''Stitch! The Movie'' is a 2003 American
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
produced by
Walt Disney Television Animation
Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...
and
Rough Draft Korea
Rough Draft Studios, Inc. is an American animation production studio based in Glendale, California, with a second studio in Glendale and its sister studio Rough Draft Korea located in Seoul, South Korea. The studio was founded in Van Nuys, Los ...
, released on August 26, 2003. It is the second film released in the ''
Lilo & Stitch
''Lilo & Stitch'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 42nd Disney animated feature film, it was written and directed by Chris Sande ...
'' franchise and the third film chronologically, taking place after
the 2002 first film and (by later extension) the 2005 direct-to-video sequel ''
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch''. The film also serves as the
backdoor pilot
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
of the
spin-off sequel series ''
Lilo & Stitch: The Series'', which debuted the following month. The story is an introduction to Dr.
Jumba Jookiba
Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated film ...
's
625 experiments (made prior to
Stitch) that he created with the financing of
Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel.
Plot
Stitch is still not fitting in and causes another disaster.
Lilo tries to encourage him by saying he's one-of-a-kind, comparing him to
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...
, which just makes him feel worse. Meanwhile, ex-captain
Gantu
Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated films ...
, who's in his new spaceship after his original one got destroyed when
he kidnapped Lilo and tried to recapture Stitch, is hired by
Jumba's former partner; a diminutive creature resembling a cross between a
hamster
Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.Fox, Sue. 2006. ''Hamsters''. T.F.H. Publications Inc. They have become established as popular small pets. The b ...
,
poodle
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and
rabbit
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...
named
Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel to retrieve
the other 625 experiments. Gantu goes to Earth, breaking into Lilo and Stitch's home, blasting Stitch into a net, finding and taking a blue pod with the number 625 on it, and abducting Jumba for interrogation. Stitch and Lilo take Jumba's spaceship and chase Gantu into outer space, engaging him in battle, only to be defeated and fall back towards Earth.
Back at their house, Lilo, Stitch and
Pleakley
Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated films, ...
find the container Jumba was hiding. Pleakley realizes that these are the other 625 experiments, in
dehydrated
In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...
form, and warns them not to tell anyone or put the experiments in water, aware of how dangerous they are. Deliberately disobeying Pleakley's orders, Stitch and Lilo retrieve the container and hydrate one of the experiments,
Experiment 221, who promptly escapes into the night. Jumba is being held captive on the ship of Dr. Hämsterviel. Unable to intimidate Jumba, Hämsterviel activates another experiment,
Experiment 625, to attack him. Although 625 has all of Stitch's powers, he is incredibly lazy and a terrible coward, prioritizing making
sandwich
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
es above all else. Meanwhile, Pleakley is able to call Hämsterviel's ship via telephone. Hämsterviel tells Pleakley that he wants a ransom of the other 624 experiments in return for Jumba. When Pleakley informs the other family members what the ransom is, Nani proceeds to call
Cobra Bubbles
Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated films ...
about the problem while Lilo and Stitch go out to find 221. When Cobra arrives the next morning, he seems to already know about what happened. Meanwhile, Stitch and Lilo finally manage to catch a troublesome Experiment 221 at a nearby hotel with a glass vase and soon befriend him.
The rendezvous time arrives and Pleakley and Cobra show up with the container, not knowing that it contains only 623 experiments. Pleakley hands the container over to Hämsterviel, who is shocked to find that one is missing. Lilo then shows up with Experiment 221 trapped in the vase. Announcing that she has named it "Sparky", she says that Sparky is part of Stitch's, and thus her, ''
ohana
is a Hawaiian term meaning "family" (in an extended sense of the term, including blood-related, adoptive or intentional).
The term is cognate with Māori , meaning "nest".
The root word refers to the root or corm of the , or taro plant (the ...
