In relation to Disney movies, the recognition of Lilo & Sew exhibits that not all the pieces ends with the field workplace. Launched in June 2002 and simply narrowly coming in at quantity two on the field workplace, Lilo & Sew was a modest hit at its launch. It won’t have been the field workplace juggernaut that Disney Renaissance movies like The Lion King, Aladdin, and Magnificence and the Beast have been. Nonetheless, it did exceed the field workplace of the then-recent period Disney flops like Treasure Planet, Atlantis: The Misplaced Empire, and The Emperor’s New Groove. Now, Lilo & Sew is certainly one of Disney’s best-selling properties.
Lilo & Sew is likely one of the few Walt Disney animated movies that’s not primarily based on a fairy story or pre-existing work, however as an alternative on an authentic concept. Nonetheless, similar to Disney’s different surprising hit that does not match the standard Disney model, The Nightmare Earlier than Christmas, Lilo & Sew nearly started life on the printed web page and would have been drastically totally different. The Sew that followers know now, and the Lilo & Sew franchise that has been a relentless moneymaker for Disney, nearly did not exist.
The Authentic (Drastically Completely different) Plans for Sew
Chris Sanders, the creator and voice of Sew, got here up with the concept for Sew in 1985 after having simply graduated from CalArts. The unique plan did not characteristic Sew as an alien however as a monster on Earth. Whereas Sew’s design is now some of the iconic Disney characters, so good that the live-action remake makes almost no adjustments to him, Sanders’ authentic drawing noticed Sew as extra monstrous and considerably a combination between a bat and a tiger. Talking with Vulture, Sanders stated:
“I wished to do a youngsters’s ebook about this little creature that lived in a forest. It was a little bit of a monster with no actual clarification as to the place it got here from. It was all about how he discovered a method to belong. However after doing a few drawings, I spotted the concept was going to be very troublesome to squeeze right down to, say, 24 pages. So, I deserted it.”
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In 1987, Sanders was employed by Walt Disney Characteristic Animation and labored on movies similar to The Rescuers Down Below, Magnificence and the Beast, and The Lion King, earlier than being promoted to move of story on Mulan. It was round this time that Thomas Schumacher, govt vice chairman of Disney Characteristic Animation, stated they wanted “Dumbo for a brand new era,” referring to a extra inexpensive Disney animated movie in comparison with a few of the firm’s bigger-budget fairy tales. Schumacher approached Sanders, who remembered his authentic ebook concept.
Sanders’ authentic plan stored a lot of the define from his ebook plans. Nonetheless, Sew was later reimagined as an alien that crash-landed in a forest, interacting with woodland creatures and being an outcast. This is able to be reworked right into a story the place Sew, an alien, lands in Hawaii and primarily interacts with people. As Schumacher stated, the animal world is already alien to viewers. Nonetheless, Sanders revisited many of those ideas of a sci-fi character interacting with forest animals in 2024’s The Wild Robotic, which was tailored from Peter Brown’s ebook collection.
The Adjustments to ‘Lilo & Sew’ in Pre-Manufacturing
Lilo & Sew nonetheless underwent many adjustments in growth. Initially, it was going to give attention to Sew assembly a younger boy, however Sanders acknowledged early on that Sew, being such a male-coded character, wanted to be countered by a feminine presence, a call that has helped Lilo & Sew stay a beloved property throughout all genders.
An early animated take a look at had Sew as an intergalactic gangster with Jumba as certainly one of his crew earlier than turning on him, after which the Intergalactic Council despatched him to hunt Sew. After testing this idea, Sew turned Jumba’s genetic experiment. This additionally led the filmmakers to scrap Ricardo Montalbán’s function because the preliminary villain and substitute him with Captain Gantu. Even then, Jumba was a extra villainous character (one thing the 2025 remake determined to revive) and was toned down in reshoots to be much less overtly evil, which could be famous in some tweaks to his character design.
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Probably the most drastic change to Lilo & Sew got here within the movie’s last act, which initially noticed Sew, Nani, Jumba, and Pleakley hijacking a Boeing 747 jet. Following the occasions of September 11, the studio drastically reanimated the climax, 9 months earlier than the movie’s launch, with the 747 being reworked right into a spacecraft. Nonetheless, the ship’s inside and exterior design nonetheless bear a robust resemblance to an airplane. The studio additionally determined to maneuver the scene from flying by means of Honolulu to the mountains of Kauaʻi, on condition that it was actually too quickly for audiences to see an aerial automobile flying that near buildings.
‘Lilo & Sew’s Legacy
Lilo & Sew opened in theaters on June 21, 2002. Led by a masterful advertising and marketing marketing campaign that noticed Sew crash into different Disney properties, Lilo & Sew turned a shock hit for Walt Disney Animation. Regardless that Minority Report received the primary spot on the field workplace that weekend, Lilo & Sew offered extra tickets at a decrease price, because it was primarily geared toward a youthful viewers. Lilo & Sew was not solely successful by Disney’s latest requirements, but in addition carried out higher than a few of the Renaissance-era movies, similar to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Mulan. Whereas $145 million home and $273 million worldwide won’t have appeared like loads on the time, Lilo & Sew was a property that paid off over time, rising an viewers over the subsequent 23 years. It’s a good instance of how Disney’s victories are generally not measured in weeks, however in years.
Since its launch, Lilo & Sew has spawned a multimedia franchise, with three beloved direct-to-video sequels and a number of other spin-off collection that expanded the mythology to incorporate Sew’s fellow experiments (or cousins). Now it has spawned a live-action remake, one which has already grossed again its total $100 million finances in simply its opening weekend. Surprisingly, historical past nearly repeated itself as Disney initially meant the live-action Lilo & Sew to be despatched straight to Disney+. It was by no means meant to be a theatrical launch.
Had that authentic plan gone by means of, Disney would have misplaced hundreds of thousands of {dollars} on the live-action remake film that’s now trying to be one of many largest field workplace hits of 2025. Between the unique 2002 movie and the 2025 live-action remake, Lilo & Sew is now certainly one of Disney’s most profitable and beloved properties, standing aspect by aspect with Mickey and Buddies, the Disney Princesses, Winnie-the-Pooh, Toy Story, Automobiles, Frozen, Star Wars, and Marvel. It is exhausting to think about what Lilo & Sew may need been, as a result of the model audiences received in 2002 was good because it was. Lilo & Sew (2002) is streaming on Disney+, whereas the live-action remake is in theaters now.