The recently-released live-action remake Lilo & Stitch replaces the original's Captain Gantu with another iconic character as the primary antagonist, a decision filmmakers discussed in an interview. As director Dean Fleischer Camp notes, a lot of Lilo & Stitch's story is miscommunications between well-meaning characters. Lilo & Stitch is about sisters Nani (Sydney Agudong) and Lilo (Maia Kealoha) trying to stay together after their parents' deaths when they adopt alien Stitch (Chris Sanders), who they are unaware is being hunted by galactic law enforcement.

Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) and Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) have their own goals, but their primary aim of capturing Stitch before he destroys Hawaii is reasonable. A lot of the conflict simply comes from this storyline overlapping with Nani trying to convince social services that she is a suitable guardian for Lilo. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fleischer Camp commented on splitting up Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance) and social worker Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere) because the latter better represents "those stakes in a credible way." Wanting to foster the emotional stakes is also why Gantu was cut. Check out an excerpt from EW below:

That ultimately led to Gantu's omission from the new film. "One of the things I loved about the original is that up until Gantu arrives, there is no villain that is just a villain," Fleischer Camp continues. "Gantu arrives and it turns into a more conventional movie. I thought there was a nice opportunity here for [Jumba] to turn and become the villain in the third act."

He adds, "To create real estate for all that emotional stuff and the deepening that we did, you have to get rid of stuff. And so Gantu was a casualty of that, but one that I felt pretty confident about from a storytelling perspective."

Thus, 2025's Lilo & Stitch cuts Gantu and makes Jumba the unequivocal villain, who goes so far as to kidnap Lilo with Stitch in the final act. Aside from the audience's emotional attachment to the previous iteration of his character, turning Jumba into the villain worked with the movie's themes of family, because he is a "father figure" as Stitch's creator. Read the further EW excerpt below:

That made Jumba the natural choice, particularly because it would allow the film to further amplify its themes of family and community. "Jumba is a father figure," [Producer Jonathan] Eirich notes. "A terrible delinquent father figure, but father figure nonetheless to Stitch. So, it did feel like, 'Oh, maybe that could actually give even more resonance to the third act.' We started down the path with no Gantu, just seeing where it was going to lead. If it didn't lead anywhere, we would've probably come back and put it back in the movie, but it did feel really fertile from a story perspective."

Adds Fleischer Camp, "You want your main antagonist to also be the representative of the theme of the film. It seemed like an opportunity to do that as opposed to just there's a big bad boss that comes down and is shooting lasers at everyone."

"We know Lilo would sacrifice herself for Stitch, and we know Stitch would sacrifice for himself for Lilo," says Eirich. "But the notion of this thing that came into your world and destroyed it, that you would actually do something heroic to save Stitch instead of just Lilo was a really impactful moment and a beautiful new moment."

What This Means For Lilo & Stitch

Jumba's Character Isn't The Deciding Factor In The Movie's Success

Jumba and Pleakley took the brunt of the complaints about how Lilo & Stitch was remade; Jumba and Pleakley's live-action designs didn't garner great reactions, and it is a bit of a let-down to watch Jumba fall from grace as the story comes to life in another medium. However, just as Jumba and Pleakley's appearances haven't really hampered the movie's reception because what's important is that Stitch looks good in live-action, the pros and cons of Jumba's different characterization aren't going to make or break things.

Adding in another character might have made Lilo & Stitch too unwieldy, especially when the filmmakers wanted to develop entirely original characters like Mrs. Kekoa and Tūtū (Amy Hill) to bolster Nani and Lilo's storyline. However, those who see the comments on Jumba being a "father figure" might get this theme better. It is an interesting take on the underpinnings of Lilo & Stitch and adds to the tensions as the various characters figure out what is best for their familial relationships.

Our Take On Dean Fleischer Camp's Comments On Jumba

We'll Miss Original Jumba, But We Came To See Lilo & Stitch

The director and producer's comments put the "new Jumba" in an intriguing light, but ultimately, people are buying tickets for Lilo & Stitch to watch Stitch be a chaos gremlin and he and Lilo be cute together. The ways that new human characters are incorporated, Nani's arc is expanded, and Lilo & Stitch's ending is changed are the more interesting alterations that elevate the main trio, which we are most invested in. While many people will enjoy the new movie for what it is, I will always hold original Jumba in my heart, and can compartmentalize how he is portrayed in 2025's movie.

Source: Entertainment Weekly