LILO & STITCH Teaser Trailer 2 (2025)

LILO & STITCH Teaser Trailer 2 (2025)

LILO & STITCH Teaser Trailer 2 (2025)
© 2025 - Disney

Disney has released the teaser trailer for Lilo & Stitch, an upcoming live-action remake of the beloved 2002 animated classic of the same name. It is set to hit theaters on May 23, 2025.

Per the official logline, Lilo & Stitch is a “wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.” It is directed by Marcel the Shell with Shoes On filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp.

What happens in the Lilo & Stitch teaser trailer?
The teaser trailer opens with a shot of a sand castle akin to the iconic Disney castle. It then jumps to Stitch, arriving to destroy the castle. It also reveals the film will be arriving on Memorial Day in 2025.

The recent teaser trailer drop comes on the heels of the recently released poster, introducing the live-action iteration of the beloved blue-colored alien.

You can watch the teaser trailer down below (watch more trailers):

Lilo & Stitch stars Maia Kealoha as Lilo Pelekai, Sydney Elizebeth Agudong as Nani Pelekai, Kaipo Dudoit as David Kawena, Amy Hill as Tūtū, Tia Carrere as Mrs. Kekoa, and Courtney B. Vance as Cobra Bubbles, among others.

Chris Sanders has joined the project as the voice of Stitch, with Zach Galifianakis as the voice of Dr. Jumba Jookiba, Billy Magnussen as the voice of Agent Pleakley, and Hannah Waddingham as the voice of The Grand Councilwoman.

Sanders is no stranger to the Lilo & Stitch franchise, having previously voiced the character in various projects like Lilo & Stitch: The Series, 2005’s Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, and 2006’s Leroy & Stitch.

The upcoming feature is written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and is produced by Jonathan Eirich and Dan Lin. Executive producers are Louie Provost, Tom Peitzman, and Ryan Halprin.

Lilo & Stitch serves as Disney’s latest attempt to create a live-action remake of its classics, joining 2010’s Alice in Wonderland, 2015’s Cinderella, 2016’s The Jungle Book, 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, 2019’s Dumbo, 2019’s Aladdin, 2019’s The Lion King, 2023’s The Little Mermaid, and more.
Lilo & Stitch

Teaser poster
Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp
Screenplay by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes
Based on
Lilo & Stitch
by Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois
Produced by
Jonathan Eirich
Dan Lin
Starring
Sydney Agudong
Billy Magnussen
Tia Carrere
Hannah Waddingham
Chris Sanders
Courtney B. Vance
Zach Galifianakis
Maia Kealoha
Cinematography Nigel Bluck
Production
companies
Walt Disney Pictures
Rideback
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
Release date
May 23, 2025
Country United States
Language English
Lilo & Stitch is an upcoming American science fiction comedy film directed by Dean Fleischer Camp and written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Rideback, the film will be a live-action/CGI remake of Disney's 2002 animated film Lilo & Stitch. It will star Maia Kealoha as Lilo Pelekai, with Lilo & Stitch writer-director Chris Sanders reprising his voice role as Stitch. Sydney Agudong, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Magnussen, Hannah Waddingham, Courtney B. Vance, and original cast members Tia Carrere, Amy Hill, and Jason Scott Lee will appear.

Lilo & Stitch is scheduled to be released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on May 23, 2025.

Premise
The film tells the story of "the bond formed between a lonely human girl named Lilo and a dog-like alien named Stitch, who is engineered to be a force of destruction. Pursuing aliens, social workers and the idea of the bond of family figure into the proceedings."[1]

Cast
Maia Kealoha as Lilo Pelekai, a six-year-old Native Hawaiian girl "who loves hula, surfing, and wildlife, with a special affinity for all things 'gross'."[2] She's very imaginative yet rebellious, which gets her into trouble often and ostracizes her from her classmates, who consider her a "weirdie". Unlike the original film, which portrayed her and Nani's parents having died relatively recently by that film's events, their parents will have been dead for "a few years" by the remake's events, with Lilo hiding her grief through "relentless, fun loving optimism".[3][4]
Chris Sanders as the voice of Stitch, a blue koala-like illegal alien genetic experiment known as Experiment 626, who is adopted by Lilo. He is described as "[u]nruly, impulsive, and freakishly strong; he's a furry, ugly-cute wrecking ball seemingly bent on destroying everything in his path."[4] Sanders, who created the character, reprises the role he originated in the 2002 animated film.
Sydney Agudong as Nani Pelekai, the 18-year-old sister of Lilo and her legal guardian. She is described as "intelligent, overachieving, athletic, Type A" and a "straight-A student" who has been feeling the increasing pressures of having to take care of Lilo while maintaining her school grades and her job, causing issues with her and Lilo's social worker, with child protective services threatening to separate the Pelekai sisters and put Lilo into foster care.[5]
Zach Galifianakis as the voice of Dr. Jumba Jookiba,[6] the Kweltikwan mad scientist creator of Stitch.
Billy Magnussen as the voice of Agent Pleakley,[7] a Plorgonarian agent of the United Galactic Federation and their "expert" on Earth. He is sent down to the planet to prevent Jumba from harming any of Earth's life forms while hunting 626.
Kaipo Dudoit as David Kawena, an 18-year-old Native Hawaiian community college student and surfer who is kind to Nani.[4] He performs the "fire knife dance" at the hotel where he and Nani work at.[4][8] Kahiau Machado was originally cast in the role,[8] but he was recast shortly thereafter due to his prior usage of a racial slur.[9]
Tia Carrere as Mrs. Kekoa,[10] a 55-year-old AANHPI social worker who is "a practical, by-the-book kind and patient woman who checks in regularly with Nani", but is nevertheless aware of Nani's struggles to keep up with her duties.[4][2] Carrere was originally the voice of Nani in the animated continuity.
Courtney B. Vance as Cobra Bubbles, a social worker in charge of Lilo's welfare.[11]
Hannah Waddingham as the voice of the Grand Councilwoman, the alien leader of the United Galactic Federation and its council who orders Jumba and Pleakley to capture Stitch after his escape.[12][13]
Amy Hill as Tūtū,[10] a Native Hawaiian in her 70s who is the long-time neighbor of the Pelekais and the grandmother of David Kawena.[2] She is described as "a warm, quick-witted woman who speaks with a local Pidgin accent."[4] She is original to this film, as none of David's family members appeared or were referred to during the original animated continuity, nor did Lilo and Nani have close neighbors during said continuity.[4] Hill previously voiced Mrs. Hasagawa in the original film and Lilo & Stitch: The Series.
Jason Scott Lee as a lūʻau manager.[14] Lee previously voiced David in the original film and Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005).
Production
Development
On October 3, 2018, it was announced that Walt Disney Pictures was developing a live-action/computer-generated animation hybrid film remake of Disney's 2002 animated feature film Lilo & Stitch. The film was set to be adapted by Mike Van Waes, produced by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, and co-produced by Ryan Halprin.[1][15] On October 24, 2018, Van Waes revealed that he began to work on the remake's script.[16] On November 13, 2020, Jon M. Chu entered talks to direct the film, while Van Waes was reported to have left the project, with the studio looking for a new screenwriter to re-write Van Waes's script,[17][18] though Chu would ultimately not direct the film due to other obligations. On July 14, 2022, Deadline Hollywood reported that Dean Fleischer Camp was chosen to direct instead, while Chris Kekaniokalani Bright was in talks to rewrite the script;[19] Bright was fully confirmed to be the writer in February 2023.[6] The day after Deadline Hollywood's announcement of Fleischer Camp and Bright's involvement, Van Waes quote tweeted from Deadline Hollywood's tweet on their article, welcoming Fleischer Camp and Bright to the film's production, possibly indicating that he is still involved with the film.[20]

