The Disney live action remake machine rolls on, even as we studiously ignore Snow White because life is short and who has time for all that?

Pictured – us studiously ignoring Snow White

 

But after that cursed movie there is the live-action remake of Lilo & Stich and…yeah, that’s probably going to work. The trailer for Lilo & Stitch dropped yesterday, and Stitch looks madcap and adorable, a winning combination for family-oriented films. 

 

Lilo & Stitch originally came out in 2002, and it did okay at the time, making $273,147,061 globally, which wasn’t bad for a post-peak Disney animated movie (that’s over $484 million in today’s money). But in the two decades since Lilo & Stitch debuted, it’s become quite beloved, boosted by a Disney channel cartoon show, the appeal of a non-white, non-traditional family, and Stitch’s immense gif-ability. I was twenty when Lilo & Stitch came out, so I have no childhood nostalgia for it, but I know Stitch best as a common reaction gif of the early social media age in the 2000s. And of course, “Ohana means family” transcended the film and became a catchphrase for cousins trying to guilt trip you into doing something shady for them.

 

Also, the new film comes from Marcel the Shell with Shoes On director Dean Fleischer Camp, and if anyone can find real heart in Disney IP maintenance, it’s him. And the trailer looks cute, with “real” Stitch being appropriately weird and gross and rambunctious. As for the people, Lilo is now played by Maia Kealoha, her older sister Nani is played by Sydney Agudong, and Chris Sanders, who created the character of Stitch, returns to voice the alien critter. The rest of the cast includes Zach Galifianakis, Courtney B. Vance, Hannah Waddingham, Billy Magnusson—did he get this rather than that proposed Aladdin spin-off?—and Tia Carrere stars as Mrs. Kekoa, a social worker, after originally voicing Nani in the animated film. That’s a solid bunch of people in front of and behind the camera, the film itself looks cute, and Maia Kealoha is winsome as hell as Lilo. 

 

But don’t worry, there’s controversy to be had here, too, as Sydney Agudong’s casting sparked a colorism debate. Nani was originally drawn with dark skin and Indigenous Hawaiian features, but Agudong, who was born and raised in Hawaii and claims Polynesian ancestry, has lighter skin and more European features. In the trailer, it does look like she’s spray-tanned within an inch of her life, which is not a great look. Perhaps Sydney will blow everyone away with her performance and be embraced as Nani, but when will filmmakers learn that if you have to darken an actor’s skin for a role, you’ve taken a wrong turn?

 

Many fans, though, are overlooking the colorism issue because Lilo and Stitch look so cute in the trailer. 

This is what a good trailer will get you. Not unlike my willingness to overlook the pointlessness and cash-grabby nature of these live-action remakes—which often feature extensive computer animation—for the sake of a realistic Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon, the convincing appearance of “real” Stitch and Maia Kealoha’s appeal is countering the colorism issue surrounding Nani. Whether or not it SHOULD is another question, but after the nightmare of Snow White, which is cutting back on premiere press due to its many controversies, Disney is probably glad to have a mostly positive reaction to this trailer. And if the movie makes money, it justifies its own existence, because that is the reason we’re all here, for Disney to make money.