Stitch, also known as Experiment 626 (pronounced "six-two-six"), is a fictional character from Disney's Lilo & Stitch franchise. A genetically engineered extraterrestrial life-form, he is the more prominent of the franchise's two title protagonists, the other being his human adopter and best friend Lilo Pelekai. Stitch has gained a strong merchandise presence and is one of Disney's most popular modern characters.
Stitch was created by Lilo & Stitch co-writer and co-director Chris Sanders, who also voices him in almost all media that he appears in, primarily in Western-produced works. Ben Diskin voices the character in the English versions of the Asian-produced television spin-offs Stitch! and Stitch & Ai.
Development
Sanders originally created the character in 1981 for a children's book pitch which never came to light and developed a treatment for an animated feature starring the character. The idea for the character was shelved until around 1996 when then-President of Walt Disney Feature Animation, Thomas Schumacher, approached Sanders and asked him if he wanted to pitch a story, giving Sanders the opportunity to use his character again. When Sanders said that the alien character was going to crash-land in a forest filled with other animals, Schumacher told Sanders that the animal world was already "overly alien" to humans, and suggested that the character should end up in the human world to provide better contrast and juxtaposition for the story. Sanders felt that Stitch was a male character that required a female counterpart in the form of a little girl to balance his bad behavior and create conflict in the story.
In later development for the film's fictional story, the character was going to be the leader of an intergalactic gang of criminals, with Jumba being one of his former cronies summoned by the Intergalactic Council to capture him. Test audience responses to early versions of the film resulted in the change of Stitch and Jumba's relationship to that of creation and creator, respectively.
The character was originally meant to be incapable of speaking intelligibly. However, when the Lilo & Stitch production team realized that the film's story "hinged" on the character being able to explain himself at the end of the film, Sanders provided vocals for Stitch during early animation, using a distinct, high-pitched, nasal voice that he previously used to annoy his co-workers. At the suggestion of co-writer and co-director Dean DeBlois—who Sanders personally attributes being co-creator of the Stitch character—out of shared concerns that Disney executives would demand Stitch to speak more than he needed to if they were to hire a professional voice actor, Sanders established himself as the official voice of the fictional character Stitch after the production team got used to his vocalizations. Sanders later revealed in a 2022 interview for Lilo & Stitchs 20th anniversary that Stitch's voice was consistently the lowest-rated aspect of the film, according to cards that were filled by audiences at test screenings.
Characteristics Design Stitch is a short, blue-furred, genetically engineered, extraterrestrial lifeform, with a koala-like body shape. He has large bulging eyes, long notched ears, sharp teeth, a pair of retractable antennae, razor sharp claws, and two pairs of arms (the lower pair of which are retractable).
Sanders's initial design concepts for Stitch differed heavily from the final version. His eyes were slightly smaller, his ears flared at the base, and in some drawings his nose was placed below the eye line instead of above. Stitch was originally intended to have green fur. This was changed to blue during the development of the animated film due to the head of the paint and ink department considering it to be a more believable color for a dog. Although Stitch is similar in physical form to a French bulldog or a koala, Sanders said that he was thinking of a bat.
Personality Stitch is created by Jumba Jookiba to cause chaos across the galaxy. Stitch is marked by his mischievous behavior, which endeared him to Lilo, who adopts him as her "dog". Through Lilo's beliefs in the Hawaiian concept of ohana, meaning 'family', Stitch evolves from an uncaring, destructive creature to a loving, more self-conscious being who enjoys the company of his adoptive family on Earth. He becomes a firm believer of the ohana concept, and with the help of Lilo applies it to reform Jumba's 625 prior experiments, nearly all of whom Stitch treats as his "cousins".
Powers and abilities Stitch possesses immense strength, durability, and intelligence, with Jumba claiming that he can think faster than a supercomputer. His eyes can pick up various forms of light and he can filter out one or the other if necessary. Stitch can see in normal vision (during this mode, his eyes appear pure black), night vision (green), thermal vision (red), and X-ray (green). However, his high sensitivity to light also causes flash lights to be very painful to him.
Like his "cousins", the pads on Stitch's hands and feet can secrete a sticky substance allowing him to adhere to almost any surface and scale buildings and walls; and his skeletal system is very flexible, allowing him to roll into a ball-like form and squeeze through tight spaces.
Stitch can also conduct sound, acting as an audio amplifier, radio, or microphone. He has an acute sense of smell and hearing (though the latter can lead to temporary deafness when exposed to sonic blasts) and is also dexterously skilled in hand-to-hand combat, using all four arms or just two.
Stitch is unable to float or swim due to his dense molecular structure, which causes him to sink in water. Stitch originally also had an instinctive aquaphobia, but was able to overcome it with Lilo's help. Since Stitch's molecules were not fully charged upon creation as shown in Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, if his initial charging was not finished he would later suffer seizure-like glitches that would revert him to his original destructive programming before dying. This issue was resolved by the film's end, and he no longer suffers these glitches.
