Lilo & Stitch (franchise)

Lilo & Stitch is an American Disney media franchise that commenced in 2002 with the release of the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The combined critical and commercial success of the original film, which was a rarity for the company's feature animation studio during the early 2000s, led to three direct-to-video and television sequel films, a short film, three animated television series, several video games, some theme park attractions, and various merchandise.

The franchise mainly focuses on the adventures of the titular eccentric and mischievous duo; an orphaned Hawaiian girl named Lilo Pelekai (voiced by Daveigh Chase in most media) and an artificial extraterrestrial creature originally named Experiment 626, whom she adopts and names Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders in all media except for the two Asian-produced TV series). Stitch was originally genetically-engineered to cause chaos and destruction across the galaxy, but was rehabilitated by the Earth girl thanks to the Hawaiian concept of ohana, or family. Most of the sequel and spin-off material of the franchise also involve many genetic experiments similar to Stitch, who he treats as his "cousins", while the franchise's films and first television series made frequent references to American musician Elvis Presley (who was popular in Hawaii, where he made three films and held numerous successful concerts there), using his music and sometimes his imagery in the films.

The later spin-off material released after 2006, the anime Stitch! and the Chinese animated series Stitch & Ai, separate Stitch from Lilo (who is subsequently dropped as a main character), and replace her with different human girls who take him in with their families. The anime was produced by an entirely different crew from the original franchise, while the Chinese series was partially produced by American animators, including those who worked on Lilo & Stitch: The Series. Neither the anime nor the Chinese series feature any of the original voice cast from the four films or the first TV series.

Lilo & Stitch (2002)
An extraterrestrial mad scientist named Dr. Jumba Jookiba (voiced by David Ogden Stiers) is put on trial for illegally creating creatures to cause chaos and destruction. His latest experiment is Experiment 626 (Chris Sanders): a little blue alien with four arms, two legs, and antennae who is deceptively strong and indestructible. 626 (pronounced "six-two-six") is sentenced to exile, while Jumba himself is jailed. However, 626 escapes custody, steals a police cruiser ship, and heads to the planet Earth. Jumba gets sent on a mission to retrieve his creation along with a partner on board, self-proclaimed Earth expert Agent Pleakley (Kevin McDonald), who is forced to go along to keep an eye on him.

Masquerading as a dog, 626 is adopted by a little girl named Lilo Pelekai (Daveigh Chase) who is living with her 19-year-old sister Nani (Tia Carrere). Lilo is lonely and a bit of an outcast until she finds a new friend in 626 whom she names "Stitch".

Stitch! The Movie (2003)
Ex-Captain Gantu (Kevin Michael Richardson) is hired by the evil Dr. Hämsterviel (Jeff Bennett) to retrieve the remaining 625 experiments. Meanwhile, on Earth, Stitch is still not fitting in, but when trouble comes calling through the form of Experiment 221 (Frank Welker), he and Lilo must band together to stop his electrical rampage. Meanwhile, Gantu ends up with a new ally, Experiment 625 (Rob Paulsen), but is displeased by his lazy behavior and love of sandwiches.

Lilo & Stitch: The Series (2003–2006)
Continuing where Stitch! The Movie left off, Lilo and Stitch are given the task of collecting the rest of Jumba's missing experiments, changing them from bad to good, and finding the one place where they truly belong. Meanwhile, the former Captain Gantu and his reluctant partner, Experiment 625, try to capture the experiments for the imprisoned Dr. Hämsterviel.

Running for a total of 65 episodes over two seasons, The Series ended with the television film Leroy & Stitch.

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005)
Set at a time between the original film and ''Stitch! The Movie'', Lilo (voiced by Dakota Fanning in this film) and her classmates are preparing for a hula competition where the winner gets to perform at the local May Day festival. Each student is required to create an original dance. While preparing for the competition, Stitch's past comes back to haunt him. It seems that after Stitch was created, Jumba did not get a chance to fully charge Stitch's molecules before they were both arrested. At first, this glitch causes Stitch to revert to his old destructive programming, but it will ultimately destroy him if Jumba cannot create a charging pod before Stitch's energy runs out.

