The latest Disney remake of an animated classic makes “Lilo & Stitch” more Hawaiian and less cartoonish. The former might be a big deal, in terms of getting Hawaian culture right and advertising the island paradise-state to tourists. But the latter is an unforgivable omission in a comic romp about aliens, animal shelters, surfing and family.

“Ohana means ‘family,’ and family means nobody gets left behind” is the one thing all of us learned from the 2002 Disney comedy, a lightweight action romp designed to be a modern “Dumbo” variation — quick, cheap, cute, funny and sentimental.

Director Dean Fleischer Camp’s live-action remake is an almost note-for-note copy, with most of the notes not resonating the way they did 20something years ago.

Casting a live Hawaian girl as Lilo (Maia Kealoha) pays no real dividends. Making Billy Magnussen and whatever happened to Zach Galifianakis the aliens hunting their lost “experiment” weapon creature 626, who has escaped to Earth and been adopted out as a “service animal” by a no-kill animal shelter achieves a few “different” takes, lines and moments, but zero laughs.

Courtney B. Vance taking over for the far-more-menacing Ving Rhames as CIA Agent Cobra Bubbles doesn’t pay off. Bringing back Tia Carrere (as a social worker, she was Lilo’s sister Noni in the original) and (the voice of) Chris Sanders as Stitch is the least tribute Disney could pay to a hit movie that produced TV series and other intellectual property bonanzas back in the day.

It’s not totally soulless, even if it is mostly laugh-free. But hundreds of millions in tickets sold or not, the filmmakers never manage anything like a reason that this intellectual property should have been remade.

Brace yourself for, “Mommy, why isn’t this as fun as the cartoon?”

Rating: PG

Cast: Maia Kealoha, Sydney Adugong, Tia Carrere, Courtney B. Vance
Billy Magnussen, and Zach Galifianakis, with Chris Sanders as the voice of Stitch.

Credits: Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, scripted by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes, based on the 2002 animated film scripted by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois A Walt Disney release.

Running time: 1:48