Original Stitch Actor In “Final Talks” To Return For Disney’s Live Action Lilo and Stich Movie

Disney’s remake of Lilo & Stitch has been building up its cast in the last few weeks, but one important role has remained vacant – the voice of Stitch. The lovable, havoc-wreaking alien has become more popular in recent years than when the animated Disney Classic was released back in 2002, and getting the look and voice of the character just right will be a huge part of the film’s success. That could be why Disney seem to be enlisting the help of the animated movie’s co-director and original voice of Stitch Chris Sanders to reprise his role.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Sanders is “in final talks” to bring his vocal talents to Stitch, which would certainly be a boost for the movie after the recent complaints about some of the “light-skinned” casting of the other main roles. The casting process seemed to be doing everything right by bringing in Hawaiian actors such as Sydney Agudong, but immediately drew backlash online for many of the stars not having skin as dark as the original animation.

Sanders has previously provided the voice of Stitch in all English-language appearances of the character, such as in Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, and Leroy & Stitch. Very similar to Andy Serkis’ performance as Gollum in Lord of the Rings, Stitch has an instantly recognisable voice and it is almost impossible to imagine it being done any other way, which is probably why Disney are keen to get Sanders back on board another Stitch project.

Related: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong to Play Nani in Disney’s Live-Action Lilo & Stitch Remake

Tia Carrere Will Also Appear In Lilo & Stitch as a New Character.

While Chris Sanders will be reprising his role in the live-action Lilo & Stitch movie, another original star is also returning in a brand new role. Tia Carrere voiced Nani in the 2002 movie. While Sydney Agudong will be taking on that role in the new version, Carrere will be playing the new character of Mrs. Kekoa in the film.

Very much like Sanders, Carrere has continued to provide the voice of Nani in a number of other projects over the years such as the Lilo & Stitch cartoon series. Bringing back some of the original cast members for live-action remakes has not happened very often, mainly as most of Disney’s recent wave of movies have been based on movies where the original stars are no longer with us. That being said, The Lion King did bring back James Earl Jones as the voice of Mufasa, another role that is hard to imagine being played by anyone else.

While the initial announcement that Lilo & Stitch was joining the brigade of Disney remakes came as a bit of a surprise, it has turned out that the timing could not be more perfect. Stitch has become a cultural phenomenon in the last few years, appearing on all kinds of merchandise from cups to shirts to lamps, and the arrival of the new movie will only give Disney a whole new Stitch image to bring to the market for Stitch-lovers everywhere.

The original animated outings of Lilo & Stitch can be found streaming on Disney+.