The Origin of Stitch (2005)
In this short film included on the Lilo & Stitch 2 DVD, serving as a bridge between it and ''Stitch! The Movie'', Stitch discovers Jumba's computer and is scared to find out what a monster he is, only for Jumba to come and explain how he found love when he met Lilo. The other experiments are also hinted at.

Leroy & Stitch (2006)
After three years, their mission to capture all 624 experiments and repurpose them on Earth has been completed, so Lilo and her family are honored as heroes by the Galactic Alliance. Despite originally turning down their new offered positions in order to stay with Lilo, Stitch and the crew separate to live out their ambitions. However, after Gantu frees Hämsterviel from his prison, they create a new experiment of their own, Leroy (Chris Sanders). Lilo and Stitch must reunite and unite every single experiment they have to fight Leroy and his army of duplicated clones.

"Stitch Meets High School Musical" (2007)
Stitch and a number of Lilo & Stitch characters play a friendly game of basketball and then dance to "We're All in This Together" from High School Musical. This anime short aired on Disney Channel Japan in 2007 and was later released internationally in 2008 on the High School Musical 2: Deluxe Dance Edition 2-disc DVD set.

Stitch! (2008–2015)
The anime series features a Japanese girl named Yuna Kamihara (voiced by Eden Riegel in the English dub) in place of Lilo, and is set on a fictional island off the shore of Okinawa instead of Hawaii. The first two seasons were animated and co-produced by the Japanese animation house Madhouse,  while the third season and two post-series television specials were animated by Shin-Ei Animation. Although the series did very well in Japan, it has received only moderate praise everywhere else. 86 episodes (including three specials) were made from 2008 to 2011, while two post-series specials were released in 2012 and 2015.

Set years after the events of Leroy & Stitch, the anime sees Stitch (now voiced by Ben Diskin) having left Lilo after she went to college. He ends up on the fictitious Izayoi Island where he meets Yuna, a tomboyish girl who lives with her grandmother (Gwendoline Yeo) and practices karate. Stitch befriends Yuna, Jumba (Jess Winfield) and Pleakley (Ted Biaselli) later rejoin Stitch, and the three aliens move in with Yuna's family. In the first two seasons, Stitch tries to do 43 good deeds in order to appease a magical stone that can grant wishes, with Stitch wanting to become the strongest being in the universe. Meanwhile, Hämsterviel (Kirk Thornton), who is at large along with Gantu (Keith Silverstein) and Experiment 625/Reuben (Dave Wittenberg), wants to defeat Stitch and take his good deeds in order to gain ultimate power. By the end of the second season, however, Stitch loses his motivation to have his wish granted, deciding that living with Yuna is better than being the strongest in the universe.

In the third season, Yuna, Stitch, and the other aliens move to a city called Okinawa New Town with Yuna's cousin Tigerlily (Laura Bailey). Meanwhile, Hämsterviel partners with an alien woman named Delia (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn), who desires to retrieve a power cell within Stitch, eventually making a powerful experiment of her own to do so. Lilo (Yeo) also returns in one episode of this season for a brief reunion with Stitch.

Stitch & Ai (2017)
Taking place in Huangshan in Anhui province, this 13-episode Chinese animated series stars Stitch (voiced by Ben Diskin in the English version, reprising his anime role) and a local girl named Wang Ai Ling (Erica Mendez). Produced in English with the partnership of American animators, the series was animated by Anhui Xinhua Media and Panimation Hwakai Media and began broadcast on CCTV-14 with a Mandarin Chinese dub on March 27, 2017. The original English version later aired in Southeast Asia in February 2018 and released in the United States on the DisneyNow service on December 1, 2018.

