The live-action Lilo & Sтιтch remake has finally arrived, and it continues a tragic Disney villain trend that has hurt six remakes. 2025’s Lilo & Sтιтch has been subject to lots of criticism online, with many fans of the original claiming that it has made a ton of unnecessary changes to the 2002 classic. Nani’s arc is completely different, the film has an alternate ending, and Jumba is the main villain. These are just some of the many changes that Lilo & Sтιтch made. However, one of the worst changes isn’t shocking, as it has happened in several other remakes.

Disney’s trend of making live-action remakes is an odd one, as they tend to make tons of money despite their divisive nature. Generally, critics aren’t big fans of the Disney live-action remakes, while fans of the source material also tend to not like them. Despite this, Disney’s live-action remakes are box office hits that spawn sequels and reignite their respective franchises. This could simply be due to theater-goers being nostalgic for the originals and wanting to share their favorite Disney movies with their kids. However, changes like these make the remakes more upsetting than nostalgic.

Lilo & Sтιтch’s Live-Action Remake Left Out The Original Movie’s Main Villain

Captain Gantu Is Replaced By Jumba

One of the most shocking changes in the live-action Lilo & Sтιтch remake is that it completely left out Captain Gantu. Gantu is the main villain in the original film, with him being sent to apprehend Sтιтch after Jumba and Pleakley fail. Gantu is nowhere to be seen in the remake, with Jumba instead acting as the film’s main villain. Not only does this mean that one of the best characters isn’t featured at all, but it also means that the remake had to mᴀssacre Jumba, twisting his arc so he could serve as the main antagonist.

The director of Lilo & Sтιтch has already explained Gantu’s absence, with him stating that Gantu was difficult and expensive to pull off in live-action. However, this isn’t an excuse. It only highlights how pointless these live-action remakes are. If filmmakers are more constrained, Disney has to spend more money, and the project turns out worse, there is no need to make these live-action remakes. Gantu is far from the only victim of this, as tons of other Disney villains have been completely altered by their respective live-action remakes.

Disney’s Live-Action Remakes Have A Bad History Of Changing The Villain

They’re Almost Always Worse

While making mᴀssive changes to the villains isn’t a staple of every Disney live-action remake, it has happened to plenty of the films. Maleficent, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, Cruella, and now Lilo & Sтιтch have all suffered from this. Maleficent paints a more sympathetic picture of Disney’s ultimate villain, and while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the films don’t include her epic dragon form. Aladdin makes Jafar a much weaker villain, with his genie form and other magical abilities being downplayed when compared to the animated version.

The Lion King and Mufasa: The Lion King make Scar a much weaker villain. Not only is “Be Prepared” completely butchered in the 2019 remake, but the prequel makes jealousy over Sarabi Scar’s main motivation. Mulan cuts Shan Yu and instead replaces him with a boring warrior named Böri Khan and a forgettable witch named Xianniang. Finally, Cruella makes the тιтular Cruella de Vil not a villain at all, with her being a sympathetic take on a puppy killer.

Disney’s Remakes Changing The Villains Is Often Unnecessary

Lilo & Sтιтch Is The Latest Victim

It can be argued that Maleficent and Cruella‘s villain changes are ok, as the films are trying to offer a new take on the original films. For the rest of these, however, changing the villains is often unnecessary. The changes to Scar and Jafar come down to poor writing, while Mulan completely overhauled the original story and Lilo & Sтιтch couldn’t make Gantu work in live-action. All of these are poor excuses for butchering the animated classics, and Lilo & Sтιтch is just the latest victim of this.