This article contains spoilers for Lilo & Stitch.
2025 sees the release of two Disney live-action remakes from two polar opposite ends of the spectrum. On the one hand is Snow White, a remake of Walt Disney’s first animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which faced backlash from seemingly every corner of the internet and bombed at the box office. On the other end was Lilo & Stitch, a remake of a relatively modern Disney animated film that will likely be one of the year’s biggest movies, thanks to Stitch’s popularity. A common point of comparison between the two films was that “Lilo & Stitch honored the original, and Snow White didn’t.”
Yet now that both films have been released, it is shocking that, despite some changes, Snow White seems to pay more respect to the original movie than Lilo & Stitch, which makes significant changes to the characters, story, and even iconic scenes. Yes, the CGI on Stitch is better than all seven dwarfs, but that same praise can’t be extended to Jumba and Pleakley, who look just as off-putting as the CGI in Snow White. Here is how Snow White succeeds while Lilo & Stitch sadly drops the ball, creatively.
‘Lilo & Stitch’ Makes Huge Changes, Leaving us Asking ‘Why?’
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
For the most part, Lilo & Stitch follows the same basic beats as the original 2002 film. It sees an evil alien genetic experiment being taken in by a young girl named Lilo on the island of Hawaii and teaches him to be good. While it is the same basic story on the surface, the movie makes some significant changes to the original that, if Snow White had done, fans would have been making angry videos for months.
The most apparent change in Lilo & Stitch is the lack of Gantu, Captain of the Galactic Federation and the antagonist at the end of the original film and a recurring threat in Lilo & Stitch: The Series. Without Gantu, Lilo & Stitch needed a new third act antagonist that could pose a threat to the titular duo. The film decides to make Jumba Jookiba, Stitch’s creator, a more overt threat and plays up how evil he is. It is unclear if Gantu was cut because the filmmakers decided to make Jumba the new villain or if Gantu was cut first. Either way, it becomes a frustrating creative choice that results in some major character assassination.
While Jumba is an antagonistic force in Lilo & Stitch, he is still a rather humorous character, and the film’s decision to pair him up with Pleakley as a buddy comedy duo goes a long way toward endearing him. Then, when Jumba finally captures Stitch, his experiment quickly convinces him to help him save Lilo in one of the funniest gags in the original film. By the end of the film, Jumba is brought into this new Ohana formed by Stitch, Lilo, and Nani, showing that despite all of his talk about being “an evil genius,” he is, in fact, a good guy. Also worth noting is that even his seeming genius can be debatable, since he has 626 failed genetic experiments.
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The remake, however, decides to play Jumba as a straight villain. He not only captures Stitch but intends to tear him apart to create his next project, Experiment 627. This is the film’s only reference to the Lilo & Stitch mythology, as Jumba’s computer screen shows Experiment 624, aka Angel, and Experiment 625/Reuben. Jumba is a threat to Lilo and is the villain that Lilo and Stitch need to defeat. He is captured by the Grand Council Woman and taken prisoner once again, leaving Pleakley as the sole alien on Earth watching out for Lilo and Stitch. Not only does this characterization of Jumba feel like an unnecessary change, but it also misses the point of the character. At least Snow White didn’t have Bashful turn out to be working for the Evil Queen.
This isn’t to say Lilo & Stitch doesn’t make some good changes. One of the most interesting is the depiction of social services. While the original film is great and shows that Cobra Bubbles is only looking out for Lilo’s well-being, it can’t help but be read as a bit antagonistic to the idea of child protective services. The live-action remake now opts to reframe the concept, with Nani’s social worker now being an original character, Mrs. Kekoa, fittingly played by original Nani voice actress Tia Carrere. Mrs. Kekoa is a far less intimidating figure, and while she is looking out for Lilo, she is also willing to help Nani and show her how to make sure she doesn’t lose Lilo. It is a proper update to the depiction of child protective services, an organization that is looking out for the well-being of children.
However, this change creates a new issue with Cobra Bubbles. Despite cutting Gantu, the film still brings in Cobra Bubbles. Here is a direct CIA agent investigating alien life, whose main objective is to pursue and capture Stitch. He only poses as a social worker alongside Mrs. Kekoa to get close to “the alien.” Cobra Bubbles feels tacked on to the story, and the filmmakers never quite find anything interesting for him to do, which is disappointing since it wastes an actor like Courtney B. Vance.