Set after Leroy & Stitch but before the events of the Stitch! anime, the Chinese series shows Stitch having been captured by a criminal gang from space who wants to use him as their own destructive genetic experiment, but he escapes when a rival gang also wanting him attacks the ship he was held in. Ending up in the Huangshan mountains, Stitch meets Ai, a spirited girl whose aunt Daiyu (Laura Post) wants to move Ai from her sister Jiejie (Post) and their mountain home to a city. Stitch joins Ai's family as her new "dog", with Jumba (Jess Winfield, also reprising his role from the anime) and Pleakley (Lucien Dodge) also joining them after initially being sent to rescue Stitch. While Stitch helps Ai stay in the mountains and she helps him ward off the space gangs continuing to go after him, Jumba is concerned that a secret metamorphosis ability he programmed in Stitch that turns the experiment into a destructive giant could be unleashed if the criminals find a way to subconsciously manipulate him into triggering it.

Live action remake
On October 3, 2018, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Disney is developing a live action/CGI remake of Lilo & Stitch with Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich producing and Ryan Halprin co-producing. Mike Van Waes is writing the script.

Cast and characters
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:100%;" ! rowspan="3" style="width:20%;" | Characters ! colspan="4" | Films ! Television series ! Short film ! colspan="2" | East Asian television series Post-Lilo spin-offs ! Lilo & Stitch ! Stitch! The Movie ! Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch ! Leroy & Stitch ! Lilo & Stitch: The Series ! The Origin of Stitch ! Stitch! ! Stitch & Ai ! 2002 ! 2003 ! 2005 ! 2006 ! 2003 — 2006 ! 2005 ! 2008 — 2015 ! 2017 ! colspan="9" style="background:#ddf;"|

Principal characters
! Stitch Experiment 626 ! rowspan="2" | Lilo Pelekai ! rowspan="2" | Nani Pelekai ! rowspan="2" | Dr. Jumba Jookiba ! rowspan="2" | Agent Wendell "Wendy" Pleakley ! Captain Gantu ! Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel ! Reuben Experiment 625 ! Angel Experiment 624 ! colspan="9" style="background:#ddf;"|
 * colspan="6" | Chris Sanders
 * colspan="2" | Ben Diskin
 * rowspan="2" colspan="2" | Daveigh Chase
 * rowspan="2" | Dakota Fanning
 * rowspan="2" | Daveigh Chase
 * Daveigh Chase
 * rowspan="4" Silent cameo
 * Gwendoline Yeo
 * rowspan="2" Flashbacks
 * Tara Strong (adult)
 * Melissa Fahn (young)
 * Melissa Fahn (young)
 * rowspan="2" colspan="4" | Tia Carrere
 * Tia Carrere
 * rowspan="2" colspan="2" Flashbacks
 * Grey DeLisle (young)
 * Grey DeLisle (young)
 * rowspan="2" colspan="4" | David Ogden Stiers
 * David Ogden Stiers
 * rowspan="2" | David Ogden Stiers
 * rowspan="2" colspan="2" | Jess Winfield
 * Jason Marsden (infant)
 * Jason Marsden (infant)
 * rowspan="2" colspan="4" | Kevin McDonald
 * Kevin McDonald
 * rowspan="2" Silent cameo
 * rowspan="2" | Ted Biaselli
 * rowspan="2" | Lucien Dodge
 * Tommy Widmer (infant)
 * Tommy Widmer (infant)
 * colspan="2" | Kevin Michael Richardson
 * rowspan="3" style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * colspan="2" | Kevin Michael Richardson
 * rowspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * Keith Silverstein
 * Richard Epcar (uncredited)
 * Silent cameo
 * Jeff Bennett
 * colspan="2" | Jeff Bennett
 * Kirk Thornton
 * Silent cameo
 * style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * Rob Paulsen
 * colspan="2" | Rob Paulsen
 * rowspan="2" Silent cameo
 * Dave Wittenberg
 * rowspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * colspan="3" style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * colspan="2" | Tara Strong
 * Kate Higgins

