Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Lilo & Stitch!

Disney's live-action changing characters like Jumba and Gantu is bad enough, the remake also left out an essential part of Lilo's character, proving that the new Lilo & Stitch doesn't understand what made the first film so good.

When compared to some of Disney's other live-action remakes, 2025's Lilo & Stitch is surprisingly faithful to the source material. There aren't any major expansions on the story as there were in Snow White or The Little Mermaid, and the characters actually look like the characters they are meant to represent, unlike The Lion King. Unfortunately, most of Lilo & Stitch's adaptational changes come in the form of cutting material from the original film. While the major story beats are all here, the remake cuts many moments that are vital to the themes and character arcs.

Lilo & Stitch's Live-Action Remake Left Out A Critical Detail About Lilo's Parents

It Doesn't Explain How They Died

In both versions of Lilo & Stitch, Lilo is raised by her older sister Nani. In the original film, the whereabouts of Lilo's parents are barely touched on, with their deaths only being hinted at. The parents are mentioned a lot more in the live-action remake, with pictures of their parents being shown. Jumba even goes to the bedroom of Lilo's parents in the climax of the film, showing that the remake is attempting to make their deaths a more emotionally resonant element.

However, the remake fails to reveal how Lilo and Nani's parents died. In the animated Lilo and Stitch, one scene has Lilo tell Stitch that her parents died in a car crash due to bad weather. This detail is left out of the live-action film, leaving what caused their deaths a mystery. It isn't known why the remake decided to cut this scene, but it does prove that the filmmakers behind the remake fundamentally misunderstood why this detail was important.

Lilo's Parents Dying During A Storm Directly Connects To Why She Feeds Pudge

It Is A Coping Mechanism For Lilo

Early in Lilo & Stitch, Lilo is seen swimming in the ocean. She feeds a fish a sandwich, with her later explaining this tradition to her Hula teacher. Lilo feeds a fish named Pudge sandwiches because, as she puts it, Pudge "controls the weather." She seems to be wanting to keep Pudge happy, explaining why she goes to great lengths to find something besides tuna to make the sandwich out of.

This detail initially seems like nothing more than a little girl's imagination running wild. However, it makes more sense when Lilo later reveals her parent's fates. Lilo's parents died due to bad weather, so Lilo's belief that she can control a fish who controls the weather is clearly a coping mechanism. She still isn't over her parents' deaths, and this detail proves how deeply the deaths have affected her. In the remake, however, the Pudge controlling the weather detail is still included. Without an explanation of their deaths, this gag has no thematic purpose.

Why Lilo & Stitch's Change Is So Disappointing

It Proves That The Film Doesn't Understand Why The Original Was So Good

The Lilo & Stitch remake leaving this detail out proves that, despite attempting to make a more emotionally poignant movie, it doesn't understand why the original was so emotional in the first place. The undercutting of the Pudge line is just one example of how the remake over and over again uses the iconography of the original Lilo & Stitch, but misunderstands the purpose behind the iconography.

In the original, Jumba starts out as a villain, but his acceptance into Lilo's family reinforces the themes of the film. In the remake, Jumba stays a villain. In the original, Lilo is interested in the tourists and Elvis music because they make her feel like a foreigner in her own home. In the remake, Lilo still likes Elvis, but this thematic idea is completely absent. In the original, Nani sings "Aloha 'Oe" to Lilo because the government taking Lilo away is symbolic of the United States destroying families when it colonized Hawaii. In the Lilo & Stitch remake, Nani giving Lilo over to the state is the happy ending.