The film was given the working title Bad Dog, a reference to the ever-misbehaving Stitch being mistaken for and adopted as a dog, while the new production company established for the film was named "Blue Koala Pictures, Inc." in reference to a typical description of the character's physical appearance.[21]

Casting
While it was speculated that the original film's co-writer/co-director, Chris Sanders, would reprise his role as the voice of Stitch in the remake, Sanders claimed in a September 2022 interview that Disney had not yet approached him on reprising the role, although he stated that he is always open to returning to voice his creation.[22]

It was reported in November 2022 that a casting call has been issued for the film.[4] The initial casting call was later tweeted on November 22 by the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment.[2]

In February 2023, Zach Galifianakis joined the cast in a then-unspecified role. While TheWrap reported at the time that he would voice Pleakley,[6] The Hollywood Reporter contradicted them in April when they reported that Galifianakis was instead voicing Dr. Jumba Jookiba.[10] In late March, Maia Kealoha was cast in the lead role as Lilo Pelekai.[3]

In April 2023, Billy Magnussen was cast as the voice of Agent Pleakley,[10] and Sydney Agudong was cast as Nani Pelekai.[5] Later that month, Kahiau Machado was cast as David Kawena,[8] while Courtney B. Vance was cast as Cobra Bubbles, who fans initially believed was cut from the film's cast of characters.[11] Tia Carrere and Amy Hill, who both voiced roles in the original film and its original sequel material such as Lilo & Stitch: The Series, were cast in new roles, with Sanders in final negotiations to reprise his voice role as Stitch.[10]

The castings of Agudong and Machado were met with controversy on social media shortly after their announcements, with accusations of colorism and whitewashing towards Disney and the film's casting crew, as the two actors are of lighter skin tones than their characters' original animated counterparts.[23][24] Sydney Agudong—the older sister of actress Siena Agudong—is a mixed-race woman born and raised on Kaua'i (where the franchise is mainly set) to a Caucasian mother and a father who is Filipino.[23][25][24] Agudong received comments on her Instagram account attacking her for accepting the role.[26] After Internet users discovered that Machado previously used a racial slur on his Spotify and Instagram accounts, Disney quietly recast him with Kaipo Dudoit.[10][9][27] Machado later posted an apology for his prior use of the slur via Instagram on April 27, 2023.[27]

In June 2023, Jason Scott Lee, who voiced David Kawena in the original film and Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005), revealed on the podcast Kyle Meredith With... that he will have a cameo in the film as the manager of the luau where Nani and David work at.[14][28]

Filming
Principal photography was slated to start in Oahu, Hawaii, on March 13, 2023,[29] and finish on June 16.[30] However, the first day of filming was later delayed to April 17.[31]

On April 16, 2023, a fire broke out in a trailer within the base camp of the film's set in Haleiwa, causing approximately $200,000 in damage.[31][32][33] The trailer contained costumes that would have been used for the first three weeks of filming.[34] The fire started before 11 PM HST and was extinguished by 1 AM the following day.[31][32][33] There were no reported injuries, although the beginning of filming was delayed indefinitely. The Honolulu Police Department classified it as a first-degree arson and opened an investigation in response.[31][32][33][34]

Filming eventually began by May 1, 2023, when a portion of the Kalanianaole Highway was closed for the film's production.[35] Filming was suspended in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[36] It eventually resumed in February 2024 and finally wrapped in early March that year.[37]

Visual effects and design
The visual effects are provided by Industrial Light & Magic.[38]

Marketing
A first look at the film's live-action Stitch design was revealed at the 2024 D23 convention on August 9, 2024.[39][40] Screen Rant and Collider both reacted positively to the reveal.[41][42] On November 8, 2024, during D23 Brazil, Disney released a still from the film showing Stitch wearing a lei and looking at an out-of-focus Lilo while standing on her bed.[43][44] On November 22, Disney published the first teaser poster for the film, featuring an extreme close-up of Stitch.[45] On November 25, Disney released the first teaser trailer, showing Stitch on a beach destroying a sandcastle modeled after the castle in Disney's production logo.[46][47] On November 27, the same day of the wide release of Moana 2, a new poster was shown featuring Stitch with a Kakamora from the Moana franchise in his mouth, alluding to the original film's crossover-based marketing campaign in which Stitch invaded other Disney films. On December 18, 2 days before the release of Mufasa: The Lion King, another crossover poster was released, this one showing Stitch being held up in the air by Rafiki.[48]

Release
In November 2020, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter reported that Disney had not determined whether the film would be released theatrically or through Disney+.[17][18] In November 2022, it was confirmed via a casting call that the film was to be produced for a direct-to-streaming Disney+ release.[2] In August 2024, the film was shifted to a summer 2025 theatrical release.[49] In October, the film was given a release date of May 23, 2025.[50]

