Stop the presses! Disney has done the unthinkable and actually changed its Lilo & Stitch movie cast promptly after an onslaught of negative feedback from potential audience members!
The new Lilo & Stitch live-action adaptation of the 2002 cult favorite animated movie about a Hawaiian girl and her blue Elvis-loving alien friend Stitch has been causing plenty of controversies lately, with some controversies being more mild complaints about some odd casting choices and other complaints being severe enough to make Disney think twice.
The two biggest controversies related to the new live-action movie (which is being directed by Dean Fleischer Camp) have involved accusations of “whitewashing.” Disney did choose Hawaiian actors to play its lead roles, but two of the chosen actors have caused an uproar because they are (in audiences’ opinions) too “light-skinned” to be playing Lilo’s sister Nani and Nani’s love interest David Kawena.
Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has recast the actor who was meant to play David and hired an actor named Kaipot Dudoit.
The original actor, newcomer Kahiau Machado, had reportedly posted some racist comments on social media in the past — and Internet users quickly found evidence of these posts right after Machado’s new Disney role was announced.
It is not the color of these actors’ skin that has caused the recasting, presumably.
The issue is far more likely to be the racist slurs that actor Kahiau Machado wrote, since the Hawaiian actress playing Nani (Sydney Elizabeth Adugong) is not being recast even though her casting had sparked just as much whitewashing-related outrage as that of Kahiau Machado.
Unfortunately, hearing audiences’ complaints about Disney movies or TV shows and then making tangible changes to address those complaints is not something that Disney or any other moviemakers often do (National Treasure: Edge of History cancellation, anyone?).
This makes Disney’s rapid change to its Lilo & Stitch live-action adaptation even more unusual! Have you been paying attention to news about the new live-action version of Lilo & Stitch?