''. Furious, Hämsterviel tells her to give him the experiment or Jumba will die. After several moments of thinking and hearing Cobra, Pleakley, Jumba and Hämsterviel persuading them, Lilo and Stitch set Sparky free and break Jumba from his bonds. On Cobra's signal,
the Grand Councilwoman's ship rises out of the nearby ocean and aims several guns at Hämsterviel to obliterate him. Lilo protests, saying that Hämsterviel has the other experiments while Sparky overhears this. Sparky then proceeds to use his electrical abilities to blow the power on the Councilwoman's ship, while Hämsterviel and Gantu climb back aboard their own ship with the captured experiments. In a last attempt to stop Hämsterviel, Lilo, Stitch and Sparky stow away on it as it leaves Earth.
Inside the ship, Lilo and Stitch manage to swipe the container with the other experiments in it. The struggle for the container between Lilo, Stitch and Gantu results in releasing the dehydrated pods to rain down and scatter throughout Hawaii. Having captured the two, Hämsterviel reveals his plans to clone Stitch a thousand times over and orders Gantu to do what he wants with Lilo. While Gantu puts Lilo in a teleportation pod to send her to an intergalactic
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological g ...
, Stitch is strapped to a weight just heavier than he can lift. Watching as Stitch tries to avoid being vivisected by a laser for the cloning process, Sparky shows that he has reformed by short-circuiting the cloning machine. He then breaks Stitch free from his bonds and the two strap Hämsterviel to the device before they rescue Lilo.
Having locked Hämsterviel in handcuffs, Lilo, Stitch, and Sparky short-circuit Gantu's ship, causing it to crash near a waterfall on
Kauai
Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...
. Landing Hämsterviel's ship back at the rendezvous point, they give Sparky a new home powering
Kīlauea Lighthouse, which hasn't been running in years because powering it was very expensive. They then persuade the Grand Councilwoman to let them rehabilitate the other 623 experiments. The Councilwoman places Hämsterviel under arrest, and Jumba whispers to Pleakley that he has plans for making Experiment 627. At that moment, Experiments 202, 529, 455, 489, and 390 are activated,
beginning the events of the series.
Later, Jumba and Pleakley hope to go home with the Grand Councilwoman this time, but they are left stranded on Earth once again.
Voice cast
*
Chris Sanders
Christopher Michael Sanders (born March 12, 1962) is an American director, screenwriter, producer, illustrator, and voice actor. His credits include '' Lilo & Stitch'' (2002) and '' How to Train Your Dragon'' (2010), both of which he co-wrote an ...
as
Stitch a.k.a. Experiment 626
*
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...
as
Sparky a.k.a. Experiment 221, Stitch's cousin and Various Voices
*
Daveigh Chase
Daveigh Elizabeth Chase ( ; née Chase-Schwallier; born July 24, 1990) is an American actress, singer, and model. She began her career appearing in minor television roles before being cast as Samantha Darko in Richard Kelly's cult film ''Donnie ...
as
Lilo Pelekai
Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated films ...
*
Jeff Bennett
Jeffrey Glenn Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor who voiced Johnny Bravo in the Johnny Bravo, eponymous television series, Dexter's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Brooklyn in ''Gargoyles (TV series), Gargoyles'' and List o ...
as
Dr. Hämsterviel
*
Kevin Michael Richardson
Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...
as
Captain Gantu
Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated film ...
*
Tia Carrere
Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo (born January 2, 1967), known professionally as Tia Carrere (), is an American actress, singer and former model who got her first big break as a regular on the daytime soap opera '' General Hospital''.
Carrere played C ...
as
Nani Pelekai
Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated films ...
*
David Ogden Stiers
David Allen Ogden Stiers ( ; October 31, 1942 – March 3, 2018) was an American actor and conductor. He appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, and originated the role of Feldman in ''The Magic Show'', in which he appeared for four ...
as
Dr. Jumba Jookiba
Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated films ...
*
Kevin McDonald
Kevin Hamilton McDonald (born May 16, 1961) is a Canadian actor, voice actor and comedian. He is a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of stage, television and film productions, most notably th ...
as
Agent Wendy Pleakley
The Walt Disney Company, Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch (franchise), Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with Lilo & Stitch, the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and D ...
*
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also ap ...
as
Cobra Bubbles
Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated films ...
