Finally, a genuinely appealing Disney live- action remake.

So far, these reimaginings of animated films have been a mixed bag of uncanny photorealistic computer- generated animals (“The Lion King”), surreal fairy-tale hellscapes (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Snow White”), scary circus movies (“Pinocchio”) and wobbly adventure musicals (“Aladdin”). None evoked the charm of the beloved originals. But the new remake of “Lilo & Stitch” sings with heart and humor, maintaining the aloha spirit of the original.

Director Dean Fleischer Camp, who was Oscar- nominated for his quirky charmer “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” a film that blended animation and live-action, is the perfect choice to shepherd the new iteration of “Lilo & Stitch,” and not just because the film combines animated characters with human actors. In updating the much-loved and lauded 2002 film, Fleischer Camp maintains what charmed us while delivering a truly touching update on the material.

The contemporary setting and grounded realism of the problems our characters face helps situate “Lilo & Stitch” in a different tonal register than its live-action remake predecessors.

It’s a wacky family critter comedy in the vein of “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” “Beethoven” or “Harry and the Hendersons,” and incorporates this unique creature into a world that’s recognizable, rather than uncannily manipulated.

While it is a film about an adorable, destructive alien crash-landing in Hawaii and posing as a dog to evade extraterrestrial authorities, the world in which Stitch finds himself has high stakes and palpable emotion in the lessons he learns from his rescuer, Lilo (Maia Kealoha).

Teaching Stitch about family and friendship is important to Lilo because her own family is in a precarious situation. She has recently been orphaned, along with her older sister Nani (Sydney Agudong), who is struggling to keep their little family together, while deferring her own dream of going to college. The feral but resourceful Lilo struggles to make friends and wishes for a companion on a shooting star. Her wish comes true in the form of a gleefully chaotic creature, a combination of a toddler, puppy and koala, with a toothy grin, deadly claws and an irresistible butt wiggle. She names him Stitch.

Writers Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes deepen the real-world issues to develop the high stakes of Lilo and Nani’s story, but the plot and sentiment remain the same. They shuffle and rejigger a few of the supporting characters, and pay tribute to the original with roles for Tia Carrere, Jason Scott Lee and Amy Hill, who all provided voices for that film.

The film zips by at a pleasantly breakneck pace, lingering just long enough in the emotional moments to draw a tear or two. The messages of “Lilo & Stitch” — about family sticking together, and that there’s a difference between “being bad” and “doing bad things” — are just as meaningful as they were more than 20 years ago.

They may be pitched at a child’s level, but those are lessons we could be reminded of at any age.

MPA rating: PG (for action, peril and thematic elements)

Running time: 1:48

How to watch: In theaters