Lilo & Stitch is a big hit at the box office but many may not know the original version of the Disney movie almost boasted a classic Star Trek voice!
Right now, a huge hit at the box office is Lilo & Stitch. It's the latest in Disney's line of live-action remakes of past animated hits. In this case, it's the 2002 movie that was basically the last good film of the classic hand-drawn animated Disney Renaissance of the 1990s-early 2000s.
It's the same plotline of a mischievous alien escaping his creators, crashing in Hawaii and befriending a young girl. The movie's gotten good reviews and a record $180 million opening.
But, many may not know the original film had a much different direction that would have included an actor whose voice is very familiar to Star Trek fans. Here's how Stich was almost hunted by none other than Khan!
The original Stitch was darker
While involved with the remake, Chris Sanders has been known for his score of animated films like the How To Train Your Dragon series and 2024 hit The Wild Robot. It was in 1985 that he started work on an alien character named Stitch.
As he details in his new self-published book From Pitch to Stitch: The Origins of Disney's Most Unusual Classic, Sanders originally imagined the character starring in a children's picture book. He set it aside as being too big a project while he moved up the ranks of Disney animation.
In 1997, while working on Mulan, Sanders met Tom Schumacher, head of Disney animated features, on possibly directing his own movie. Remembering that old story, Sanders got to work.
This Stitch is a lot different than the one fans know today. He wasn't cute or cuddly or an experiment gone wrong. He was a career criminal with a selfish streak who was on trial for his crimes when he fled to Earth, where he planned to ravage the planet.
Those plans end when he's hit by a truck, wakes up in a humane society, and takes on the form of a dog to fit in. He then meets young Lilo and builds a device to communicate with his gang. However, his second-in-command, a shark-like being called Ramthar, is now the boss and not eager to give up control.
So Stitch creates a pack of robots out of various odds and ends as a new army. When Ramthar and his gang show up, Stitch uses the robots to take back control. However, by now, Stitch has come to like Lilo and when Ramthar captures her, Stitch risks himself to save her.
It would end much like the final movie, with Stitch staying on Earth with Lilo while Ramthar is taken into custody. Like many Disney movies, things were shifted with Roy E. Disney the one who suggested a "cuter" Stitch would lead to a bigger hit, which Sanders admits was the right call.
So, what does this have to do with Star Trek? Because a famed actor would have been playing the film's villain!
Was Khan almost a Disney foe?
Among the many changes made when the movie changed its storyline was the complete elimination of Ramthar. It's not the first time a Disney movie has changed in production, including dropping voice actors.
As it happens, Ramthar's voice was none other than Ricardo Montabaln's. By this point, Montalban's ill health had cut down on his live-action appearances, and he concentrated on voice acting. Landing him for Ramthar was a great touch, as of course, the man behind Khan could play a wicked space alien.
Montalbán actually recorded quite a lot of dialogue for the role before the story changes completely eliminated the entire "criminal gang" plotline. It's a shame it didn't happen, as hearing that distinctive voice coming out of an animated alien shark criminal would have made this sci-fi comedy even wilder.
Montalbán would work with Disney voicing Señor Senior Senior in the Kim Possible TV series. The actor sadly passed away in 2009 with an amazing legacy for Star Trek fans that almost made its way to a Disney classic!
Lilo & Stitch (2002) streaming on Disney+, Lilo & Stitch 2025 is now in theaters.