The Lilo and Stitch live-action remake was a fun little movie, though it is nowhere close to being as good as the original animated version. In addition, the film made some questionable decisions when it came to adapting the story. Since Disney just announced a sequel, there is a possibility that some of those decisions could be improved. Here are three flaws in the Lilo and Stitch remake that the sequel could fix.
3 Flaws in the Lilo and Stitch Remake That the Sequel Could Fix
1. Give Jumba Back His Redemption Arc
Captain Gantu, the main antagonist in the original movie, was cut from the remake. Director Dean Fleisher Camp claimed he “didn’t work well in live-action,” though the cut was likely a budget decision, since animating the twenty-foot-tall alien in CGI would be costly. However, this meant that the remake decided to make Jumba the main villain, even though in the original, Jumba comes up with the plan to rescue Lilo at the end and even becomes part of the family.
Making Jumba a one-dimensional villain felt like an injustice against the character, but a sequel could remedy that. Perhaps Jumba could escape from prison and return to Earth, determined to capture Stitch once and for all, but then he could slowly discover the meaning of ohana.
2. A More Satisfying Ohana
The original had an uplifting ending where Lilo, Stitch, Nani, Jumba, and Pleakley were a happy family. The remake, however, ended with Nani forced to give up custody of Lilo in order for the state to pay Lilo’s medical bills. While Lilo is adopted by a good friend of the family and Nani obtains a portal gun from the aliens that lets her visit Lilo whenever she wants, many fans were disappointed with this ending.
The sequel could have Nani come back to Hawaii after graduating from college. She could get a steady job that pays well, and arrangements could be made to grant custody of Lilo back to her. There could also be storytelling potential here, since Lilo and Nani would have to readjust to living together again, and Lilo would be older.
3. Pleakley Could Have A Journey of Self-Discovery
In the original movie and especially in the following TV series, Pleakley was heavily implied to be trans or genderfluid with his love of dresses and wigs, but the remake removed all traces of queerness from the character. The director claims that he “tried” to include the crossdressing in the remake, which could imply that the higher-ups at Disney were afraid of appearing “woke” and didn’t want to offend the anti-DEI crowd with the inclusion of a queer character.
In this age where trans people are repeatedly scorned, positive trans representation is increasingly important. A sequel could have Pleakley become fascinated with the world of Earth fashions and realize that he enjoys wearing dresses. It could be a meaningful, heartfelt subplot of Pleakley discovering a new aspect of himself.
Is There an Animated Lilo and Stitch 2?
In the 2000s, Disney released three straight-to-DVD follow-ups to Lilo and Stitch. There was the sequel Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, the TV show pilot Stitch! The Movie, and the TV show finale, Leroy and Stitch. Perhaps Disney will use some elements from these films or the TV series in the live-action sequel. Fans would probably enjoy seeing Jumba’s other 625 experiments.