Stitch also has different abilities in the Asian-produced spin-off shows Stitch! and Stitch & Ai that were not previously revealed in the Western-produced continuity. In Stitch! ~Best Friends Forever~, the anime's third season, he has a hidden power cell that charges his powers to greater levels. In Stitch & Ai, he has new abilities that also change his appearance in some form, including extendable quills around his neck, extendable patagium that enable him to glide and a "metamorphosis program" that activates when his destructive programming is fully triggered. The metamorphosis program causes Stitch to grow into a giant form with back-mounted laser-firing tentacles, although this ability contradicts Lilo & Stitch: The Series establishing that he is only made to perform efficiently at his typical small size, as he was shown in The Series to be clumsier as a giant.
Appearances
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
"Experiment 626" was created by "evil genius" Dr. Jumba Jookiba to cause and create chaos around the galaxy. They were both captured and put on trial by the United Galactic Federation, who sentenced 626 to exile on a desert asteroid. The Grand Councilwoman assigns Captain Gantu to escort him. 626 escapes, crash-landing a spaceship on Earth in Kauai, Hawaii. Disguising himself as a dog to hide from his captors, 626 is adopted by a little girl named Lilo, who names him "Stitch".
Lilo tries to teach Stitch to be good, using Elvis Presley as a model for his behavior. While these efforts prove to be fruitless at first, with Stitch unable to suppress his destructive programming, Lilo enjoys having Stitch as her "puppy", although he at first only wanted to use Lilo as a human shield from Jumba and Agent Pleakley. Jumba and Pleakley were sent to capture him by the Grand Councilwoman. Stitch slowly develops a strong love for Lilo, to the point where he saves her from Gantu, who is the antagonist of the film. After his heroics, the Grand Councilwoman allows Stitch to serve his exile on Earth with Lilo as his warden, citing her dog adoption certificate (subsequently, Lilo seems to have become not only a best friend but also a sister figure to Stitch).
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005)
In this sequel film, set between the first film and Stitch! The Movie, Stitch is living well, reasonably well-behaved (although still hot-tempered and mischievous) with the exiled Jumba and Pleakley in Lilo's (and her older sister Nani's) house, until he begins malfunctioning. Jumba reveals that since Stitch was not fully charged after his creation, he will experience periodic glitches that revert to his original destructive programming, appearing to suffer from a "fit" or "seizure". Seeing this, Jumba creates a new charging chamber for Stitch. Not wanting to hurt anyone, Stitch attempts to leave Earth for a remote planet, while Lilo, Jumba and the others desperately try to have him return so his life can be saved. Although they are too late when they place him in the recharging pod, Stitch seems to be revived by Lilo's love (similar to the story of Hiʻiaka and Lohiʻau as told in the movie), which goes in accordance with her belief that love is more powerful than death.
Stitch! The Movie (2003)
After the events of Lilo & Stitch 2, Stitch begins to feel lonely as his "freaky" appearance and behavior drives away other people outside of his ohana. After Jumba gets kidnapped by Gantu, Stitch discovers the remaining 625 genetic experiments (actually 624; the 625th was also taken by Gantu during the kidnapping) stored in a special container, in the form of dehydrated pods. He and Lilo then activate Experiment 221 (who the latter names "Sparky" later on), who then runs amok on Kauai for several hours until the duo catches him. Stitch then bonds with Sparky and begins to view him as a "cousin", adopting a Hawaiian slang usage of the word that he learned from Lilo. In order to rescue Jumba, a trade between Jacques von Hämsterviel and Jumba for the experiments are organized, but due to Lilo and Stitch's deciding not to hand over Sparky, it instead results in the experiments' pods being scattered across Hawaii and the duo being captured and held aboard Hämsterviel's spacecraft. Hämsterviel then tries to clone Stitch, but Sparky rescues him. Stitch then rescues Lilo and lands Hämsterviel's spacecraft back on Kauai, where the Grand Councilwoman arrests him. After the Grand Councilwoman suggests evacuating Earth due to the danger Jumba's freed experiments pose, Lilo and Stitch convince her to instead have them hunt down the experiments and give them a place where they can belong, thus beginning the events of Lilo & Stitch: The Series.
Lilo & Stitch: The Series (2003–2006)
After the events of Stitch! The Movie, Stitch and Lilo have to capture Jumba's other experiments and find them a home. Along the way, he meets his match: Experiment 627 who is tougher than him, but he eventually defeats with his greater intelligence. He also meets Angel who is introduced as a love interest for Stitch, who becomes good out of love for Stitch.
Leroy & Stitch (2006)