The Lilo & Stitch remake is headed to theaters next year and will feature the voice of Chris Sanders, who not only voiced Stitch in the original but also directed the movie with Dean DeBlois. According to Sanders, getting to play the role again meant the world.

Speaking to ComingSoon in a recent interview, Sanders — who also directed the hit animated films How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods, and The Wild Robot, among others — was asked about getting to voice the role again and what it meant. To Sanders, he was grateful to get the call and always has fun playing Stitch.

What did Chris Sanders say about playing Stitch?

“It was amazing. I’m really grateful that they reached out to me for that. I’ve done four sessions now,” said Sanders. “I would imagine there might be one last one for me just as they finalize because I think they were still in flux in a lot of things. So, they might call me in, I think, one last time, but that was great. I really liked it, and I always do the voice for things like ice shows and parades and toys. So I’m in the studio about at least six times a year just to do like all sorts of other things.”

Maia Kealoha stars as Lilo in the film, while Sydney Agudong plays Nani, Kaipo Dudoit plays David, Tia Carrere plays Mrs. Kekoa, Courtney B. Vance plays Cobra Bubbles, Amy Hill plays Tūtū, and Jason Scott Lee is playing a luau manager. The voice cast, meanwhile, includes Sanders as Stitch, Zach Galifianakis as Dr. Jumba, and Billy Magnussen as Agent Pleakley.

“A live-action reimagining of Disney’s 2002 animated classic, “Lilo & Stitch” is the wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family,” says the synopsis.

The script was written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright, while Sanders and DeBlois wrote and directed the screenplay for the original 2002 movie. Sanders voiced the character in the original movie and numerous other projects, including Lilo & Stitch: The Series, 2005’s Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, and 2006’s Leroy & Stitch.