Walt Disney Studios announced this week that Lilo & Stitch 2, the sequel to its live-action adaptation, will hit theaters in May 2028. The announcement drew immediate backlash from fans who were still frustrated with the first film’s altered ending.
In the original animated movie, Nani keeps custody of Lilo and the two remain together as a family. The remake takes a different approach, with Nani leaving Hawaii to pursue her studies in California and Lilo staying behind to be raised by Tutu, a new character introduced in the live-action version.
While some viewers did not mind the change, many felt it weakened the film’s core “ohana” message, the idea that family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.
That frustration resurfaced after the sequel was announced, with fans adding a community note to Disney’s post calling out the change.
“There is no ohana! With Jumba as a villain and Nani giving Lilo up, it contradicts the whole message of the original,” the note reads. “Additionally, both are major supporting characters in the sequels, and their absence will greatly affect any attempt at a faithful continuation.”
Director Dean Fleischer Camp previously spoke about adapting the original animated movie and addressed the decision to change the ending. He explained to Variety last year:
"There are two larger conversations going on that led us towards that ending. We wanted to expand the meaning of ohana, and ground it in traditional Hawaiian values of collectivism, extended family and community. Chris, who’s Hawaiian, made a really important observation about the original early on in our discussions. He didn’t buy that the two orphan sisters would just be left to fend for themselves. He said, “Neighbors, church groups, aunties and uncles, all these people would step in. That’s just the Hawaii I know and grew up in.” That led him to create this character of Tutu, and she ultimately takes Lilo in as hanai, which is this culturally specific term and tradition that is a form of informal adoption. It isn’t about blood or paperwork, but love and responsibility for the greater good and for one’s community. A lot of Hawaiians who’ve seen the film have picked up on that reference to hanai, and they love that. It’s this uniquely Hawaiian answer to the question of who shows up when things fall apart, and that idea of informal adoption. It shows the broader community’s willingness to sacrifice and do whatever it takes for these girls and for their ohana. I think you can’t satisfy everyone with these remakes. You are treading on hallowed ground when you make one of these, because these are films people grew up with, and I’m one of them, and I totally understand it.
But we didn’t want to just restage the beats of the original film, as much as we both loved it. We wanted to tell a story that’s honest about what it means to lose everything and still find a way forward. People do get left behind, like what Nani says, this is, and it’s incumbent upon the community to make sure that they aren’t forgotten."
Disney has not yet announced a director for Lilo & Stitch 2, and Dean Fleischer Camp has not said if he will return after the first film’s changes failed to land with many fans of the original. Chris Sanders, who wrote and directed the animated Lilo & Stitch, is penning the script, but plot details are still under wraps.
How did you feel about the ending of the live-action Lilo & Stitch movie?