Chris Sanders, also the head writer for the Lilo & Stitch project, voiced a blue fluffy alien named Stitch we got introduced to as he messed with the trailers for other Disney films.
Though breaking the fourth-wall was absent from the actual movie, what we had in Lilo & Stitch was a straightforward tale about people (including the “aliens”) trying to adjust to the loss of loved ones and pulling together into a family. Set in Hawaii (an exotic and refreshing location for Disney), it was easy to become lost in the fairytale wonder of its environments and cultural references. Sure there were also big spaceships and gun-toting aliens, but the full story for this is best watched.
No.
This review is about the series that popped up after Lilo & Stitch came out on video/DVD, along with plans to make a sequel to the first film. And this was an interesting aspect to the whole thing. The idea was accompanied by several film spin-offs (Stitch has a Glitch, etc.) around the same period, without allowing us to digest each component.
It was in this way that Stitch: The Movie premiered less than a year after its predecessor—giving us a movie not nearly as well animated and designed solely to launch the series. The plot had Stitch searching for the capsules containing the 624 other experiments his creator, Evil Scientist Jumba, had apparently made and forgotten to mention (Stitch being Experiment 626). They also had to face Jumba’s past partner, Dr. Hamsterviel (a gerbi), who wanted to seize the experiments and use them to “take over the universe.” During one space battle, the capsules happened to fall from their spaceship and spiraled down (conveniently) upon Hawaii.
Then Lilo and Stitch declared they must take it upon themselves to capture each of the “evil” experiments, and turn them from “bad to good.”
So begins the series that featured one of Stitch’s “cousins” (as they called them) each episode. Although I personally enjoyed this show as a young girl, there were some fundamental problems with it—such as the vague line between what they considered “bad” and “good,” and the “catch ‘em all” concept. At the same time as this series aired on the Disney channel, shows like Pokémon, Digimon, and Yu-gi-oh! were still big fads. They each stressed for children to collect creatures through games or cards, with the companies putting them on profiting from this arrangement.
The animated series for Lilo & Stitch came off as an imitation of the before-mentioned franchises, in other words. Though to its credit, Disney never really pushed for children to physically collect Stitch’s cousins, beyond watching Lilo do it on television. And some of Stitch’s cousins were interesting to see, especially the sandwich-eating 625 (voiced by Rob Paulsen) who stayed with Gantu (employed to capture the experiments for Dr. Hamsterviel). He became the heckler character, and he remained neutral in the struggle for Lilo & Stitch to find the other experiments.
The show ended with yet another movie, called Leroy & Stitch. In this installment, Lilo and Stitch have captured all the experiments (and put them into different occupations across Hawaii), and the characters once again have to stop Dr. Hamsterviel—who has created another experiment he calls “Leroy” (resembling a red Stitch) to seize the experiments. Lilo winds up recruiting 625 to help Stitch against Dr. Hamsterviel, and by the finish everyone is once more happy and at peace.
Thinking back, what is also a little disappointing about the series is it sent a completely different message than the main Lilo & Stitch film—and we did not actually witness much character development despite their progress collecting the experiments. You might have Lilo’s older sister, Nani, hint at their parents (lost tragically in a car accident) but nothing more. Everything is kept upbeat and one-dimensional.
Regardless of the many movies or shows attempting to raise Lilo and Stitch into a commanding position in pop culture, it kind of disappeared when the television series ended.
But then, Stitch tried to lunge into the spotlight yet again.
In 2010, the Disney Company announced the new series Stitch!—a series produced in Japan, and thus an anime.
Would the Japanese writers working at Tokyo Disney be able to create an entertaining show, where Lilo & Stitch: The Series had left us only a small impression?
The answer is yes.
They grabbed this concept and created a well-rounded show. Taking place over twenty years after the other series ended, the show starts with Stitch leaving Hawaii in his space ship because Lilo has long since left for college and he feels abandoned. Jumba follows him, and they both get sucked into a portal into another dimension—where they land somewhere in Japan and become separated. But this is indeed a magical place, filled with nature spirits and other creatures from Japanese legends.
Here Stitch meets Yuna, a young girl who runs the local dojo and eventually takes Stitch as her pupil. Yuna lives with her grandmother, but she secretly longs to see her father, who works overseas. She lost her mother in a huge flood, and as the show goes on, you really do get to see her struggle with not being able to remember her mother’s face—and how distant she feels from her father. She is strong-willed and takes care of Stitch, teaching him about different cultural festivals and the etiquette used in Japan.
Even Stitch’s “cousins” take on a different role. Despite being in another dimension, Jumba is able to make a device for Stitch to call in the other experiments for help in times of need. Unlike their English counterparts, these versions tend to speak fluent Japanese (rather than simply say their name or make a noise, as in the other series). There are also a host of human side characters who are developed and interesting in their own right, making this more about a bunch of friends learning to live healthy lives than anything else—along with introducing kids to the native folklore.
With all this said, the two series are drastically different. I would recommend watching Stitch!, which has been dubbed into English since its release and is great to watch if you enjoyed the first movie (or if you just want to learn about Japanese mythology in a new way).
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