See also
List of Disney live-action adaptations and remakes of Disney animated films
References
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Verhoeven, Beatrice (April 14, 2023). "Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch' Finds Its Nani, Lilo's Sister (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
Taylor, Drew (February 17, 2023). "Zach Galifianakis Cast in Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch'". TheWrap. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
Grobar, Matt (April 12, 2023). "Lilo & Stitch Live-Action Disney Movie Adds Billy Magnussen". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
Verhoeven, Beatrice (April 17, 2023). "Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch' Casts Nani's Love Interest David (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 4, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
Shrishty (April 21, 2023). "'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Remake Recasts David Following Controversy". Collider. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
Verhoeven, Beatrice (April 21, 2023). "Chris Sanders in Final Talks to Return as Voice of Stitch in Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
Cordero, Rosy (April 19, 2023). "Courtney B. Vance Boards Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
McDonough, Jennifer (August 22, 2024). "Lilo and Stitch Live-Action Movie's 8 Main Cast Members Get Officially Announced (Photos)". The Direct. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
Comiter, Jordana (November 27, 2024). "Lilo & Stitch Is Coming to Life! See the Cast of the Live-Action Movie Side-by-Side with the Animated Characters from the Original". People. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
McPherson, Christopher (June 27, 2023). "'Lilo & Stitch's David Voice Actor Reveals Role in Live-Action Reboot". Collider. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
N'Duka, Amanda (October 3, 2018). "Disney Loading 'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Adaptation". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
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Rubin, Rebecca (November 13, 2020). "Jon M. Chu to Direct 'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Movie". Variety. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
Kit, Borys (November 13, 2020). "Jon M. Chu in Talks to Direct Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch' Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
Kroll, Justin (July 14, 2022). "'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Pic At Disney Taps 'Marcel The Shell With Shoes On's Dean Fleischer Camp To Direct". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
Van Waes, Mike [@mikevanwaes] (July 15, 2022). "Welcome to the ohana @DFLEISCHERCAMP and Chris K.T. Bright! 🤩" (Tweet). Retrieved July 17, 2022 – via Twitter.
Wilding, Josh (March 3, 2023). "Lilo & Stitch Live-Action Movie Gets A Fitting Working Title But One Key Character Still Hasn't Been Cast". Toonado. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
Weiss, Josh (September 13, 2022). "Original Co-Director of 'Lilo & Stitch' Has Thoughts About the Live-Action Remake". SYFY Wire. Archived from the original on September 13, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
Frank, Allegra (April 20, 2023). "Disney Keeps Bungling the 'Lilo and Stitch' Remake Casting". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
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Segarra, Edward (April 20, 2023). "'Lilo & Stich' fans slam casting of light-skinned Hawaiian actress in live-action remake". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
Ke, Bryan (April 19, 2023). "'Lilo and Stitch' live-action remake accused of whitewashing Nani Pelekai". NextShark. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
HNN Staff (April 28, 2023). "Disney recasts role of David in 'Lilo & Stitch' remake after past racial slurs surface". Hawaii News Now. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
Meredith, Kyle (June 26, 2023). "Kyle Meredith With...: Jason Scott Lee on the Cultural Stories of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Jungle Book, and Doogie Kameāloha, M.D" (Podcast). Kyle Meredith With... Consequence Pod Network. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
Santens, Tim (March 14, 2023). "Live-Action "Lilo & Stitch" Begins Filming in O'ahu in March". Tales From The Collection. Archived from the original on April 1, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
"'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Disney Movie Gets Filming Schedule [Exclusive]". Midgard Times. February 18, 2023. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
HNN Staff (April 17, 2023). "Arson investigation underway after fire on set of major film production on Oahu's North Shore". Hawaii News Now. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
HPR News Staff (April 18, 2023). "Suspected arson investigation on live-action 'Lilo & Stitch' film set". Hawaii Public Radio. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
Bernardo, Rosemarie (April 18, 2023). "Arson suspected in Disney film trailer blaze". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023 – via Yahoo! News.
Daysog, Rick (April 18, 2023). "'Reeks of organized crime': 'Lilo and Stitch' set fire reopens old industry wounds". Hawaii News Now. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
"'Lilo & Stitch' filming to close portion of Kalanianaole Highway in both directions". Hawaii News Now. April 25, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
Couch, Aaron; Giardina, Carolyn; Kit, Borys (July 14, 2023). "Deadpool 3, Mission: Impossible 8, and Venom 3 Halted Amid Actors Strike". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
Piña, Christy (June 10, 2024). "'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action: Everything to Know About Remake of Beloved Disney Animated Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
Huang, PeiZhi. "FX Supervisor". Linkedin.
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Juneau, Jen (November 25, 2024). "Disney's Favorite Blue Alien Stitch Returns in Adorable Teaser for Live-Action Lilo & Stitch Movie". People. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
Schreur, Brandon (November 27, 2024). "New Lilo & Stitch Poster Sees Experiment 626 Eating a Moana Kakamora". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
Kuznikov, Selena (August 9, 2024). "'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Remake Gets First Look at CGI Stitch and 2025 Release". Variety. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
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External links
Official website
Lilo & Stitch at IMDb
vte
Lilo & Stitch
vte
Adaptations and remakes of Disney animated films
vte
Works by Dean Fleischer Camp
Categories: Upcoming films2025 films2020s science fiction comedy films2025 comedy-drama films2025 science fiction filmsAmerican buddy comedy-drama filmsAnimated buddy filmsAnimated films about orphansAnimated films about extraterrestrial lifeCasting controversies in filmDisney controversiesDisney film remakesFilms about childrenFilms about dysfunctional familiesFilms about familiesFilms about sistersFilms affected by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikeFilms directed by Dean Fleischer CampFilms produced by Dan LinFilms set in HawaiiFilms shot in HonoluluLilo & Stitch (franchise) filmsRace-related controversies in filmSurfing filmsWalt Disney Pictures films
Lilo & Stitch

Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois
Written by
Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois
Story by Chris Sanders[a]
Produced by Clark Spencer
Starring
Daveigh Chase
Chris Sanders[b]
Tia Carrere
Ving Rhames
David Ogden Stiers
Kevin McDonald
Jason Scott Lee
Zoe Caldwell
Kevin Michael Richardson
Edited by Darren T. Holmes
Music by Alan Silvestri
Production
company
Walt Disney Feature Animation
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution[c]
Release dates
June 16, 2002 (El Capitan Theatre)
June 21, 2002 (United States)
Running time 85 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $80 million[2]
Box office $273.1 million[2]
Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 American animated science fiction comedy drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures.[3][4] It was written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Clark Spencer, based on an original story created by Sanders. It stars Daveigh Chase and Sanders as the voices of the title characters, with the voices of Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Kevin McDonald, Ving Rhames, Jason Scott Lee, Zoe Caldwell, and Kevin Michael Richardson in supporting roles. It was the second of three Disney animated feature films produced primarily at the Florida animation studio in Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida.[5][d]

The film tells the story of two individuals: an orphaned Hawaiian girl named Lilo Pelekai, who is raised by her struggling older sister, Nani, after their parents' deaths, and the genetically engineered extraterrestrial creature Experiment 626, who Lilo adopts as her "dog" and renames "Stitch". Stitch, who was designed to cause chaos and destruction, initially uses Lilo to avoid recapture by an intergalactic federation. They develop a close bond through the Hawaiian concept of ʻohana, or extended family, causing Stitch to reconsider his intended destructive purpose in order to keep his newfound family together.

The film is based on an idea by Sanders, who originally conceived Stitch in 1985, and the film's design and aesthetics are based on his personal art style. Stitch was initially at the center of a children's book Sanders had conceptualized, but later abandoned. A feature-length film starring the character entered development in 1997 when Thomas Schumacher, then the president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, approached Sanders with the objective of "producing the Dumbo for our generation." The use of watercolor backgrounds hearkened back to early Disney productions such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The film and its accompanying soundtrack made extensive use of the music of Elvis Presley, while Alan Silvestri composed the film's score.

Lilo & Stitch premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on June 16, 2002, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 21. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised its story, humor, charm, and originality. Produced on an $80 million budget and promoted with a marketing campaign that played up its oddities, it was a box-office success, grossing over $273 million worldwide. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards but lost to Spirited Away.[6][7] The film's success made it a highlight of Disney's post-animation renaissance era in the 2000s, spawning a franchise that includes three direct-to-video film sequels and three television series. A live-action adaptation is set to be released in 2025.

Plot
On planet Turo, the United Galactic Federation convicts scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba of illegal genetic experimentation; he has created Experiment 626, an aggressive and near-indestructible creature with great learning capabilities. 626 is sentenced to exile on a desert asteroid, but he escapes and hijacks a space cruiser that crash-lands on Kauaʻi, Hawaii, on the planet Earth. Shortly after landing on Earth, 626 is hit by three passing trucks and taken to an animal shelter. The Federation's Grand Councilwoman offers Jumba an early release if he retrieves 626 with the assistance of the council's Earth expert, Agent Pleakley.

On Kauaʻi, orphaned teenager Nani Pelekai struggles to take care of her lonely, rambunctious younger sister, Lilo, following their parents' death in a car crash. Social worker Cobra Bubbles doubts Nani can be an adequate guardian for Lilo and threatens to place Lilo in foster care if the Pelekais' situation fails to improve. After overhearing Lilo wishing to have a friend, Nani brings her to the animal shelter to adopt a dog. Lilo adopts 626, who is impersonating a dog, and names him "Stitch". That night, Stitch causes chaos at the lūʻau where Nani works while trying to avoid capture by Jumba and Pleakley. Nani's boss blames Nani for the chaos, and she is fired. The news of Nani's unemployment reaches Bubbles, who orders Nani to find a new job and tells Lilo to teach Stitch to be a "model citizen".

Despite Lilo's attempts to domesticate Stitch, his antics repeatedly ruin Nani's efforts to find a new job. While Nani, Lilo, and Stitch go surfing with Nani's former co-worker and friend David, Jumba and Pleakley again attempt to capture Stitch and unintentionally drag Lilo underwater in the process. David rescues Lilo and Stitch, but Bubbles, having observed the mishap, tells Nani he will retrieve Lilo the following morning. Feeling guilty for causing so much trouble, Stitch runs away. The Grand Councilwoman fires Jumba and Pleakley and tasks her second-in-command, Captain Gantu, with capturing Stitch, while Jumba begins hunting Stitch using less covert methods. When David informs Nani of another job opportunity, Nani leaves Lilo at home alone. Jumba and Pleakley chase Stitch back to the Pelekais' house. The ensuing fight between Jumba and Stitch culminates in an explosion that destroys the house.

Nani gets the job but frantically returns home after seeing a fire engine driving toward her house. Bubbles arrives to retrieve Lilo. While Bubbles and Nani argue about Lilo's well-being, Lilo runs away into the woods and encounters Stitch, who reveals his alien identity just moments before Gantu captures them both. Stitch manages to escape just as Gantu's ship takes off. Nani confronts Stitch, but Jumba and Pleakley immediately capture him. Nani asks them to save Lilo, but they insist they only have legal authority to capture Stitch. After Nani bursts into tears, Stitch remembers ʻohana, a term for "family" he learned from Lilo, and convinces Jumba to help rescue her. Jumba, Pleakley, Stitch, and Nani board Jumba's spaceship, pursue Gantu and rescue Lilo.

The Grand Councilwoman arrives to retrieve Stitch herself. She fires Gantu for endangering Lilo and failing to capture Stitch. However, after observing Stitch's civilized behavior and being informed that Lilo legally owns Stitch because she bought him at the animal shelter, the Grand Councilwoman decrees that Stitch will live out his exile on Earth and that the Pelekai family has the protection of the United Galactic Federation. Bubbles reveals he is a former CIA agent who had previously met the Grand Councilwoman in Roswell, New Mexico in 1973. Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley, having joined Lilo and Nani's family, rebuild their house with David and Bubbles' help.

