The live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch was released in theaters a few days ago. Recently, its director, Dean Fleischer Camp, discussed the film's content and explained the absence of this iconic cartoon character.
Lilo & Stitch: Already a success?
More than 20 years after the Disney animated classic, young Lilo and Stitch are back in theaters, this time in a live-action adaptation. A new version that was entrusted to Dean Fleischer Camp, the director of the excellent Marcel the Shell (with his shoes). The American director offered a solid reinterpretation of the classic Lilo & Stitch, even if this live-action version did not really succeed in renewing the original story.
But overall, the press and spectator feedback is rather good. On the box office side, Lilo & Stitch Stitch has already grossed over $341 million worldwide in less than a week of release.
The Absence of Captain Gantu
Overall, as we said above, the two feature films are very similar. Dean Fleischer Camp has taken the clichés and iconic characters from the animated classic by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders. This is the main criticism leveled at Lilo & Stitch: its too great resemblance to the original film.
However, certain elements differ between the two films. We have even devoted an entire article to this subject. Among these major differences, we should note the absence of Captain Gantu, the main villain of the original film. This giant shark-faced alien added undeniable tension to Lilo & Stitch. He was a menacing enemy with only one goal in mind: stopping Stitch.
Yet, Gantu is absent from Dean Fleischer's Camp remake. A decision that the director justified to CinemaBlend:
Gantu didn't work very well in live action. We explored him a little, but ultimately, we had to make the decision not to use him. I'm happy with that decision. Because in addition to being an aesthetic problem, Gantu diminished the emotional strength of the other characters. I especially wanted to tell a deeper, more emotional story, especially between these two sisters. We had to free up space to develop these emotional springs. And give things time to breathe.
Quite logical justifications from Dean Fleischer Camp. We would still have liked to see what the terrible Captain Gantu would have looked like in live-action. But his absence does not unbalance the story or the plot at all since it is Dr. Jumba Jookiba who takes Gantu's place and becomes the main antagonist of the film. Lilo & Stitch is still available in the best theaters.
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