Warning: Spoilers ahead for Lilo & Stitch (2025)

While almost all the characters from Disney's beloved animated classic changes to both the cast and the plot of the original Lilo & Stitch for the remake to feel fresh, and certainly justified in its existence.

One of the biggest changes relates to the movie's primary villain, Captain Gantu, the United Galactic Federation officer who pursues Stitch to Earth on the orders of the Grand Councilwoman. In the original, Gantu actively hated Stitch as an "abomination" that needed to be destroyed, and arrived on Earth with no interest in discretion or preventing collateral damage during his pursuit. The character was completely eliminated for the live-action remake, which completely changed the movie's climax. Whether that was the correct decision is up for debate, but there is a specific reason that the change occurred.

Jumba Largely Replaces Captain Gantu's Role In Lilo & Stitch

Jumba Remains The Primary Villain For The Entirety Of The Film

In the original, Dr. Jumba Jookiba had a similar role as he does in the live-action remake. Labeled as a mad scientist, Jumba is responsible for creating Experiment 626, Stitch, via illegal cloning and genetic experimentation. He is assigned the task of capturing Stitch on Earth as the only creature with any knowledge of Stitch's capabilities and behaviors, similarly to what happens in the live action movie. However, at the end of the animated version, Jumba agrees to help Stitch rescue Lilo from Gantu's ship, and he's much more sympathetic to Stitch's existential dilemma in general.

David Ogden Stiers voiced Dr. Jumba Jookiba in the original movie. The seasoned voice actor was a staple of Disney Animation Studios in the 1990s and 2000s; he had key roles in classics including Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

He has no such change of heart in the live action movie. With Gantu completely removed from the movie, Jumba takes on his role as the alien who finally captures Stitch, and accidentally captures Lilo in the process. Jumba remains a villain throughout the entire movie, never showing any signs of empathy or loyalty to Stitch; in fact, his endgame is to capture Stitch so that he can move forward with a more evil and destructive version that is unable to feel love, Experiment 627.

Why Lilo & Stitch's Live-Action Remake Removed Captain Gantu

Director Dean Fleischer Camp Shed Some Light On His Removal

Gantu's removal is well-justified, and Lilo & Stitch director Dean Fleischer Camp shed some light on his removal in an interview with Cinemablend. Per Camp, including Gantu was explored in the early stages of development, but was not something that the team behind the movie could make work in the greater context of the vision they were looking to communicate.

Gantu was one of those things that just didn't work so well in live action. We explored it a bit, but ultimately we had to make the decision. And also I do stand by the decision 'cause I feel like a lot of the things that in trying to ground these characters more and tell a story with a little more emotional depth, especially between the sisters, I feel like you have to free up real estate to allow that breathing room to do those things.

The most obvious disadvantage to including Gantu in a live-action interpretation is his gargantuan size. While all other characters are roughly human-sized and relatively humanoid-shaped except for Pleakley, Gantu is several stories high, which makes him difficult to even properly frame with a camera. His presence would be jarring set against the rest of the cast, and as Camp mentioned it would take away the more grounded nature of the rest of the story. Add in the fact that the CGI cost would balloon the movie's budget, and Gantu's removal is completely understandable.

Lilo & Stitch Not Including Captain Gantu Was The Right Decision

His Role Was Easily Replaceable And Didn't Add Much

Ultimately, the removal of Gantu was the right call for the live-action remake, as his character was simply not consequential to the original story. While he was the primary villain as the one creature completely focused on capturing Stitch, that role was very easy to replace with a minor change to Jumba's character at the end of the movie. His character was never well-developed and added nothing from an emotional standpoint, and excluding his scenes allowed for more character development elsewhere. Lilo & Stitch never needed Captain Gantu to begin with, so he wasn't missed in the remake.

Source: Cinemablend