*
Rob Paulsen
Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program and three Anni ...
as
Reuben a.k.a. Experiment 625, Gantu's sidekick
*
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...
as
David Kawena
Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated films, ...
Other voices, listed as "With the Voice Talents of":
*
Corey Burton
Corey Gregg Weinberg (born August 3, 1955), known professionally as Corey Burton, is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake, Dale and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transforme ...
as Hawaiian Man
*
Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Ada Caldwell, (14 September 1933 – 16 February 2020) was an Australian actress. She was a four-time Tony Award winner, winning Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' Slapstick Tragedy'' (1966), and Best Actress in a Play for '' The Pri ...
as
Grand Councilwoman
*
Tress MacNeille
Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series ''Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrench ...
as Hämsterviel's Ship Computer
* Kunewa Mook as Moses Puloki
*
Liliana Mumy
Liliana Berry Davis Mumy (; born April 16, 1994) is an American actress. Between 2002 and 2006, she appeared as Jessica Baker in the two ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' movies and as Lucy Miller in the second and third films of ''The Santa Clause'' tr ...
as
Mertle Edmonds
The Walt Disney Company, Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch (franchise), Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with Lilo & Stitch, the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and D ...
*
Jess Winfield
Jess Winfield (born March 8, 1961) is an American novelist, self-help author, television writer, and voice actor who is a founding member of The Reduced Shakespeare Company. His books include: ''What Would Shakespeare Do'' (2000) and ''My Name I ...
as Various Voices
* Lili Ishida as Yuki (uncredited)
* Jillian Henry as Elena (uncredited)
* Kali Whitehurst as Teresa (uncredited)
Production
Presented by
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...
and produced by
Walt Disney Television Animation
Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...
, ''Stitch! The Movie'' is the lead-in to ''
Lilo & Stitch: The Series''.
At some point, there was a decision to only have Stitch's name in the titles of both the film and the subsequent series, which was planned to be called ''Stitch! The TV Series''.
Eventually, this was abolished, resulting in both this film and ''The Series'' having mismatched names. The ''Stitch!'' name (with
exclamation point
The exclamation mark, , or exclamation point (American English), is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or to show emphasis. The exclamation mark often marks the end of a sentence, f ...
) was used as the title for
an anime series five years after this film's release.
Critical reception
In a 2019 list of direct-to-video sequels, prequels, and "mid-quels" to Disney animated films, Petrana Radulovic of ''
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
'' ranked ''Stitch! The Movie'' tenth out of twenty-six films, the lowest of the ''Lilo & Stitch'' sequel films on her list.
Radulovic wrote that she liked the message of Stitch finding his family, but criticized it for not being as funny as the original ''Lilo & Stitch'' film, stating that "some of the
undanecharm of ''Lilo & Stitch''
..s lost in favor of chasing a new alien
parkyand introducing the rabbitlike villain
ämstervielwho just wants world domination."
In a similar list in 2020, Lisa Wehrstedt of ''
Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'' ranked ''Stitch! The Movie'' seventeenth out of twenty-five films, also the lowest of the ''Lilo & Stitch'' sequels on her list.
Wehrstedt wrote that she believed the film's premise did not warrant a full feature film, and its finale was too "open-ended" to have ''Stitch! The Movie'' "work as a stand-alone film like the rest of the ''Lilo & Stitch'' sequels."
However, she nonetheless claimed that "everything in the ''Lilo & Stitch'' world has an irresistible charm that propels it up many ranks considering what its plot and animation quality would be able to achieve without a bunch of cute little monsters."
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stitch! The Movie
2003 films
2003 animated films
2003 direct-to-video films
2000s American animated films
American children's animated comic science fiction films
American sequel films
American television series premieres
Direct-to-video sequel films
Disney direct-to-video animated films
Films about children
Films set in Hawaii
Lilo & Stitch (franchise)
Television films as pilots
Films scored by Michael Tavera
Films scored by Alan Silvestri
Rough Draft Studios films
Disney Television Animation films
2000s children's animated films
Films directed by Bobs Gannaway
Films directed by Tony Craig (director)
2000s English-language films