The roughhouse charmer “Lilo & Stitch” from 2002, one of Disney’s more freewheeling animated 21st century mashups of slapstick and heartstring-plucking, has already spun off TV and sequel iterations and a lot of merchandise.

Disney fans are outraged that one key character from the original “Lilo & Stitch” film was cut from this year’s live-action remake. Captain Gantu, the villain of the 2002 animated flick, was noticeably absent from the new version that hit theaters on Friday, May 23.

Filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding Lilo & Stitch's divisive ending, explaining why he believes it was the right direction to take that character