Disney Found a Shortcut to a Viral Hit, but the Joke Just Didn’t Deliver

I don’t want to be mean. I don’t like being the Negative Nancy (sorry to the Nancys…nothing personal!). I want to give Disney a chance! But, at this point, I’ve given Disney about…20 chances. Enough is enough.

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If you love a live-action remake, you might not like what I am going to say. My arguments are probably not any different than what people are saying in Disney’s comment section. But after the latest live-action Lilo & Stitch promotion came out online, I had to say something. Where do we draw the line?!

At this point, we all know what Disney is doing. We know live-action remakes are a way to repackage existing intellectual property while delivering something “new” for audiences. It’s a safe way to make new movies — Disney already KNOWS it’s going to be a hit…because it already exists.

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Sure, I am guilty of imagining who would play the perfect Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. But I’m getting tired of the same copy/paste formula for every new remake. What are you proving by making (another) live-action Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs movie? That you can modernize a story from 1937 with CGI dwarfs? Do those seven CGI characters look as charming and endearing as their 2D animated counterparts? Can you really even tell which dwarf represents Sneezy in this photo?

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But I’m getting off-topic. What I came here to talk about is actually the live-action Lilo & Stitch remake. Disney recently released a new teaser trailer for the movie, and (maybe I’m alone in thinking this, so please let me know your thoughts) it felt soulless to me.

Long live the…King? #LiloAndStitch, coming to theaters May 23, 2025. pic.twitter.com/4QWeClJkHw

— Walt Disney Studios (@DisneyStudios) December 18, 2024

The trailer is a clear rip of the early-2000s “Inter-Stitch-als” Disney made to promote the original Lilo & Stitch animated movie. There was the time Stitch crashed Aladdin…

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…The Little Mermaid…

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…Beauty and the Beast…

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…and The Lion King. Back when these debuted, I remember my tiny mind being BLOWN by the idea that Stitch found his way into other movies. It was like breaking the fourth wall. It was creative, memorable, and (this is important) FUNNY!

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But this time around, it wasn’t funny. CGI Stitch is cute. It’s just that his “realistic” movements and facial expressions feel stiff in comparison to the 2D animated version. Plus, the crossover joke already exists, so this is just a (sorry to be harsh) lazy recreation trying to promote two upcoming live-action movies at the same time (a live-action Mufasa movie premiers December 20th). The nostalgia play is getting old.

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When I say the live-action Stitch feels stiff, this is what I mean. Have you ever heard the old joke, “Never pause an animated Disney movie?” It’s because you might end up paused on a frame that looks something like this. Where the actions defy the normal laws of gravity and facial elasticity. When you’re watching the movie, you don’t see poor Cobra Bubbles like this. But the action is big, dramatic, and intentional — animators deliberately DREW this. Live-action Cobra Bubbles can’t have this kind of reaction when a computer-animated character throws a book at his face, and doesn’t that kind of suck the fun out of the movie?

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Honestly, I’m tired. I want Disney to wake me up! I want fresh new ideas. I want the kind of magic Disney created when it made Enchanted. Can we go back to that, please?

Hot Take Ahead It’s Officially Time for Disney to Bench Stitch

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The post Disney Found a Shortcut to a Viral Hit, but the Joke Just Didn’t Deliver first appeared on the disney food blog.

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