Dean Fleischer Camp explains why Stitch is less violent in his rendition ofLilo & Stitch. TheDisney live-action remakeis now in theaters, reintroducing audiences to the young Hawaiian protagonist and her alien friend. While Chris Sanders returns to be the voice of Stitch, the movie features alargely new cast including Maia Kealoha, Sydney Agudong, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Magnussen, Courtney B. Vance, Amy Hill, and Tia Carrere(who voiced Nani in the original). The remake is doing incredibly well in theaters so far, debuting at $183 million domestically over the four-day Memorial Day weekend.
Speaking withRadioTimes.com, Camp explained the changes made to Stitch in the live-action film. The director mentioned that elements of “Stich’s level of destruction” can read as “very funny” in an animated setting, but do not translate as well to the live-action landscape. As such, he and his team tried to figure outhow to make sure to “preserve the essential Stitchness of Stich"while also working in a new visual setting. Check out the full quote from Camp below:
Things such as Stitch’s level of destruction and violence… like,violentis too strong a word, but violence in general, can play very funny in animation. You can imagine a very funny car wreck on a highway, but I would challenge any live-action director to do that with real cars and real people, because you’re just worried. And so, you know, we spent a lot of time trying to figure out how do we preserve the essential Stitchiness of Stitch and the destruction and the fun of the movie, while also navigating around those pitfalls?
I think the opportunity that it affords is to really invest in the relationships and emotions. And I think with a live-action movie, it affords you that opportunity, we could really deep dive on, like, the Pelekai sisters and Lilo’s emotional dynamic with Stitch and all those things.
What This Means For The Live-Action Lilo & Stitch
Some Of The Changes Were Positive
To support his point, Camp provides an example of filming a car wreck on a highway. In animation, this could lead to some comedic moments, but with real cars and people, one is “just worried” in reaction to the scene.Moments like these had to be adapted carefully for the live-action film, as doing a one-to-one adaptation would risk messing with the more lighthearted intentions of the original scenes. This process shows the care that Camp and his team took to maintain the spirit of the original while still making appropriate changes.
Camp also spoke about howthis need for changes also helped aspects of the story.He said that the live-action environment allowed more opportunities to “invest in the relationships and emotions.” This meant digging deeper into the relationship between the Pelekai sisters and Lilo’s interactions with Stitch. So far, theLilo & Stitchreviewshave praised some of these results, taking a liking to Kealoha’s version of Lilo and the movie’s attempt to deepen Nani’s character.
Our Take On These Lilo & Stitch Changes
Camp Has A Refreshing Understanding Of The Live-Action And Animation Distinction
The film industry is currently overloaded with poorly done remakes that try to closely match their animated counterparts. Such is the way with DreamWorks’live-actionHow to Train Your Dragon, whose trailer has received criticism for trying to match its animated counterpart too exactly. It is good that Camp, who has worked on animated and live-action hybrid projects in works likeMarcel the Shell With Shoes On, recognizes the differences between animation and live-action enough to create a live-action adaptation that leans on the benefits of the form rather than forces its way into a direct adaptation. Plus, it helps that he is even more cute and fluffy in theLilo & Stitchremake.
