Warning: Contains SPOILERS for 2025’s Lilo & Sтιтch!
Disney’s live-action remake of Lilo & Sтιтch is finally here, and I can’t believe what the film did to Jumba Jookiba. Jumba is one of the main characters in the original Lilo & Sтιтch, with him being the mad scientist behind Sтιтch’s creation who later travels to Earth with Pleakley in order to get him back. Jumba plays a similar role in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch remake, but the film unfortunately makes a lot of changes to him, almost all of which are for the worse.
When compared to Disney’s other live-action remakes, Lilo & Sтιтch is arguably the closest to its original in spirit. While it is far from perfect, it maintains the same tone and small scale of the original film. It doesn’t attempt to make its animated characters into hyper-realistic CGI animals, like The Little Mermaid or The Lion King, and it doesn’t attempt to make the film more epic, like Maleficient or Snow White. However, Lilo & Sтιтch still has a lot of problems, with it making a lot of changes that don’t serve the story. Sadly, Jumba is the biggest victim of this.
Lilo & Sтιтch’s Live-Action Jumba Is Totally Different
Based On His Voice, Appearance, & Role In The Story
Zach Galifianakis plays Jumba in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch, and he is entirely different. In the original Lilo & Sтιтch, David Ogden Stiers performs Jumba with a Russian accent. This, combined with his unique pattern of speech and tendency to reference himself in the third person gave Jumba an incredibly unique voice. Unfortunately, the live-action movie completely gets rid of this, with Jumba just sounding like Zach Galifianakis.
To make things worse, Jumba just looks like Zach Galifianakis too. Early in the film, Jumba and Pleakley get human disguises. Rather than just wearing human clothes as they do in the animated film, Jumba and Pleakley actually transform into humans. This means that Zach Galifianakis’ real body is Jumba’s on-screen presence for the majority of Lilo & Sтιтch. This change does not make the movie better in any way, with it being difficult not to ᴀssume that this change was made to save money on CGI.
Finally, Jumba has a completely different role in the story of the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch. Jumba’s is the film’s main antagonist, and while he is redeemed in the original film, this is not the case here. Jumba stays evil throughout Lilo & Sтιтch, with him betraying Pleakley and deciding to continue his pursuit of Sтιтch into the third act.
Jumba Being A Villain Completely Changes Lilo & Sтιтch
The Remake Scraps His Redemption Arc
Making Jumba the main villain is one of Lilo & Sтιтch‘s worst changes. The original film is about the redemptive power of family, with Sтιтch turning good and learning how to love thanks to his relationship with Lilo. Jumba is meant to parallel this arc in the original film, with him being redeemed and becoming part of the family at the end of Lilo & Sтιтch. He works with the protagonists in order to stop Gantu and eventually moves in, with him being one of the main protagonists in every other Lilo & Sтιтch story.
Now that Jumba is the main villain of the Lilo & Sтιтch remake, it completely gets rid of the character’s thematic purpose. He is no longer a complex supporting antagonist, with him instead acting as a lazy twist villain who serves as the film’s boring main antagonist. This change also means that, if Lilo & Sтιтch gets any sequels, Jumba won’t be one of the protagonists without some serious changes.
Why Lilo & Sтιтch’s Live-Action Remake Made Jumba A Villain
It May Have To Do With Gantu’s Absence
It hasn’t yet been revealed why the team behind the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch decided to make Jumba the main villain, but it probably has something to do with Gantu. In the original Lilo & Sтιтch, Gantu is the main villain, with him taking over the role after Jumba fails to catch Sтιтch. The 2025 remake decided to cut Gantu entirely, potentially due to the difficulties of getting the giant whale-like alien to work in live-action. Because of this, Jumba was slotted in as the main villain, with this being one of the many changes that made the remake significantly worse than the original Lilo & Sтιтch.
