According to The Hollywood Reporter, continuing on the live action bandwagon, Disney is going to be tapping Mike Van Waes to pen the script for the remake of Lilo & Stitch, that will be produced by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich of Rideback, who are already working on Aladdin.
It is no surprise that Disney is going to continue with these live action reboots, because even when they are uncreative, like Beauty and the Beast, they will make money. People watch for the nostalgia and curiosity factors. So we have new versions of Dumbo, The Lion King, Aladdin, and now Lilo and Stitch to look forward to. I will say it is a bit surprising that Lilo and Stitch has been tapped for this treatment, because it was not super successful upon its initial release, but it has become a beloved property for people my age and younger who grew up with it.
For myself as a young brown girl, I especially loved Lilo and Nani as characters, especially Nani, whose conflict was so human and relatable that even if you take away the alien aspects it is just a fantastic sibling drama. So going forward with this film, I hope Disney uses it as a chance to cast some Native Hawaiian actors, writers, and talent in this project.
Disney has often been called out for its messiness in portraying non-white cultures and a lack of inclusion of people from those backgrounds in the cast. In fact, part of what happened in the original was Tia Carrere and Jason Scott Lee, who are both of Native Hawaiian descent and raised in Hawai’i, added a lot of cultural input to the film to make it more authentic by helping with rewriting the Hawaiian characters’ dialogue into the proper colloquial dialect and adding Hawaiian slang.
I’d highly recommend remaking one of the most entertaining things about the Lilo and Stitch marketing ploy: these amazing ads.
I remember watching these ads as a kid and loving them, especially seeing Stitch steal away Jasmine—because let’s be honest a magic carpet is cool and everything, but a spaceship can cover much more distance in less time. Plus now Jasmine won’t have to worry about messing up her hair.
What made Lilo and Stitch so special was that it was different, so separate from the Disney movies of the time, and it would be a great tragedy if in remaking this film they don’t take it as an opportunity to be more outrageous in a new way. Also, make Jumba and Pleakley an official couple because you played yourselves with that LeFou bullshit and it is time to make amends!
What do you guys think about this news? If we are going to start remaking all of the Disney cult classics can we get a Black Cauldron live-action reboot next?
(via The Hollywood Reporter, image: Disney)
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