Voice cast
Main article: List of Lilo & Stitch characters
Daveigh Chase as Lilo Pelekai, an eccentric young Hawaiian girl on the island of Kauaʻi who adopts Stitch as her pet dog.
Chris Sanders[b] as Stitch, also known as Experiment 626, a blue koala-like illegal genetic experiment with the ability to create untold chaos.
Tia Carrere as Nani Pelekai, Lilo's older sister and legal guardian.
Jason Scott Lee as David Kawena, Nani's hapless surfer boyfriend.
David Ogden Stiers as Dr. Jumba Jookiba, a Kweltikwan mad scientist employed by Galaxy Defense Industries who created Stitch.
Kevin McDonald as Agent Pleakley, a Plorgonarian Galactic Federation agent who acts as the expert of Earth.
Ving Rhames as Cobra Bubbles, a social worker in charge of Lilo's welfare and Nani's duties as her guardian.
Kevin Michael Richardson as Captain Gantu, the respected but arrogant Shaelik second-in-command of the Galactic Federation.
Zoe Caldwell as the Grand Councilwoman, the Grey leader of the Galactic Federation.
Miranda Paige Walls as Mertle Edmonds, Lilo's classmate from their hālau hula who despises and derides her.
Kunewa Mook as Moses Puloki, Lilo's hula teacher.
Amy Hill as Mrs. Hasagawa, an elderly woman who runs a fruit stand.
Susan Hegarty as Rescue Lady, who runs the animal shelter where Lilo adopts Stitch.
Production
Development

A 1985 concept sketch of Stitch by the character's creator Chris Sanders
In 1985, after graduating from California Institute of the Arts, Chris Sanders had created the character of Stitch for an unsuccessful children's book pitch.[8] He said, "I wanted to do a children's book about this little creature that lived in a forest. It was a bit of a monster with no real explanation as to where it came from." But he found it difficult to condense the story and abandoned the project.[9] In 1987, Walt Disney Feature Animation hired him for their newly formed visual development department. His first project was The Rescuers Down Under (1990), but he soon transitioned into storyboarding.[10] After that, Sanders storyboarded sequences for Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994), and was promoted to Head of Story on Mulan (1998).[11]

In 1997, several executives at Disney Feature Animation were invited to a retreat at Michael Eisner's farm in Vermont to discuss the future animation slate beyond adapting preexisting legends, folklore or classic novels.[12] At the retreat, Thomas Schumacher, then executive vice president of Disney Feature Animation, suggested they produce a film that would be the "Dumbo for our generation", compared to the large-budget Disney animated features they had already done.[8] Schumacher approached Sanders about producing the film, telling him: "Everybody wants this next film to be you."[9]

During a karaoke dinner at the Walt Disney World Swan Resort, Schumacher asked Sanders, "Is there anything you would like to develop?" Sanders remembered the children's book project he had initially developed.[13] At his next meeting, Sanders pitched a remote, non-urban location, with Stitch crash-landing into a forest and interacting entirely with woodland animals, being ostracized by them, and living on his own at a farm in rural Kansas.[14] But Schumacher suggested that Stitch should interact with people instead: "The animal world is already alien to us. So, if you wanna get the best contrast between this monster and the place where it lives, I would recommend you set it in a human world."[13][15][16] Sanders would eventually, albeit inadvertently, revisit his idea of a creature bonding with animals in a forest years later with The Wild Robot (2024).[17]

For three straight days in his Palm Springs, Florida hotel room, Sanders created a 29-page pitch book drawing conceptual sketches and outlining the film's general story.[13] He initially revised it by adding a boy character.[18] But as the character of Stitch evolved, Sanders decided he needed to be contrasted with a female character: "I think Stitch represented a male character so the balance would be to put him with a little girl. We wanted someone who was going to be in conflict with Stitch, and we realized a little boy might be a comrade."[19] Sanders then glanced at a map of Hawaii on his wall, and recalling he had recently vacationed there, he relocated the story there.[8] Not well versed in Hawaiian culture, Sanders turned to a vacation roadmap and found the names "Lilo Lane" and "Nani" there.[9] After finishing the booklet, he shipped it to Burbank, and Schumacher approved the pitch with one condition: "it has to look like you drew it."[13]

Writing
"Animation has been set so much in ancient, medieval Europe — so many fairy tales find their roots there, that to place it in Hawaii was kind of a big leap. But that choice went to color the entire movie, and rewrite the story for us."

—Chris Sanders, reflecting on the location change to Hawaii[15]
Dean DeBlois, who had served as "story co-head" for Mulan, was brought on to co-write and co-direct Lilo & Stitch after Thomas Schumacher allowed him to leave production on Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001).[20] Meanwhile, Disney executive Clark Spencer was assigned as the film's producer. Unlike several previous and concurrent Disney Feature Animation productions, the film's pre-production team remained relatively small and isolated from upper management until the film went into full production.[21]

Originally, Stitch was the leader of an intergalactic gang, and Jumba was one of his former cronies summoned by the Intergalactic Council to capture Stitch.[8] Test audience response to early versions of the film led to changing Stitch and Jumba into creation and creator.[8]

While the animation team visited Kauaʻi to research the locale, their tour guide explained the meaning of ʻohana as it applies to extended families. This concept of ʻohana became an important part of the movie. DeBlois recalls:

No matter where we went, our tour guide seemed to know somebody. He was really the one who explained to us the Hawaiian concept of ʻohana, a sense of family that extends far beyond your immediate relatives. That idea so influenced the story that it became the foundation theme, the thing that causes Stitch to evolve despite what he was created to do, which is destroy.

The island of Kauaʻi had also been featured in such films as Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and the Jurassic Park trilogy (1993–2001). Disney's animators faced the daunting task of meshing the film's plot, which showed the impoverished and dysfunctional life that many Hawaiians lived during the then-recent economic downturn, with the island's serene beauty. The actors voicing the film's young adults, Nani and David, were Tia Carrere, a local of Honolulu, and Jason Scott Lee, who is of Hawaiian descent and grew up in Hawaii. Both Carrere and Lee assisted with rewriting their characters' dialogue in proper colloquial dialect, and with adding Hawaiian slang terms.[22]

One innovative and unique aspect of the film is its strong focus on the relationship between two sisters. At the time, a central relationship between sisters as a major plot element was rare in American animated films.[23]

Casting
Daveigh Chase earned the role of Lilo in the fall of 1998 against 150 other candidates.[24]

Stitch was initially intended to be a non-verbal character, but Sanders said he realized "he'd have to say a few things, so we made sure that we kept it to a minimum." Instead of hiring a professional actor to voice Stitch, DeBlois suggested Sanders take the role. According to Sanders, Stitch's voice was the one he regularly used "just to bother people at the studio. I'd call people on the phone and do that voice and annoy them."[25]

Tia Carrere was originally considered for the title character in Mulan (1998), but lost the role to Ming-Na Wen.[26] After learning Disney was doing a Hawaii-set film, Carrere sought a voice role and was hired to voice Nani.[26] She spent two years recording her part in Los Angeles, Paris, and Toronto.[27] Jason Scott Lee was cast as David after Carrere recommended him for the film.[26]

