thinking, 'What is something that could work in this live-action adaptation that embodies the essence of that image and how it makes me feel, but is also not the exact same?' ' Camp says. He landed on a mid-credits scene of Nani visiting Lilo and Stitch, who are being cared for by their neighbor Tūtū (Amy Hill) while Nani attends college. The three of them curl up in bed, with Lilo and Nani each saying, "Good night, sister." Stitch chimes in with his own variation of "Good night, sisters," before drifting off to sleep. The sweet sequence is a callback to an earlier scene in the film, as Nani lays with Lilo on her bedroom floor and looks at the plastic stars on her ceiling, which form the "Three Sisters" constellation. Stitch's garbled pronunciation (sounding more like "goody, snissers") is also a slight nod to Jenny Slate's talking mollusk in Camp's "Marcel the Shell" movie. 'There's a small moment in 'Marcel the Shell' where I mention a Mitsubishi car and Marcel says, 'Mitzy-bibbi,'" Camp says. "I don't know why that kind of humor just makes me laugh, but that's why that made its way in there.'
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'Lilo & Stitch': The biggest changes from Disney's original movie
'Lilo & Stitch': The biggest changes from Disney's original movie Show Caption Hide Caption Young new star, Maia Kealoha joins Stitch from 'Lilo & Stitch' Hollywood's newest young star, Maia Kealoha, joins Stitch in studio to talk new remake 'Lilo & Stitch' Spoiler alert! We're discussing major plot details from Disney's live-action "Lilo & Stitch." Beware if you haven't seen it yet. On paper, a fragile-voiced mollusk and a calamitous blue alien have very little in common. But the parallels are obvious to director Dean Fleischer Camp, who is following up his 2022 Oscar-nominated "Marcel the Shell With Shoes On" with Disney's live-action remake of "Lilo & Stitch" (in theaters now). 'They're both unique protagonists who are looking for their place – and their people – in this world that wasn't really made for them,' Camp says. 'Even though they're adorable and funny, they have this quiet well of sadness that is very emotional.' Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox "Lilo" charts the unlikely bond between a lonely, 6-year-old Hawaiian girl (Maia Kealoha) and her pet extraterrestrial Stitch, whom she adopts from a dog shelter after he crash-lands on Earth. The new movie has all the Elvis songs and droll one-liners that you love, but with a bevy of notable changes that die-hard Disney fans will catch as well. Here are some of the major differences in the big-screen update: Lilo's big sister, Nani, has an expanded backstory When we meet the unruly Lilo, she is being raised by her 19-year-old sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong), after their parents died. The new movie fleshes out Nani considerably: Once a star student and athlete, she has now shelved her college dreams of studying marine biology so that she can work and raise Lilo. 'In a live-action film, you do have a responsibility to deepen the stakes,' Camp says. 'I feel a lot of things for Nani. The original doesn't go that deeply into it, but this poor girl was essentially forced to be a teen mom at this time in her life when all of her friends would be graduating high school and dating and thinking about their futures. She had to put all of that on hold, so it felt like a really rich character to invest in.' The aliens Jumba and Pleakley appear human for most of the movie Stitch, otherwise known as Experiment 626, is pursued by fellow aliens Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) and Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), who have been sent to retrieve him after he escapes from another galaxy. In the animated film, Jumba and Pleakley don a variety of disguises – glasses, sunhats, dresses ‒ as they covertly traipse about Hawaii. But in the live-action movie, the characters simply assume human form when they arrive on Earth. As fun as it might be to watch computer-generated aliens in drag, Camp worried that audiences wouldn't buy it. "We wrote these roles for Zach and Billy, and you do want to see them," Camp says. Also, the goal of this adaptation was "to tell a more emotional story of these human sisters, and if we go too clownish with this or that, does it undermine the stakes?" Pudge no longer eats peanut butter sandwiches The animated film opens with Lilo delivering a peanut butter sandwich to a fish named Pudge, who lives in the ocean. ("Pudge controls the weather," she explains in an oft-quoted scene.) But as eagle-eyed viewers might notice, the sandwich only has lettuce and tomato in the live-action movie. 'Peanut butter didn't read very well underwater,' Camp says, laughing. 'The process of adapting one of these films thoughtfully is taking every piece that you like from the original and saying, 'Does that work in live action? And if not, what is something that has the same essence?'" The live-action 'Lilo & Stitch' movie strives for Hawaiian authenticity Both movies feature intermittent cutaways to an unnamed man who drops his dessert whenever he encounters Lilo and other alien shenanigans. Although that's mint chocolate-chip ice cream in the original "Lilo," the treat has been changed to a multihued Hawaiian shave ice in the 2025 film. 