There’s a nostalgia premium to the Pixar original experience these days. It’s in the combination of formula familiarity, winsome messaging and – for the grown ups at least – the reminiscence of a bygone era in which Pixar could do no wrong. Uniform commercial and critical acclaim has long evaded the Disney-owned studio, with no Pixar original enjoying box office success since 2017’s Coco. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that their latest attempt at reasserted relevance recalls that particular Mexican favourite in more ways than one. Where Coco mined themes of belonging, familial fracture and loneliness from the Land of the Dead, Elio seeks the same in taking its hero to the cosmos and into a space where no one can hear you reach for your hankie.
Imagine. You wait 23 years for Hollywood to carbon copy a Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders animation in live action form and two come along at the same time. And they say creativity is dead. What’s more, each facsimile is proving a monster hit in its own right. One can but imagine the wild ride 2025 is proving to be for DeBlois and Sanders. With Disney now no longer the sole studio exponent of the toon-to-live cash in, the form is more genre than trend these days. AI should make the process quicker. Feed the original through an app, with ‘remake in live action’ as your filter and the new-ish How to Train Your Dragon is your result.
The furry blue foot remains very much within the box for Dean Fleischer Camp’s Lilo & Stitch, a live action replication of the Disney animated classic. 2002’s OG Hawaiian rollercoaster ride proved something of a rare bright spot in an era of woe for the House of Mouse. Amid a string of middling efforts in the noughties, only Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois’ toon enjoyed both critical and commercial success. Extoling the virtues of family and second chances, Lilo & Stitch struck a multi-generational chord, tickling the old and young alike. 2025’s effort boasts a little less Elvis but a lot more of the same.
The Film Blog 