There’s been a lot of chatter about Lilo & Stitch’s new interpretation on the 2025 movie schedule. No one can ever tell what sort of changes will be made in a flesh and blood translation, which is probably why the trailer for this upcoming Disney live-action movie had people asking a lot of questions.
One of the hottest topics on people’s minds is the big changes to the character of Agent Pleakley; a subject that director Dean Fleischer Camp has once again addressed - but with some solid reasoning in his corner. As the Marcel the Shell with Shoes On helmer spoke with EW about the decision process behind Billy Magnussen’s new spin on the character, he provided this insight:
The humor of them walking around Hawaii dressed in these terrible disguises where Pleakley still has one eyeball, it's a little harder to buy in live action. … If you have Jumba and Pleakley in alien disguises, then you're going to have to shortchange how much development work you can do on Stitch and these other elements.
While I’m still bummed over the previous comments on Lilo & Stitch changes from Dean Fleischer Camp, it looks like this change didn’t stem from any sort of attempt to avoid outrage or controversy. If anything, the dreaded “B” word seems to come into play here: “Budget.” Sure, what we know about Lilo & Stitch comes with an estimated production budget of $100 million - which isn’t anything to sneeze at.
That being said, it’s not as much as the studio has spent on previous live-action re-telllings. It appears that the choice in this equation was to either spread the love when developing the various CGI creatures involved, or to focus on making the best Stitch possible.
Considering how audiences would have revolted if the alien half of this Disney+ subscription catalogue favorite’s title was less than perfect, that choice really was a no-brainer. Just imagine the “Ugly Sonic” scenario from the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and multiply that by the love and passion Disney fans hold in their hearts.
However, Dean Fleisher Camp did provide some further relief as to how much of Zack Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen’s CGI avatars we’ll be seeing:
It's not that they're not aliens in the movie. You definitely see Jumba and Pleakley in their alien forms through a lot of the movie, but they are in human skin suits for part of it.
Clearly there are a lot of moving pieces that were at work when it came to Lilo & Stitch’s new lease on cinematic life. It’s comforting that the choice to keep Jumba and Pleakley in actual human disguises seems to have come from a monetary standpoint, and nothing else. The end result of that plot line, as well as all of the other changes made in this picture, will be available for all to see on May 23rd, only in theaters.
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