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I was already excited to see Disney’s remake of Lilo & Stitch, especially after that cute Stitch-filled trailer that showed just how great the computer-generated parts should jive with the live-action, and make it feel real. Director Dean Fleischer Camp provided some potential insight on how that happened, and it involved an adorable “stuffie” routine Maia Kealoha had before leaving the set each day.
Kealoha has already gotten rave reactions for how she channels Lilo in interviews, and a new story about her working on the set makes the speculation pretty much undeniable. Camp revealed in the latest issue of CinemaBlend’s sister magazine SFX that he made sure his actress had an actual “Stitch” to work alongside, and they developed a real bond during filming:
I was pretty passionate that Maia would need something to act opposite. Obviously, when you’re spending money on a movie, everyone goes, ‘Oh, could she just act with a tennis ball if we’re going to be replacing Stitch entirely?’ It just felt like this was the heart of the movie and she needed to have a proper scene partner… So we were, like, ‘Get him out of the truck and get him on the rig’, and she’d give him a kiss goodnight. It was very sweet.
That’s about the cutest thing I’ve ever heard, and if anyone on the Lilo & Stitch production crew grumbled about having to get the puppet out of storage for that, shame on them! It’s just more evidence that this movie was created by people who have a lot of care for the original, though I suspected as much when they mimicked the classic Disney trailers promoting the movie.
Of course, I don’t think there was any denying Lilo & Stitch was going to have heart. The original was acclaimed for that, and remains a fan-favorite Disney movie to this day. The question that surrounds every remake of a Disney original is how will it differentiate itself from the animated version?
There’s a valid question about whether it actually needs to be in the company’s eyes, as making a one-for-one copy of the version already available with a Disney+ subscription feels like a safe move. Ultimately, I think that everyone wants to see a lifelike version of Stitch run around and cause mayhem with a bunch of live-action actors. And behind-the-scenes stories like these make me very excited for what will play out onscreen.
Perhaps I’m asking the wrong question about an upcoming kids movie. I should be asking how kids will respond to seeing Maia Kealoha interact with Stitch, and how many will desperately hope to get their own pet alien to go on adventures with. Obviously, I think some adults get caught up in their own nostalgia being tapped in Hollywood, and they forget about the generation of children who might not have seen the movie yet. I’m sure my kid will be a fan regardless of box office earnings and whether it was a necessary remake.
Lilo & Stitch is officially hitting the movie release schedule on May 23rd.