Besides a few divisive changes, the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch film has mostly been praised for its adaptation of the animated 2002 movie. Ever since its release on May 23, 2025, reviews for Lilo & Sтιтch have been quite good. These positive reviews, along with the popularity of the characters, led to Lilo & Sтιтch being the most popular movie of the summer.

Throughout its theatrical run, the live-action remake managed to make $1.03 billion at the worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo), becoming the second highest-grossing movie of the year so far. Now, Lilo & Sтιтch is a streaming hit on Disney+. Since the film is finally on streaming, it is the perfect time to revisit one of the most successful live-action Disney remakes ever.

Obviously, everything about the Lilo & Sтιтch remake isn’t perfect. For example, Jumba’s character arc is changed dramatically and Captain Gantu isn’t even included in the movie. Additionally, when it comes to character designs, not everything is exact. Therefore, here are nine Lilo & Sтιтch characters, ranked by how they look in live-action compared to their animated counterparts:

Ice Cream Guy

Even though Ice Cream Guy isn’t a prominent character at all, he is still a memorable part of the original animated movie. Therefore, fans were delighted to learn he would be included in the live-action film, as well. However, it unfortunately seems like the live-action version didn’t even try to replicate his look from the animated movie.

In the 2002 movie, Ice Cream Guy has a mᴀssive sun burn and an incredibly distinctive tank-top tan line. This would have been hilarious to see in live-action, but instead we got an unburnt man who keeps his tank top on. Additionally, instead of eating ice cream, he eats Hawaiian shaved ice in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch, which seems like such an unnecessary change.

Cobra Bubbles

In the animated film, Cobra Bubbles is an intimidating former CIA agent who is determined to find Sтιтch. In the live-action version of the story, Cobra Bubbles is played by Courtney B. Vance. Nothing against Vance’s acting, but he’s just not physically intimidating enough to play a convincing version of Cobra Bubbles, which is why he is near the bottom of this list.

Vance’s version of Cobra Bubbles wears the character’s signature gold earring and can often be seen in a suit, which are both positives. However, Lilo & Sтιтch should have cast a younger and more muscular actor to better mimic the animated version of Cobra Bubbles. Overall, Vance’s version of the character is not nearly as effective as his animated counterpart.

David

Other than Cobra Bubbles, most of the human characters are well cast in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch remake. Kaipo Dudoit is great as David in the live-action version of the film. The actor convincingly plays a Hawaiian fire performer and lifeguard, but it doesn’t seem like they even tried to style his hair in a similar style as the animated version of the character.

In the animated movie, David has slightly longer hair and a middle part, which just so happens to be a popular hairstyle nowadays. Therefore, it would have been nice to see the creative team behind the live-action film try to give Dudoit this hairstyle. Because this isn’t the case, David must be placed near the bottom of this list.

Nani

Actress Sydney Elizebeth Agudong plays Nani in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch remake. In the movie, Nani struggles to watch over both Lilo and her wild new pet, and Agudong perfectly portrays the stress that the character feels throughout the film’s story. However, it must be mentioned that Lilo & Sтιтch faced some controversy when the Nani actress was initially announced.

Even though she was born and raised in Hawaii, Agudong is of Caucasian, Filipino, and Polynesian descent. When she was cast as Nani, many fans pointed out that she has a lighter skin tone than the animated version of the character. Additionally, Nani can often be seen with her hair up in a bun and wearing large gold hoop earrings in the 2025 movie, which was never the case in the animated film.

Grand Councilwoman

Even though she doesn’t have a major role in either the animated or live-action Lilo & Sтιтch movies, the Grand Councilwoman thankfully commands the screen during her scenes in both projects. Overall, the design of the Grand Councilwoman for the live-action film is great, but those who want to nitpick can definitely point out some slight differences.

Firstly, the antler-like accessory that rests on the Grand Councilwoman’s shoulders is smaller and a different shape than it is in the animated movie. Additionally, the live-action movie doesn’t perfectly showcase the darkness in the Grand Councilwoman’s eyes. However, it’s worth noting that these are just minor criticisms that most viewers won’t have a problem with.

Lilo

While there was some controversy about Nani’s casting in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch movie, most fans agree that Hawaiian actress Maia Kealoha is a perfect Lilo. Kealoha was seven years old while she was filming the movie, which is barely older than the six-year-old Lilo. Therefore, she was easily able to play a child who is full of energy and can be quite rebellious at times.

Beyond Kealoha’s excellent portrayal of the character and her clear comedic abilities, Lilo’s outfits in the movie honor the animated film. Specifically, Lilo wears a red T-shirt with white flowers to pay homage to the character’s red and white dress from the animated movie. Overall, while there was always bound to be some differences between live-action and animation, Lilo looks great in the remake.

Pleakley

Another major change from the animated movie is the depiction of Pleakley and Jumba, two aliens sent to Earth to capture Sтιтch. To save money, the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch movie allows these two aliens to disguise themselves as humans during several key scenes. However, when they are in their alien forms, it can’t be denied that their character designs are great.

Focusing first on Pleakley, the live-action version of the character has a slim figure, three fingers on each hand, one eye, and a single antenna on his head, just like in the 2002 film. Additionally, he wears a similar uniform as he does in the animated movie. Therefore, when he is actually in his true alien form, it would be hard to complain about Pleakley’s design in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch remake.

Jumba

Just like Pleakley, when Jumba is not disguised as a human in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch movie, his character design is amazing. Jumba is portrayed as a plump alien with four eyes and a circular nose, just like he is in the animated movie. The remake even got Jumba’s tiny ears right, which sit quite low, closer to his chin rather than at the sides of his head.

The live-action version of Jumba has more hair, rather than just three single strands, but this makes sense to cover up the dark purple portion of his head from the animated movie. Therefore, while some fans disagree with Jumba’s character arc in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch remake, it can’t be denied that the alien’s character design faithfully adapts the original.

Sтιтch

If the design of Sтιтch didn’t look right in the Lilo & Sтιтch remake, it’s practically a guarantee that the movie wouldn’t have been a major success. Sтιтch’s design was by far the most important aspect of the remake, and the creative team thankfully did a fantastic job. Sтιтch practically looks identical to his animated counterpart, which is a huge relief.

In the live-action film, Sтιтch has blue fur, large floppy ears, big black eyes, and is overall just as cute as he is in the animated movie. The live-action film even includes the few strands of hair sticking up at the top of Sтιтch’s head, which is great attention to detail.

Sтιтch’s fur on his stomach and around his eyes is arguably more white than it is in the animated movie, but this doesn’t negatively impact the character design at all. Therefore, the character design for Sтιтch is fantastic in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch remake and perfectly honors the original animated film.