Chris Williams, then a storyboard artist, suggested Kevin McDonald for the part of Agent Pleakley. After McDonald read for the part, he was cast.[9] Cobra Bubbles was initially envisioned as more of a nebbish, with Jeff Goldblum in mind for the role. Goldblum declined the role, and Bubbles was reconceived as a more intimidating character. Sanders and DeBlois recalled Ving Rhames's performance in Pulp Fiction (1994) and cast him.[9]

During the film's early development, Ricardo Montalbán was cast as one of the villains, with his vocal performance based on the voice he used for Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.[9] However, all the lines he recorded were removed and his character was cut after the meeting that lead to the removal of Stitch's gang from the story. Eventually the villainous role in the film would be Gantu voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson who is best known for playing villain roles in shows and movies. David Ogden Stiers (who had previously done voices for Disney in past films) was chosen to be the voice of Jumba. Australian actress Zoe Caldwell got the role of voicing the Grand Councilwoman, the leader of the United Galactic Federation.[9]

Design and animation

The original scene (top) and the one used in the release (bottom); the Boeing 747 and the spaceship are both flying in a sideways position
In a deviation from several decades' worth of Disney features, Sanders and DeBlois chose to use watercolor painted backgrounds for Lilo & Stitch, as opposed to the traditional gouache technique.[8] Watercolors had been used for the early Disney animated shorts, as well as the early Disney features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940), and Dumbo (1941), but the technique had been largely abandoned by the mid-1940s in favor of less complicated media such as gouache. Sanders preferred that watercolors be used for Lilo & Stitch to evoke both the bright look of a storybook and the art direction of Dumbo, requiring the background artists to be trained in working with the medium.[8][21]

The animation itself was all based on 2D work since the budget was too small for computer-generated imagery.[20] The character designs were based on Sanders's personal drawing style, rather than the traditional Disney in-house style.[8] To assist the animators with adapting Sanders's style, Sue C. Nichols, the film's visual development supervisor, created a manual, Surfing the Sanders Style.[13] Because of the limited budget, details like pockets or designs on clothing were avoided in the animation process, and since they could not afford to do shadows throughout much of the film, many of the scenes took place in shaded areas, saving shadows for more pivotal scenes.[20]

The film's extraterrestrial elements, such as the spaceships, were designed to resemble marine life, such as whales and crabs.[28] One altered scene in the film involved Stitch, Nani, Jumba, and Pleakley hijacking a Boeing 747 jet from Lihue Airport that scrapes against buildings through downtown Honolulu. But after the September 11 attacks, with only a few weeks left in production, the climax was completely reworked to have them use Jumba's spacecraft instead. The location was also shifted to have them fly through the mountains of Kauaʻi.[29][30] Regardless, the final design still has engines that resembled the 747's jet engines, according to Sanders.[20]

Even after this adjustment, the team had enough budget for about two additional minutes of animation, which was used to create the epilogue montage of Lilo, Nani, and Stitch becoming a new family.[20][31]

Release
On June 16, 2002, Lilo & Stitch premiered at the El Capitan Theatre. Alongside the filmmakers and Disney studio executives, Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley, Wynonna Judd, Phil Collins, Gregory Hines, and Jodie Foster were also in attendance.[32]

Marketing
Wanting Stitch to be a central part of the film's marketing campaign, Sanders pitched a subversive idea: "what if Stitch invaded other Disney properties?" Dick Cook, then chairman of Walt Disney Studios, loved the idea and allowed for four parody teaser trailers to be made (nicknamed "Inter-stitch-als"), in which Stitch crashes memorable moments of four films from the Disney Renaissance (three of which Sanders had worked on): The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994).[25] Most of the original actors reprised their roles in the trailers, but they were shocked when asked to act negatively toward Stitch.[citation needed] The trailers also include the AC/DC song "Back in Black."

The marketing campaign also included several tie-in promotions, like Lilo & Stitch toys being offered as part of McDonald's Happy Meals.[33] In the United Kingdom, Lilo & Stitch trailers and television ads featured a cover of Elvis's song "Suspicious Minds", performed by Gareth Gates, who became famous on the UK TV program Pop Idol. In the U.S., "Hound Dog" was used for both theatrical and television trailers. The marketing campaign presented Stitch as the sort of "Disney Family Black Sheep". As a promotional campaign, comics of Lilo & Stitch ran in Disney Adventures before the film's release. The comics detailed events leading up to the film for both title characters, including Stitch's creation and escape. These events were later contradicted by the sequel Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, rendering the comics non-canonical, but the comics are notable for introducing Experiment 625, Reuben, who was a main character in the subsequent movies and TV series.[citation needed] Most of the comic series have been released as a collective volume, Comic Zone Volume 1: Lilo & Stitch.

Home media
Lilo & Stitch was released on VHS and DVD on December 3, 2002.[34] During the first day of release, more than 3 million DVD copies were sold, earning $45 million in retail sales.[35][36] This THX-certified DVD release features various bonus features, including a "Build An Alien Experiment" game, an audio commentary, music videos, deleted scenes, teaser trailers, and DVD-ROM.[37] In 2003, a 2-disc DVD version was announced to come out along with Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Pocahontas (1995), which were released in 2004 and 2005.

A 2-Disc Special Edition DVD of the film was released in Australia on November 10, 2004 and the UK on August 22, 2005, along with the UK release of Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005), but a release in the US was affected by many delays. On March 24, 2009, Disney finally released the special edition DVD, called the "Big Wave Edition". This DVD edition retained the original supplemental features, along with an audio commentary, a two-hour documentary, more deleted scenes, a number of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and some games.

