Movies

Controversy Erupts Over Disney’s Live-Action Lilo & Stitch Remake!

BBG News

Prior to its release in cinemas, the children’s film titled “Lilo & Stitch,” which revolves around an extraterrestrial who ends up residing with a Hawaiian household, has sparked numerous critical remarks from adults.

Critics have raised concerns about the casting choices and character adaptations in the upcoming theater release of the live-action reboot based on the popular 2002 film, set for May 23.

Here’s an overview of the feedback on the movie thus far, along with reasons that Disney remains optimistic about its success despite the criticisms.

The casting of Lilo’s sister

In both versions of these films, we follow the story of a young girl named Lilo (Maia Kealoha in the live-action version), who’s feeling quite lonely and yearns for a friend. She believes she’s adopted a canine from the shelter, but this isn’t your ordinary dog – it’s actually an extraterrestrial, Stitch, who managed to escape his home planet. Caring for a pet is already a challenge, and as Lilo and her elder sister Nani (Sydney Agudong) struggle to teach this peculiar creature manners, they find themselves growing closer as a family.

2002’s “Lilo & Stitch” is often seen as a significant breakthrough due to the underrepresentation of Pacific Islanders and Hawaiians in major Hollywood films. As BuzzFeed’s Morgan Sloss expressed in an article discussing the movie’s debates, “As a Polynesian woman myself, I can attest that it was the first mainstream portrayal I encountered growing up.

Actress Maia Agudong, known for portraying the role of Nani in the live-action movie, is a multiracial individual who grew up on the beautiful island of Kaua’i in Hawaii. However, when Disney revealed her casting, some critics suggested that Agudong appeared to have lighter skin tone compared to her animated character, and they believed Disney should have considered an actress with darker complexion for the role of Nani.

When Agudong shared a preview of the movie on Instagram in August 2024, she expressed excitement by saying, “My heart is bursting! It’s finally happening!! We accomplished it, Hawaii!!!”, and another user commented below, “You, who appear light-skinned and white, took this role away from a woman who looks visibly Hawaiian with darker skin tone.

A controversial actor

Not long after Disney suggested Kahiau Machado for the role of David Kawena, who is Nani’s romantic interest in the film, images from his social media surfaced showing him using derogatory racial terms.

Twitter user @ctrlcentered found a Spotify playlist in which Machado appeared to use the N-word. 

According to Inside the Magic, he once likened himself to civil rights icon Rosa Parks in a since-removed Instagram post.

Initially, the part that was assigned to David was given instead to Kaipo Dudoit, a performer who had previously been seen in the movies “My Partner” from 2023 and “Magnum Pi” from 2020. In the upcoming 2025 Lilo & Stitch, he will make his debut as the lead actor in a feature film for the first time.

A cross-dressing character removed

In the 2002 film, an alien character named Agent Pleakley, who hails from Stitch’s planet, travels to Earth on a mission to find Stitch. To fit in, he decides to wear female clothing.

However, in the 2025 trailer, Pleakley, portrayed by Billy Magnussen, and his partner Jumba, played by Zach Galifianakis, appear to be simply two individuals dressed in typical men’s attire.

Some viewers find it disheartening that Pleakley, who was known as a “drag icon” according to Mike Reyes’ article on Cinema Blend, won’t be in the upcoming movie. Some fans speculate that the decision to exclude the cross-dressing character might have been made to make the film more acceptable to a broader audience.

User “darzipan” posted a tweet stating: “Pleakley assuming a human form, not cross-dressing, is indicative of growing authoritarianism,” which garnered over 215,000 likes on X.

As a passionate cinephile, I recently came across a post by user @Angel_Valderie on X that garnered over 143,000 likes. The post expressed concern about the decision made by Disney to replace Pleakley’s alien attire with human suits, arguing that this change was detrimental because it caters to transphobes.

On TikTok, the director of Lilo & Stitch, Dean Fleischer Camp, addressed fans’ questions about why Pleakley isn’t wearing a dress in the trailer. He admitted, “I honestly made an attempt. I truly did.” To illustrate his point, he showed a drawing of Pleakley featuring long, flowing red hair and dressed in a skirt and women’s sandals.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Camp shared that he explored the use of special effects depicting aliens wearing human attire, but found the outcome unappealing. He explained, “The humor of these aliens strolling around Hawaii while donning these atrocious disguises, where Pleakley still sports one eye, it’s a bit trickier to accept in live-action.

What the criticisms could mean at the box office

Despite the critiques, there’s a lot of interest in the live-action movie.

Disney announced that the trailer garnered 158 million views, making it the second highest viewed live-action trailer in their history, trailing behind the 2019 trailer for The Lion King.

In simple terms, Disney announced that their 2025 Super Bowl commercial for the movie, which included Stitch playing football on the field and driving a cart into the goal post, garnered over 173 million views in just one day, setting a new record as Disney’s most popular digital advertisement.

2002 saw the release of “Lilo & Stitch” at a point when Disney animated features were struggling in sales. At the time, Richard Corliss, TIME’s movie critic, praised it as a “bright and engaging trinket,” complimented its “sharp storytelling,” and predicted that this new Disney film would be an old-fashioned, hand-drawn success. As an admirer, I couldn’t agree more with his assessment!

Indeed, the movie raked in over $273 million globally, surpassing Disney’s predictions, and it even earned a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards.

Since the animated movie was a huge hit at the box office, Disney is optimistic that the live-action adaptation will also prove popular.

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2025-05-22 16:13

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