Live action Stitch already retouched by an animation pro

Disney is preparing a Lilo & Stitch film with the little alien designed and animated digitally, surrounded by real actors.

“Not blue enough…” “too much fur…” “with ears that are too small…” Barely teased, the return of Stitch – animated this time in 3D – has been the subject of multiple comments, not always complimentary.

At the house of Firstwhile we remain cautious in seeing Disney continue its enterprise of remaking its entire animation catalog in live action, we have been rather conquered by the makeover of this funny (and devastating) little alien, who will have the voice of his creator, in the original version: Chris Sanders. Here is the video unveiled this weekend to the public of D23, the convention organized by the studio with the big ears to tease its big upcoming projects, loaded with teasers the new Lilo & Stitchin live action, this time.

Lilo and Stitch director frustrated by Frozen's success

Stitch's new design has sparked multiple reactions, and it was even retouched, this weekend, by an animation pro. RJ Palmer's job is to create character designs for animated films and/or video games – he has notably worked on Detective Pikachuas he explains in the same thread – and he allowed himself to make small adjustments to Stitch.

“I might be the only one, but I don't find Stitch's design realistic enough to make him look like a real animal, he writes on X with on the left an original image from the future Disney film and on the right another, animated one, with his own modifications. Its proportions aren't stylized enough to fully work, much like the live action Sonic. I tweaked it quickly to demonstrate my idea.”

Also sharing a non-animated version of the same comparison drawing, he continues:

“I think the biggest problem is his overall build and the fact that his hands are too small. I'm sure that for this design, they had to spend a whole year of validations with the producers, so I don't want to add to it: I did it just for fun, I don't want to hurt the artists who work on this film.”

So, does Stitch deserve some touch-ups before his return to the cinema, this time in a live-action film? The team has time to modify him, even if his design is still less scary than that of the “Ugly Sonic” initially shown to the public before Paramount imposed a radical change in appearance before its theatrical release, following strong reactions from Internet users.

It's director Dean Fleischer Camp, known for the excellent Marcel the shell (with his shoes) – who will be behind the camera of Lilo & Stitch. Chris Sanders, co-director of the original 2002 film with Dean DeBlois, is no longer directing, as he is wrapping up The Wild Robot for Dreamworks. He will, however, return to dub the main character, while his accomplice works on another live adaptation of an animation classic: Dragons.

The very young actress Maia Kealoha has been chosen to play Lilo Pelekai, the Hawaiian girl who befriends the alien Stitch, Sydney Agudong (On My Block) will be his big sister Nani, Zach Galifianakis (Very Bad Trip) will voice the alien who creates the little hero, Dr. Jumba, Billy Magnussen (Road House) will be Agent Pleakey, sent across the galaxy to find Stitch. Courtney B. Vance (Lovecraft Country) will be the social worker in charge of protecting the girl, and Tia Carrere (Wayne's World), who voiced Nani in the original cartoon, will this time take on the role of Miss Kekoa. Jason Scott Lee will return to voice David Kawena and Amy Hill (The Cat in the Hat) will be Tutu.

Lilo & Stitch The new version is expected to hit theaters in May 2025.

Chris Sanders – The Wild Robot: “Dreamworks is the best place to do animation”