Minor characters
! David Kawena ! Mertle Edmonds ! Cobra Bubbles ! Grand Councilwoman ! Yuna Kamihara ! Wang Ai Ling
 * Jason Scott Lee
 * Dee Bradley Baker
 * Jason Scott Lee
 * colspan="2" | Dee Bradley Baker
 * Silent cameo
 * colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * Miranda Paige Walls
 * colspan="4" | Liliana Mumy
 * colspan="3" style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * colspan="2" | Ving Rhames
 * rowspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * Ving Rhames
 * Kevin Michael Richardson
 * colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * Richard Epcar (uncredited)
 * colspan="2" | Zoe Caldwell
 * colspan="2" | Zoe Caldwell
 * style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
 * TBA
 * colspan="6" style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * Eden Riegel
 * style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * colspan="7" style="background:lightgrey;"|
 * Erica Mendez
 * }

Lilo & Stitch Pinball
Lilo & Stitch Pinball is a pinball video game that was released on January 1, 2002 for Microsoft Windows.

Disney's Lilo & Stitch: Trouble in Paradise
Disney's Lilo & Stitch: Trouble in Paradise (titled simply Disney's Lilo & Stitch on the American release of the PlayStation version) is a platform video game developed by Blitz Games for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows that was released on June 14, 2002.

Disney's Lilo & Stitch (Game Boy Advance)
Disney's Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 side-scrolling shoot 'em up platform video game based on the original film that was developed by Digital Eclipse for the Game Boy Advance.

Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626
Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626 is a platform game for the PlayStation 2 on June 19, 2002 and serves as a prequel to the original film Lilo & Stitch.

Lilo & Stitch: Hawaiian Adventure
Disney's Lilo & Stitch: Hawaiian Adventure (released in some countries as Disney's Lilo & Stitch: Hawaiian Discovery) is a video game developed by Gorilla Systems Corporation and published by Disney Interactive on June 22, 2002 consisting of various minigames, similar to Disney's Activity Center series. AllGame rated 3/5 stars, writing, "Less like an adventure game and more like a series of arcade games, there's enough entertainment on hand to get to the three-game finale."

Lilo & Stitch 2: Hämsterviel Havoc
Disney's Lilo & Stitch 2: Hämsterviel Havoc (titled simply Disney's Lilo & Stitch 2 in Europe and Disney's Lilo and Stitch in Japan) is an action-platform game developed by Climax Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios for Game Boy Advance on October 12, 2004. Hämsterviel Havoc is the sole tie-in game for Lilo & Stitch: The Series and a standalone sequel to the Lilo & Stitch game released on the same platform in 2002. While the game is primarily a platform game, the player has the chance to play as other characters and vehicle segments. The game was met with average to mixed reception, as GameRankings gave it 71.67% based on 6 reviews, while Metacritic gave it 66 out of 100 based on 4 reviews.

Disney Stitch Jam
Disney Stitch Jam, known in Japan as Stitch! DS: Ohana to Rhythm de Daibouken (スティッチ！DS オハナとリズムで大冒険), is a rhythm video game developed by Cattle Call and published by Disney Interactive Studios. The first video game based on the Stitch! anime series, it was released in Japan on December 3, 2009, in North America on March 23, 2010 and in Europe on March 26, 2010. Different from past Lilo & Stitch adaptations, Disney Stitch Jam has players taking control of Stitch and some of his cousins in variety of missions set in space, out on the seas, and in a variety of areas by touching musical notes and exclamation marks. In the game's story, Angel gets kidnapped by Gantu and Hämsterviel, and Stitch has to rescue her by traveling into ten worlds. Stitch is the main playable character, while Angel, Reuben and Felix are unlockable.

NGamer gave the game a review score of 44% in their May 2010 issue. Common Sense Media's Chad Sapieha gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, calling the gameplay "polished and fun," and praising the game's visuals and sound, but criticizing the game's short length.

Motto! Stitch! DS: Rhythm de Rakugaki Daisakusen
Motto! Stitch! DS: Rhythm de Rakugaki Daisakusen ♪ (もっと！スティッチ！DS リズムでラクガキ大作戦♪) is a rhythm video game and a sequel of Disney Stitch Jam. It was developed by Cattle Call (the developer of the first game) and published by Disney Interactive Studios. Like the first game, it is also based on the Stitch! anime series; this time it is based on the show's third season, ''Stitch! ~Best Friends Forever~''. It was released in Japan on November 18, 2010. This game was not released in North America or Europe.