'Part of the opportunity of adapting into live action is to make a more authentic depiction of Hawaii,' Camp says. 'We worked with a lot of consultants. The shave ice was actually the idea of our writer, Chris Bright, who's Hawaiian. He was just like, 'Shave ice? Everywhere on the island. Ice cream? Not so much.'' The new character Tūtū is introduced in the 2025 film Bright also pulled from his lived experience growing up in Hawaii for the movie's new characters. The live-action film introduces Tūtū (Amy Hill), Lilo and Nani's elderly neighbor who becomes a surrogate mother of sorts after their parents' deaths. "Chris was just like, 'If this really did happen, where these girls were orphaned, they're in Hawaii. They wouldn't just be abandoned by all their friends and neighbors,'" Camp recalls. "There would be a real effort to try and support them after this tragedy, so it was his idea to introduce that character." Cobra Bubbles is now two different characters In the animated movie, Cobra Bubbles was a former CIA agent-turned-social worker. But here, he's effectively been split up into two distinct characters: a federal agent named Cobra (Courtney B. Vance), and a social worker named Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere), who warns Nani that Lilo will be taken from her if she can't hold down a job. "In order to buy these two girls getting separated in a live-action movie, you couldn't really have the representative of that antagonistic force be a comically huge guy with tattoos on his knuckles, who for some reason is also a social worker," Camp says. Carrere voiced Nani in the animated movie, which gives her scenes with Agudong a "metatextual" layer, Camp adds. "This grown-up Nani, with all her wisdom, is now advising a younger version of herself. It's beautiful."
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Stitch fans left disappointed as Disney's Live Action Lilo and Stitch misses the magic
It is hard to explain the look on fans' faces as they walked out of early screenings of Disney's new Lilo and Stitch remake. For many, Stitch wasn't just a mischievous cartoon character. He was the heart of a film that taught them, as children or parents, what it means to belong. In the 2002 original, Stitch was more than a blue fuzzball with floppy ears and a taste for destruction. He was a lost soul trying desperately to find his place, mirroring Lilo's loneliness in a world that didn't understand her. But Disney's 2025 live action Lilo and Stitch makes a surprising decision, it sidelines its most beloved alien in favor of a deeper dive into Lilo and Nani's bond. The result is a film that, while visually striking, fails to deliver the emotional resonance that defined the original. Despite its extended runtime and an explosion of Stitch-themed marketing, the movie gives the alien little to do beyond slapstick comedy and merchandise-friendly moments. Also read: Lilo & Stitch Live-Action Movie: Trailer released, here's everything you need to know about the film by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like War Thunder - Register now for free and play against over 75 Million real Players War Thunder Play Now Undo Stitch reduced to comic relief The new Lilo and Stitch is 20 minutes longer than the original, but instead of using that time to explore Stitch's inner world, the film doubles down on silliness. He crashes a wedding reception to eat cake, burps repeatedly, and even swallows a lava lamp. These scenes are clearly designed to go viral or sell plushies, but they strip away Stitch's core identity. The original animated film showed a layered character suppressing his instincts to earn love and family. In the live action version, Stitch has no arc, no growth, and no moment of clarity. For longtime fans, that's not just a missed opportunity, it's a betrayal. Lilo and Nani take the spotlight Director Dean Fleischer Camp, known for Marcel the Shell With Shoes On , shifts the emotional weight onto Lilo's relationship with her sister Nani. The film leans into Nani's backstory as an aspiring marine biologist who sacrificed her dreams to care for Lilo. New characters like neighbor Tūtũ are introduced, adding warmth but not necessarily depth. While these elements enrich the family dynamic, they come at the cost of Stitch's emotional development. A single scene in the new movie hints at the old Stitch: Lilo asks if he has a family, and he simply says no. That's it. No further exploration. The original film's soul-stirring sequence with The Ugly Duckling , a turning point in Stitch's journey of self-discovery, is completely absent. It is this removal of deeper, quiet moments that leaves the remake feeling hollow. Live Events Also read: Disney's top 12 movies that will hit theaters in 2025; here's the full list for movie buffs Disney misses what made Stitch special The 2002 Lilo and Stitch was unique among Disney movies. It dared to linger on sadness, loneliness, and the aching need for connection. Stitch was not just cute, he was broken, and that vulnerability is what endeared him to audiences. His bond with Lilo was about more than hijinks. It was a lifeline. In remaking Lilo and Stitch , Disney had a chance to reintroduce this rich story to a new generation. Instead, they chose to flatten Stitch into a marketable mascot, forgetting that fans loved him not because he was chaotic, but because he was trying so hard not to be.