On June 11, 2013, Lilo & Stitch was released on Blu-ray and re-released on DVD alongside Lilo & Stitch 2 in a "2-Movie Collection", which included a single Blu-ray with both films but without bonus features, a reprint of disc one of the "Big Wave Edition" DVD, and a reprint of the Lilo & Stitch 2 DVD.[38] The "2-Movie Collection" has since seen two re-releases; one on January 31, 2017, containing only the Blu-ray and a code to redeem a digital download of the two films,[39] and another on August 9, 2022, which places both films on separate Blu-ray discs that also contain most of their original DVD bonus features, the two DVDs from the first Blu-ray collection, and a digital download code as with the second Blu-ray collection.[40]

Altered scene
A scene where Nani chases Lilo was modified for the UK home video release.[41] In the original, Lilo hid in a clothes dryer, which was changed to a commode with a cabinet and pizza box used as a "door" to avoid influencing children to hide in dryers.[42] The UK edit was later used for the film's Disney+ release[42] and the 2022 Blu-ray release.[citation needed]

Reception
Box office
Lilo & Stitch opened in second place earning $35.3 million in its first weekend, ranking narrowly below Tom Cruise's Minority Report.[43] During its second weekend, it fell to third place, behind Minority Report and Mr. Deeds.[44] Despite the opening of Men in Black II the week after, Lilo & Stitch remained in third place.[45]

Meanwhile, Lilo & Stitch continued to draw in families while other major summer blockbusters like Spider-Man and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones were still in wide release.[46] Additionally, it went on to compete against the Warner Bros. live-action/animated hybrid film, Scooby-Doo, along with Matt Damon's action film, The Bourne Identity.[46] The film earned $145.8 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $127.3 million internationally, totaling $273.1 million worldwide.[2]

In the UK, Lilo & Stitch collected $2.4 million during its opening weekend, ranking in first place ahead of Signs and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.[47] The film would be overtaken by Red Dragon in its second weekend.[48]

At the end of its theatrical run, Lilo & Stitch earned $145.8 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $127.3 million internationally, totaling $273.1 million worldwide.[2] It became the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2002, behind 20th Century Fox's Ice Age. They were the only two animated films to approach the $100 million mark that year domestically.[49] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 25 million tickets during its original run.[2]

Critical reaction
Lilo & Stitch received critical acclaim.[50][51] Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film has an approval rating of 87% based on 149 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Edgier than traditional Disney fare, Lilo and Stitch explores issues of family while providing a fun and charming story."[52] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[53] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[54]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3+1⁄2 stars out of 4, writing: "It's one of the most charming feature-length cartoons of recent years—funny, sassy, startling, original and with six songs by Elvis. It doesn't get sickeningly sweet at the end, it has as much stuff in it for grown-ups as for kids, and it has a bright offbeat look to it."[55] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Looser and less obviously formulaic in its fresh approach to our hearts, the brash [film] has an unleashed, subversive sense of humor that's less corporate and more uninhibited than any non-Pixar Disney film has been in time out of mind. With its hand-drawn characters and its use of watercolors for backgrounds (the first time the studio's done that since the 1940s), this is a happy throwback to the time when cartoons were cinema's most idiosyncratic form instead of one of its most predictable."[56] Richard Corliss of Time magazine felt the film is "a bright, engaging bauble with half a dozen Elvis Presley songs for Mom and Dad, and just enough sass. Stitch sticks his tongue into his nose and eats his snot to keep the tweeners giggling ...after a lag in the early sister scenes, Lilo reveals its own very American verve and wit, along with a smart story sense that marks the best animated features, traditional or computerized."[57]

Claudia Puig of USA Today noted the colors "are ultra-vibrant and rich, appropriate to the Hawaiian setting. Best of all, the movie has an endearingly cheeky attitude sometimes missing from more earnest Disney tales. Witty, touching and well paced, Lilo & Stitch is ideal family fare, but little more."[58] Desson Howe of The Washington Post also praised the film's use of watercolors, writing it is "appealing. It's easy, rather than flashy, on the eyes. And there's some sort of relief in that, in this world of hyper-powerful computer-generated imagery."[59] Owen Gleiberman, reviewing for Entertainment Weekly, argued the "animation in Lilo & Stitch has an engaging retro-simple vivacity, and it's nice to see a movie for tots make use of Elvis Presley, but the story is witless and oddly defanged. Stitch gets discovered by Lilo, a temperamental Hawaiian girl who's the whiniest of whiny brats. These two become friends in theory only: There's so little connection between them that just about the only thing sustaining the movie is its vague E.T. outline."[60]

Todd McCarthy of Variety felt Sanders and DeBlois "keep things moving briskly while commendably avoiding any special sentimental 'We Are a Village' point-making, despite the obvious opportunity. Character designs are familiar enough, but backgrounds possess an unusual pastel quality that gives the film an inviting atmosphere all its own."[61] In contrast, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Gate felt Lilo & Stitch was more appropriate for a television series, writing the directors "find themselves locked into the structure of a feature film. They're forced to tell the story of Lilo and Stitch's relationship, to give it shape and a sense of arrival. Since this is a kid's movie, the relationship can only head in the direction of schmaltz. So the promising anarchy of the first 10 or 15 minutes is suppressed."[62]

Peter M. Nichols states that through the character of Nani and her struggles, the film appeals to older children better than such attempts by the studio to do so as The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet.[63]

Soundtrack
Lilo & Stitch: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released June 11, 2002
Recorded 2001–2002
Genre
Rockpopcountry rockfilm score
Length 34:47
Language English, Hawaiian
Label Walt Disney
Producer Chris Montan (exec.)
Lilo & Stitch music chronology
Lilo & Stitch: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
(2002) Lilo & Stitch 2: Island Favorites
(2005)

Walt Disney Animation Studios chronology
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
(2001) Lilo & Stitch: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
(2002) Treasure Planet
(2002)

Alan Silvestri chronology
Showtime
(2002) Lilo & Stitch: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
(2002) Stuart Little 2
(2002)

Singles from Lilo & Stitch
"Can't Help Falling in Love"
Released: May 13, 2002
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [64]
Lilo & Stitch: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the soundtrack to Disney's 2002 animated feature Lilo & Stitch. It was released by Walt Disney Records on June 11, 2002, on Audio CD and Compact Cassette.

The soundtrack contains two original songs from the film written by Mark Kealiʻi Hoʻomalu and Alan Silvestri (the film's composer), and performed by Kealiʻi Hoʻomalu and the Kamehameha Schools children's chorus. It also contains five songs by American singer Elvis Presley, and two of his songs re-recorded by contemporary artists. These songs were performed by American singer Wynonna ("Burning Love") and Swedish group A-Teens ("Can't Help Falling in Love").