This game has the same gameplay as its prequel, Disney Stitch Jam, and has more new features, characters, and experiments. This game is a modified engine of its prequel. Players can enjoy the rhythmic action of Stitch, who has a magic microphone that can draw his drawings on the air for decorations and traveling (which resembles and is a parody of Doraemon's secret tool, "Air Crayon"). Players can also dress up characters like Stitch and Angel.

Other appearances

 * A 2004 EyeToy party game called Disney Move included a Lilo & Stitch-themed minigame.
 * The franchise has been used in the Kingdom Hearts series:
 * In Kingdom Hearts II (2005) and III (2019), Stitch may be summoned alongside Sora to aid him in battles.
 * Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010) features characters and the outer space environment from the franchise.
 * In Disney Friends (2007), players can voice and touch to control the actions and emotional behaviors of the game's characters, which includes Stitch.
 * In Disney Universe (2011), Stitch costumes are available in the game.
 * Stitch appears in the Tomorrowland area of Disneyland in Kinect: Disneyland Adventures (2011) as a meet-and-greet character, and like other characters in the game, he gives the player character quests to complete.
 * Lilo & Stitch is referenced in the Disney Infinity series (2013–2016):
 * In the first game (2013), two Lilo & Stitch-themed power discs were released in which players can use Stitch's plasma blasters and the "Hangin' Ten Stitch with Surfboard", a hoverboard with a miniature Stitch figure in front.
 * In Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (2014), Stitch is a playable character, while the Lilo & Stitch franchise is tied into a Toy Box Expansion Game; a tower defense titled Stitch's Tropical Rescue, which features Agent Pleakley in cutscenes and voice-over. Several in-game toys related to the franchise were also added to the game series. He is part of the non-Marvel 2.0 Edition Toy Box starter pack, alongside Merida from Pixar's Brave. As with other playable characters in the series, Stitch can also be used in Disney Infinity 3.0 (2015).
 * Both title characters of the franchise appear in the Nintendo 3DS life simulation game Disney Magical World (2013) and its sequel (2015), with the latter game also featuring Jumba, Pleakley, and a world based on the franchise.
 * In an April 2017 update to Disney Crossy Road, Lilo & Stitch became a playable world. Over fifteen original film characters are featured in the game.
 * In an April 2018 update to the Gameloft mobile and computer game Disney Magic Kingdoms, seven Lilo & Stitch characters (Lilo, Stitch, Nani, Jumba, Pleakley, Cobra Bubbles, and Angel) and several buildings based on real and fictional franchise-related locations and other elements were added to the game as part of a limited time event. The event features an original storyline based on the films and Lilo & Stitch: The Series that involves the Lilo & Stitch characters.

Theme park attractions
Various Lilo & Stitch-themed attractions have opened in Disney theme parks.

Stitch's Great Escape!
Stitch's Great Escape! is a "theatre in the round" show that opened in November 2004 in Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort as a replacement for The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter.

Stitch's Supersonic Celebration
Stitch's Supersonic Celebration was a short-lived stage show that ran from May 6, 2009 to June 27, 2009 at Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Stitch Encounter
Stitch Encounter is an interactive show similar to Turtle Talk with Crush that opened in 2006 at Hong Kong Disneyland at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. Other versions of the attraction opened Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris (as Stitch Live!) in 2008, Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort in Spring 2015, and Shanghai Disneyland Park at Shanghai Disney Resort in 2016. The original version in Hong Kong closed in 2016, and no versions of this attraction have ever opened at either American Disney resort.

The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents Aloha e Komo Mai!
The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents Aloha e Komo Mai! is a "theatre in the round" Audio-Animatronics show that opened in 2008 in Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort, and is the fourth incarnation of The Enchanted Tiki Room.

Reception
The original Lilo & Stitch film received positive critical reviews, while the direct-to-video and television sequels received mixed to negative reception.