‘Snow White’ Wasn’t Afraid To Make Necessary Changes
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
As early as 2022, the buzz around Snow White became about how the remake would “ruin the original” by making big changes. This began with the film’s decision to rework Snow White’s romance, which has now moved from a classic prince to an outlaw with a heart of gold. Not only did this seemingly allow Snow White to be a stealth remake of Robin Hood, but it also worked on a story level. Snow White inspires a selfish rogue to be better, showing how her kind heart can persuade others and make the true love’s kiss moment more believable.
Building on true love’s kiss, the movie wisely adds a new climax that makes Snow White a more active participant in her own story. It does so not by adding a big action set piece but by keeping with the main theme of Snow White being a peaceful, loving person and having her ultimate victory come from changing people’s hearts instead of raising arms in combat. These are changes to the original, but ones that successfully build off the classic film’s themes. It respects Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs while also understanding it is an adaptation and must stand on its own.
With Snow White and Lilo & Stitch making such drastic changes to the animated classics, one must wonder why one was treated more harshly. As discussed before, the discourse around Snow White had a great deal of racist rhetoric, fueling the controversy before anyone saw a frame of footage. It was so bad that it permeated every discussion around the film, regardless of whether it was good or not, to be the main topic of conversation. Any significant change was eventually tied back to the movie being “woke.”
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Lilo and Stitch, on the other hand, didn’t have some boogeyman that bad-faith merchants could latch onto in advance the same way they did with Snow White. Gantu’s absence or Jumba’s villainous turn can’t be attributed to being “woke.” Hence, these are story decisions that audiences have to think about instead of just pointing to a made-up DEI threat to justify why they didn’t like something. Thankfully, nobody was mean enough to bully Maia Kealoha, the young child actress playing Lilo, the same way they did Rachel Zegler. Kealoha and Zegler are the main reason their respective remakes work as well as they do.
However, given that Snow White received mixed responses from critics and audiences compared to Lilo & Stitch, it is fair to say it is more than just bad-faith grifters shifting the narrative. Something in Lilo & Stitch works for audiences that Snow White didn’t have.
Why Did ‘Snow White’ Get Criticized More Than ‘Lilo & Stitch’ for These Changes?
Release Date
May 21, 2025
Runtime
108 Minutes
Director
Dean Fleischer Camp
Writers
Chris Kekaniokalani Bright, Mike Van Waes, Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
Producers
Tom C. Peitzman, Dan Lin, Ryan Halprin
There is no doubt that Disney’s marketing campaign for Lilo & Stitch was stronger than Snow White. Snow White never overcame the narrative around the uncanny valley dwarfs. Meanwhile, Lilo and Stitch made the realistic-looking CGI Stitch the selling point of the initial teasers, which went well with audiences. Highlighting Stitch allowed the filmmakers to avoid showing Jumba, Pleakley, or even the lack of Gantu, keeping the primary focus on the titular character. Had Disney plastered Jumba all over the trailers or revealed some of these story changes early on, it likely would have resulted in some backlash, but nothing the adorable Stitch couldn’t overcome.
The other thought might be the dark secret of Disney’s live-action remakes: audiences like seeing the same movie over and over.
Despite seemingly everyone saying they hate live-action remakes, these films tend to make a lot of money. The ones that do the best at the box office are the ones that capture the feeling audiences remember from the original, often recreating specific scenes beat for beat. Some might widely criticize The Lion King remake for adding nothing new, but it won over audiences, earning over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. In contrast, Disney remakes that break away from the conventional aesthetic or craft new stories, like Christopher Robin, Peter Pan & Wendy, and Mulan, tend to be the least watched.
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For all the changes Lilo & Stitch might make, it still features enough iconic lines, songs, and shot-for-shot recreations that fans remember from the original, allowing viewers to get swept up in emotion. Snow White, on the other hand, being based on an older film that many audiences might not be as familiar with as Lilo & Stitch, doesn’t have the benefit of the doubt. Even when it does recreate iconic moments from the original film, it doesn’t elicit the same positive response that seeing a live-action Stitch does.
There is no doubt that both Lilo & Stitch and Snow White take the initial outline from their original films. It is fascinating that Snow White seems to add material to flesh out its story. At the same time, Lilo & Stitch subtracts many elements fans loved from the original, and what it decides to add doesn’t work as well as what was removed.
History will look back on Lilo & Stitch as a box office smash hit and Snow White as one of the studio’s biggest flops. It feels unlikely Snow White will ever be a cult classic (though stranger things have happened), as a movie that looks to remake and reimagine classic Disney animated films, Snow White lives up to the potential and promise of what this enterprise should be. On the other hand, Lilo & Stitch feels like a lesser version of a damn near perfect animated film. It certainly isn’t Disney’s worst live-action remake, but it might be one of the most disappointing. Lilo & Stitch is in theaters now.
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