Over the weekend, my son and I rewatched the first 30 minutes of Disney’s original Lilo & Stitch from 2002, and something struck me that I hadn’t noticed before; it’s a little weird. I love this movie, and while my favorite clips have stayed with me over the years, I realized that it has actually been a long time since I watched the whole thing in its entirety. It’s interesting how your brain hyper-focuses on the parts I love, and does away with the memory of the weird things that don’t make sense. While recalling what I hold dear about this movie, two clear aspects won me over: the Hawaiian culture and the music.
With a beautiful mix of traditional Hawaiian sounds and Elvis Presley’s unmistakable voice, the sound of this movie has stuck with me for much longer than the outer limits of the storyline. Now, only weeks out from the live-action release of this movie, more than 20 years after the animation, there is a new generation of talent carrying forward the torch of musical excellence. Take a look at this behind-the-scenes peek at how the music we love from the original Lilo & Stitch will be reinvented in the new movie when it debuts May 23rd.
Lilo & Stitch, the wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family, will open exclusively in theaters May 23, 2025. A live-action reimagining of Disney’s 2002 animated classic, Lilo & Stitch is directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, the Oscar®-nominated filmmaker behind the animated feature film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and stars Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Tia Carrere, Hannah Waddingham, Chris Sanders, with Courtney B. Vance, and Zach Galifianakis, and introducing Maia Kealoha. The screenplay is by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes, and the film is produced by Jonathan Eirich, p.g.a. and Dan Lin, with Tom Peitzman, Ryan Halprin, Louie Provost, Thomas Schumacher serving as executive producers.