On June 23, 2003, the soundtrack album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 1 million units.[65] On March 17, 2023, the song "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" received Platinum certification from the RIAA for reaching 1 million certified units.[66]

"Baby You Belong" by Faith Hill was used as the theme song in the Japanese version. In North America the song was simply an album track with no connotation to the film.[67]

Track listing
No. Title Performers Length
1. "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" Alan Silvestri, Mark Kealiʻi Hoʻomalu, The Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus 3:28
2. "Stuck on You" Elvis Presley 2:25
3. "Burning Love" Wynonna Judd 3:10
4. "Suspicious Minds" Elvis Presley 3:23
5. "Heartbreak Hotel" Elvis Presley 2:13
6. "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" Elvis Presley 2:30
7. "He Mele No Lilo" Alan Silvestri, Mark Kealiʻi Hoʻomalu, The Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus 2:28
8. "Hound Dog" Elvis Presley 2:27
9. "Can't Help Falling in Love" A-Teens 3:07
10. "Stitch to the Rescue (score)" Alan Silvestri 5:57
11. "You Can Never Belong (score)" Alan Silvestri 3:56
12. "I'm Lost (score)" Alan Silvestri 4:43
Charts
Weekly charts
Chart (2002) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[68] 9
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[69] 44
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[70] 42
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[71] 80
US Billboard 200[72] 11
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)[73] 1
Year-end charts
Chart (2002) Position
US Billboard 200[74] 151
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)[75] 10
Chart (2003) Position
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)[76] 13
Certifications
Lilo & Stitch: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[77] Gold 35,000^
United States (RIAA)[65] Platinum 1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

"Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[66] Platinum 1,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Legacy
Spin-off media
Main article: Lilo & Stitch (franchise)
On August 26, 2003, Disney released a direct-to-video sequel, Stitch! The Movie, which served as the pilot to a television series titled Lilo & Stitch: The Series. This series ran for 65 episodes between September 20, 2003, and July 29, 2006. The series carried on where the film left off and charted Lilo and Stitch's efforts to capture and rehabilitate Jumba's remaining experiments. The series, as well as the original parts of the franchise that focused on Lilo Pelekai and were set in Hawaii, ended with the television film Leroy & Stitch, which aired on June 23, 2006.

On August 30, 2005, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, another direct-to-video sequel to the film, was released. In this film (set between Lilo & Stitch and Stitch! The Movie), Stitch has a glitch because his molecules were never fully charged (this is contrary to an original opening, "Stitch's trial", which was seen on the DVD release of Lilo & Stitch). Lilo wants to win the May Day hula contest like her mother did in the 1970s, but Stitch continues to have outbursts. Lilo gets increasingly mad at Stitch as his glitch causes more problems for her and ruins her chances of winning the competition. She thinks Stitch is not cooperating properly, until she finds out that Stitch is dying. The Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch DVD also contained a short film, The Origin of Stitch, that served as a bridge between Stitch Has a Glitch and Stitch! The Movie.

In March 2008, Disney announced an anime based on the Lilo & Stitch franchise aimed at the Japanese market titled Stitch!. The anime, which ran as a series from October 2008 to March 2011, features a Japanese girl named Yuna Kamihara in place of Lilo, and is set on a fictional island in Okinawa Prefecture instead of Hawaii. This series was produced by Madhouse for its first two seasons, and Shin-Ei Animation for its third season and two post-series specials in 2012 and 2015.

From March 27 to April 6, 2017, an English-language Chinese animated television series based on the franchise titled Stitch & Ai aired in China with a Mandarin Chinese dub. It was produced by Anhui Xinhua Media and Panimation Hwakai Media. Like with the Stitch! anime, it features a local girl named Wang Ai Ling instead of Lilo, and is set in the Huangshan mountains. Unlike Stitch!, however, this series was originally produced in English in co-operation with American animators (including those who worked on Lilo & Stitch: The Series) and then dubbed into Mandarin Chinese; the original English production aired in Southeast Asia during February 2018.

Live-action adaptation
Main article: Lilo & Stitch (2025 film)
In October 2018, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Walt Disney Pictures was developing a live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch to be produced by Aladdin producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich and written by Mike Van Waes.[78] In November 2020, it was reported that Jon M. Chu entered talks to direct the film and that it was unclear if the film would be released in theaters or on Disney+. In July 2022, Dean Fleischer Camp replaced Chu as the film's director.[79] In February 2023, Zach Galifianakis joined the film.[80][81] On March 31, 2023, it was announced that Maia Kealoha was cast as Lilo.[82] Further cast members were announced that April, including Sydney Agudong as Nani,[4] Courtney B. Vance as Bubbles,[83] and Billy Magnussen in an undisclosed role.[84] Kahiau Machado was originally cast as David, but was later replaced by Kaipo Dudoit.[85] On April 21, 2023, Galifianakis was confirmed to play Jumba, and Magnussen was confirmed to play Pleakley, while Chris Sanders entered in final negotiations to return as the voice of Stitch.[86] Tia Carrere, the original voice actress of Nani, was announced to play Mrs. Kekoa, while Amy Hill, who voiced Mrs. Hasagawa in the original, will portray a new character named Tūtū.[87]

In August 2024, the film was shifted to a summer 2025 theatrical release.[88] Two months later, the film was given a release date of May 23, 2025 in the United States.[89]

Video games
There were three official games released in 2002 to coincide with the film: Disney's Lilo & Stitch: Trouble in Paradise for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows, Disney's Lilo & Stitch for Game Boy Advance, and Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626 for PlayStation 2. Stitch is also a summonable character in Kingdom Hearts II and III, and appears along with his homeworld in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep for the PlayStation Portable. Lilo and Stitch both appear in the Nintendo 3DS game Disney Magical World and its sequel. Stitch is also a playable character in the Disney Infinity series in the second game, Disney Infinity 2.0, and the series' third and final game, Disney Infinity 3.0. He was also a meet and greet character in Kinect: Disneyland Adventures. Some characters of the film are playable characters in the game Disney Magic Kingdoms. Stitch also appears as a playable character in the mobile game Disney Mirrorverse, and as an unlockable villager Disney Dreamlight Valley. Lilo, Stitch, Jumba, Gantu, and (from Lilo & Stitch: The Series) Angel are playable racers in Disney Speedstorm, which also features a track environment based on the film's depiction of Kauaʻi.

See also
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List of films featuring extraterrestrials
Notes
Credited as "Based on an idea by"
Chris Sanders was credited as &quo