With 'Lilo & Stitch's journey to live-action, at least one character didn't return from the original 2002 Disney animated film.

Several cast members returned, including co-writer and co-director Chris Sanders, who created and voiced Stitch. Newcomer Maia Kealoha, who took on the starring role of Lilo, join

Director Dean Fleischer Camp and producer Jonathan Eirich tell EW that cutting the villainous Gantu deepened the storytelling.