Ever since 2002, the modus operandi of Stitch, aka Experiment 626, has been to cause carnage. Lilo & Stitch saw the whirlwind blue alien crash to Earth with nefarious intent – before forming an unlikely friendship with Hawaiian girl Lilo, and learning the true meaning of ‘Ohana’. The film that became the Disney equivalent of a cult classic – and now, after several spin-off films and series, as well as a deluge of merchandise, Lilo & Stitch gets the live-action treatment from Marcel The Shell With Shoes On director Dean Fleischer Camp, looking to capture that controlled chaos in a different medium.
Make no mistake: Stitch will be as unruly as ever in this new take. “If you re-watch the original, he is literally just using Lilo as a human meat-shield for the first half,” Fleischer Camp points out. But Stitch’s ratio of ‘good’ to ‘bad’ has to be carefully calibrated, especially in live-action. His particular brand of mischief is akin to “a toddler putting something in their mouth”, the director says. “He’s leading with curiosity, and all he knows is destruction.”
On set, the dynamic between Maia Kealoha, who plays Lilo, and her cobalt co-star was far more civil. Kealoha worked opposite a Stitch puppet on set to build the bond between the characters – and found him as adorable as you’d expect. “Even on days when we weren’t shooting them in the same scene together, she would insist on giving him a kiss goodnight,” the director remembers. Get ready to fall in love with Stitch (and Lilo) all over again.
Read Empire’s full story on Lilo & Stitch – speaking to Dean Fleischer Camp about bringing the story into a new medium – in the Jaws At 50 issue. Pre-order a copy online here. Lilo & Stitch comes to UK cinemas on 21 May.