Disney’s Lilo & Stitch is set to debut later this month, and fans are already caught up in the familiar excitement that tends to accompany the House of Mouse’s “live-action” adaptations. Stitch remains a lovable bundle of chaos, Lilo actor Maia Kealoha looks poised to deliver some delightfully unfiltered kids say the darndest things moments, and the film’s embrace of cross-promotion with the Super Bowl and Marvel’s Thunderbolts* are … interesting. However, folks online haven’t been shy about their gripe over the film’s take on Pleakly, a discourse the film’s director is well aware of.
A month ago, Disney dropped the official trailer for Lilo & Stitch, which has since amassed over 15 million views on YouTube. However, the most rewatched moment from the nearly two and a half minute trailer isn’t any of Lilo and Stich’s live action meets CG found family hijinks, but the butt end of the trailer with the film’s antagonists, Stitch’s mad-scientist creator, Dr. Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galafianakis) and his side kick-turned life partner Agent Pleakley (Billy Magnussen).
In the original 2002 movie, Pleakley and Jumba wore disguises to keep their alien appearances a secret from unsuspecting humans as they staked out Stitch. While Jumba did the bare minimum, Pleakley exceeded all expectations, donning wigs and dresses to immerse himself fully in human customs. The choice later led to Pleakley becoming a drag icon amongst Disney viewers, thanks mainly to the Agent keeping up with his endless wardrobe of wigs and dresses with snatched waistlines in the Disney TV show, even after everyone knew they were aliens.
Much to the chagrin of Lilo & Stitch fans, the film takes an uninspired approach to putting Jumba and Pleakley in disguise by having them wear devices that make them appear to look human. More specifically, just let Galafianakis and Magnussen be themselves on camera. In a TikTok video, director Dean Fleischer Camp responded to YouTube comments for the film’s trailer. Among his responses to inquiries, where he remarked about the challenges of making a live-action remake of an animated movie and gave original Lilo & Stitch co-writer and co-director Chris Sanders (The Wild Robot) his flowers for reprising the voice of Stitch, Camp encountered the question on everyone’s mind: “How dare they ruin Pleakley’s disguise like that. The comment was punctuated with three crying emojis. Camp’s response was that of a man who fought his 41-year-old heart out in the production stage of the film.
“I have had people message me, ‘Why is Pleakley not wearing a dress?’” Camp said. “And I just want to say, I tried … I tried.”
To showcase just how much he tried, the video ends with a frame of concept art of Pleakley wearing a red wig, lipstick, and a flowing blue floral dress. Hopefully, the concept art’s depiction of Pleakley displaying charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent will satisfy moviegoers who felt jilted for not witnessing the one-eyed alien in all his hunty glory when they go to theaters to see the film on May 23.
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