Ohana means no direct-to-video sequel gets left behind.
Photo: Disney
It’s no secret that after the incredible run of award-winning films known as the Disney renaissance, the animation studio sank into a rut again. Treasure Planet, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and The Emperor’s New Groove still have their cult followings, but none of them measured up to the success of the studio’s ’80s and ’90s hits. One film did: 2002’s Lilo & Stitch. The story of a young girl and her unlikely companion — a mischievous, puplike blue alien gone rogue — almost brought hand-drawn animation back, and Stitch was spun off repeatedly in the years that followed, mostly in direct-to-video sequel films (the old man’s streaming service) that Disney churned out at a rapid rate. The character — along with Lilo; his scientist creator, Jumba; and Jumba’s partner, Pleakley — led a slew of films, a television series, a ride attraction, and more as Disney expanded Stitch’s lore. Lilo & Stitch may be streaming on Disney+, but there’s far more to love in this loosely knit universe. Below, we’ve rounded up the most notable titles to watch and where you can find them.
Coming just a year after Stitch’s first adventure with Lilo, Stitch! The Movie served as the bridge to the Disney Channel series that would premiere in 2003. This spinoff introduces audiences to Jumba’s other experiments teased in Lilo & Stitch, but, more important, we meet Experiment 625, a.k.a. Reuben, the sandwich-eating alien who later becomes Stitch’s antagonist.
This bad boy premiered on the Disney Channel the same year as That’s So Raven. Lilo & Stitch: The Series picked up right where Stitch! The Movie left off, following Lilo and Stitch after they are tasked with finding the other alien experiments before Gantu (the big whale-shark villain from the movies) and Reuben do. It also debuted Angel, a.k.a. Experiment 624, Stitch’s love interest. She’s just the pink girl version of Stitch and appeared in only three episodes but has become almost as popular as Stitch himself.
Canonically, Stitch Has a Glitch is the direct sequel to the Lilo & Stitch series despite being released two years after Stitch! The Movie. (And the bonus short, The Origin of Stitch, connects Stitch Has a Glitch to Stitch! The Movie.) In Glitch, gone are the 600-plus experiments running amok, and instead Lilo and Stitch team up for a hula competition. It seems cutesy until you get to the harrowingly emotional third act, in which Stitch’s glitch manifests as a panic attack. Aliens get existential, too.
Even in cuddly-alien form, men will gladly push out a woman. Leroy is a fake Stitch. Well, he’s a red carbon copy of him made by Jumba after the scientist, Pleakley, and Stitch are tasked with going back into space, leaving Lilo behind on Earth. Of course, creating a villainous Stitch goes poorly and chaos ensues, but Leroy & Stitch marks the last sequel in the Lilo & Stitch franchise (until the live-action remake comes out and inevitably spawns even more).
While Lilo & Stitch made a significant impact on U.S. audiences, Stitch became especially popular overseas, specifically in Japan and China — so much so that the property was spun off into two different series: A Stitch! anime aired in Japan, and Stitch & Ai aired in China. The former aged up Lilo, set her off to college, and changed the location from Hawaii to a fictional island off the coast of Okinawa. Without Lilo, Stitch wreaks havoc again as Jumba and Pleakley stick around as main characters along with other experiments like Angel. In Stitch & Ai, Lilo is replaced entirely with a new young girl, Wang Ai Ling. Both of these series have callbacks to the Lilo & Stitch canon, but more as winky nods than anything substantive. You also can’t even watch them! There are clips scattered across the internet, but if you’re looking for a traditional television binge, you’re out of luck.
This was one of the most terrifying rides Walt Disney World has ever had. (As someone who rode this attraction as a child, I can confirm.) In 2004, Stitch’s Great Escape! replaced another terrifying ride in Magic Kingdom: ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. You were strapped into a chair in a dark circular room as Stitch escapes his containment and runs around in the dark, sniffing, belching, and harassing the guests. It’s a wonder that the ride lasted so long. It closed in 2018, so you can’t ride it firsthand anymore, but if you are at all interested, ride-through videos are all over YouTube.
Stitch has been deployed in numerous cameos across Disney projects throughout the years, but in Brother Bear, Stitch made one of his first post–Lilo & Stitch appearances in the film’s outtakes. RIP, animated blooper reels.