Why You Didn’t See That One Character In ‘Lilo & Stitch’

Last year, we exclusively reported that the Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch would see the return of the animated film’s original villain, Gantu. However, if you’ve already seen the movie you might have experienced slight shock or confusion over the fact that he is actually nowhere to be found in the film.

Now, we still stand by our original reporting, as the source who fed us that information has been quite accurate in the past. But we’d like to break down some additional details we’ve come across explaining why the character was removed from the final cut of the film.

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Speaking with Cinemablend earlier this month, director Dean Fleischer Camp gave his explanation for the character’s absence. He said that some story changes ultimately led to the decision to remove the character:

“Gantu was one of those things that just didn’t work so well in live action. We explored it a bit, but ultimately we had to make the decision. And also I do stand by the decision ’cause I feel like a lot of the things that in trying to ground these characters more and tell a story with a little more emotional depth, especially between the sisters, I feel like you have to free up real estate to allow that breathing room to do those things.”

While we don’t dispute what Fleischer Camp says, we would like to add that we have heard money was also a factor. With a budget of only $100 million, realistically VFX had to be scaled back. With Gantu being such a large and destructive creature, bringing him to life would have easily put the film in the red.

As of writing this article, a sequel has yet to be officially announced. Given all the material from the original film’s sequels and series Disney could pull from, as well as the film’s astounding box office returns this past weekend, we’d be surprised if Disney didn’t want to continue the duo’s story. If it continues, it’d be a no-brainer to introduce Gantu. But we’ll just have to wait and see…

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Lilo & Stitch, like its animated predecessor, tells the story of “the bond formed between a lonely human girl named Lilo and a dog-like alien named Stitch, who is engineered to be a force of destruction. Pursuing aliens, social workers and the idea of the bond of family figure into the proceedings.”

Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, the film stars Maia Kealoha as Lilo Pelekai, with original Lilo & Stitch writer-director Chris Sanders reprising his voice role as Stitch. It also stars Sydney Agudong, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Magnussen, Hannah Waddingham, and Courtney B. Vance, with original cast members Tia Carrere, Amy Hill, and Jason Scott Lee also appearing.

Lilo & Stitch is in theaters now!