Stitch & Ai

Stitch & Ai (安玲与史迪奇 "An Ling and Stitch") is a television series spin-off of Lilo & Stitch produced for Chinese audiences that premiered on March 27, 2017 on CCTV-1 and CCTV-14. It is the Lilo & Stitch franchise's third TV series, after the Western-animated Lilo & Stitch: The Series and the anime Stitch!.

The series was produced in English before being dubbed in Mandarin for Chinese broadcast, as the show was produced with the assistance of American animators, including those who previously worked on Lilo & Stitch: The Series. The original English version began airing on Disney Channel Asia on February 5, 2018.^[1] On December 1, 2018, it was given a digital release in Western countries on the DisneyNow website and app, with the exception of the ninth episode "The Phoenix", although it has been removed from the service as of June 2019.

Premise[]

Stitch & Ai follows the events of Lilo & Stitch (and its subsequent film and television sequels up to and including Leroy & Stitch).^[2] This series sees Stitch separated from Lilo after being captured by a gang of aliens who had hoped to utilize Jumba's research and use Stitch in their space war with another race of aliens. When Stitch escapes, he ends up re-entering Earth's atmosphere over China and lands in the Huangshan Mountains where he befriends a young girl named Wang Ai Ling and becomes part of her family. However, the Galactic Federation sends Jumba and Pleakley to keep a watch on Stitch and his Chinese family. They are concerned with a hidden function that Jumba secretly programmed in Stitch. This function, which causes Stitch to metamorphosis into a giant beast to fully carryout his destructive programming which can be triggered in a large city—which could be unleashed into the Galaxy if the warring factions figure out how to manipulate Stitch into activating his hidden programming.

Cast[]

Ben Diskin - Stitch^[1]
Erika Mendez - Wang Ai Ling^[1]
Laura Post - Wang Jiejie, Wang Daiyu
Jess Winfield - Jumba Jookiba^[1]
Lucien Dodge - Pleakley, Dahu, Sage, Platypus^[1]
Cherami Leigh and Xanthe Huynh - Meiying^[1]
Richard Epcar - Wombat, Mr. Ding^[1]
Kyle Hebert - additional voices^[1]
Bobby Thong - additional voices^[1]
Sarah Anne Williams - additional voices^[1]
Deborah Crane - additional voices^[1]
Jacob Craner - additional voices^[1]
Steve Kramer - additional voices^[1]

Trivia[]

Jumba creates new experiments, though they are all specific creatures from Chinese myth. In this series, Jumba creates two cliff dragons that mate and breed. This marks the first time that creatures of Jumba's creation produce offspring.
- Unless viewers consider the English dub of Stitch! where we meet two children of Sprout, named Sproutlings.
This is the first Lilo & Stitch TV series where none of the first 625 experiments appear, and the first one in which neither Gantu nor Dr. Hämsterviel are main characters, though Gantu does have a speaking role in the series.
Various scenes from previous installments in the franchise appear in flashbacks, including:
- "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" from Lilo & Stitch
- Jumba's trial from Lilo & Stitch
- Stitch's escape from Lilo & Stitch
- Stitch's creation from Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch
- The Origin of Stitch
Ben Diskin and Jess Winfield reprise their roles as Stitch and Jumba respectively from the English dub of the Stitch! anime.
There are occasional cameos from previous characters of the Lilo & Stitch franchise, including Captain Gantu, the Grand Councilwoman, Cobra Bubbles, and the Ice Cream Man.
Plans for a potential season two was discussed by the production team, but Disney did not approve of a second season.^[2]
Victor Cook, one of the directors of Lilo & Stitch: The Series, came to China to help to make Stitch & Ai episode 8.^[3]