# Stitch & Ai

Stitch & Ai (Chinese: 安玲与史迪奇; pinyin: Ān líng yǔ shǐ dí qí; lit. 'An Ling and Stitch') is an English-language-produced donghua television series and a spin-off of Disney's Lilo & Stitch franchise. It is the franchise's third TV series, after the Western animated Lilo & Stitch: The Series and the Japanese Stitch! anime series. It was produced with the assistance of American animators. Set in Huangshan, Anhui, the thirteen-episode series features a Chinese girl named Wang Ai Ling in place of the original 2002–06 Western continuity's Lilo Pelekai and the anime's Yuna Kamihara as the titular human companion of the alien Stitch.
The series first aired in China with a Mandarin Chinese dub from March 27 to April 6, 2017. The original English-language version first aired from February 5 to 27, 2018, in Southeast Asia on that region's Disney Channel. Twelve episodes of the series were available for free digital streaming in the United States via DisneyNow from December 1, 2018, to around June 2019.

## Plot

Stitch & Ai follows the events of Lilo & Stitch and its subsequent film and television sequels up to and including Leroy & Stitch, set around 2016. The series shows Stitch kidnapped by the Jaboodies, a faction of alien criminals who want to use him to win a space war after hacking a United Galactic Federation database and discovering a previously-unrevealed "metamorphosis program" that was secretly programmed in Stitch. This function causes the experiment to grow into a giant beast with four laser-firing tentacles when his destructive programming is triggered in a large city. However, a rival faction called the Woolagongs, who managed to steal the stolen data from the Jaboodies, board the Jaboodies' battle cruiser spaceship to try to kidnap Stitch for themselves from the Jaboodies, only for Stitch to be freed in the fighting. He escapes back to Earth, ending up in China's Huangshan mountains.
In Huangshan, Stitch meets Wang Ai Ling, a spirited local girl who was soon to be separated from her older sister Jiejie by their aunt Daiyu after the sisters lost their parents in the past year. Daiyu, who hates the mountains and lives in a city, desires to move Ai in with her, believing that Ai would develop into a "proper lady" in the city, but Ai loves her home and is resistant to the idea. Stitch quickly befriends Ai and becomes her new "dog", and the two help one another deal with the other's problems; Ai helps Stitch fight off the Jaboodies and Woolagongs so he wouldn't be taken or used by either of them, as well as help find a shrine that he's been seeing in unusual visions he's been having, while he helps her stay in the mountains with Jiejie and ward off Daiyu's attempts to take her away. Jumba and Pleakley later show up initially trying to rescue Stitch and bring him back to the United Galactic Federation, but Ai and Jiejie convince the two aliens to let Stitch stay with them, letting them stay to keep a watch on Stitch and to help out him and his new family.
The series also features various flashbacks to key scenes in the franchise that appear in "Hello – Goodbye", "Teacher's Pet", and "Monstrosity". The flashbacks consist of closely re-animated sequences, copying the originals to the best of their ability. The flashback scenes are based on scenes from the original Lilo & Stitch, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, and The Origin of Stitch. In co-ordinance with this, there are occasional appearances from previous characters of the Lilo & Stitch franchise, including Captain Gantu, the Grand Councilwoman, Cobra Bubbles, the Ice Cream Man, and (in a brief cameo) Dr. Hämsterviel.

## Characters

* Stitch (史迪奇; Shǐ dí qí) – An alien genetic experiment also known as Experiment 626. He was kidnapped by space criminals who want to use him so they can have their own evil genetic experiment, but he manages to escape back to Earth, ending up in China. He befriends a local girl named Ai, who takes him into her family. He is voiced in English by Ben Diskin, who also voiced the character in the Stitch! anime, and in Mandarin by Li Zhengxiang.
* Wang Ai Ling (王安玲; Wáng Ān líng) – A Chinese girl who lives in the Huangshan mountains. Her aunt wants to move her to the city, but she wants to stay in the mountains. Ai befriends Stitch, taking him in as her "dog", and helps him ward off the warring alien factions that want him. She serves as this series's counterpart to Lilo Pelekai. She is voiced in English by Erica Mendez, who tweeted that she is a fan of Stitch and getting to voice his companion in a series was "a dream come true" for her. In Mandarin, the character is voiced by Jiang Sunwei.
* Wang Jiejie (王婕婕; Wáng jié jié) – A young Chinese woman who tries to take care of her younger sister Ai after their parents' deaths. She works at a tea shop for a man named Mr. Ding. She serves as this series's counterpart to Nani Pelekai. She is voiced in English by Laura Post and in Mandarin by Li Yan.
* Qian Dahu (钱大胡; Qián dà hú) – Jiejie's boyfriend and Ai's drum instructor. He serves as this series's counterpart to David Kawena, with an element of Moses Puloki with regards to his teachings of a local tradition. He is voiced in English by Lucien Dodge.
* Jumba Jookiba (强霸卓奇霸) – The Kweltikwan creator of Stitch. He is sent by the Grand Councilwoman to retrieve Stitch from the space criminals that captured him. However, after reuniting with Stitch in China and meeting his new family, Jumba decides to let Stitch stay with Ai, sticking around himself to assist and watch over him. The show also reveals that he is the galaxy's leading expert on metamorphosis. He is voiced in English by Jess Winfield, who previously served as screenwriter and executive producer for Lilo & Stitch: The Series and its films Stitch! The Movie and Leroy & Stitch, and voiced the same character in the Stitch! anime. In Mandarin, the character is voiced by Cheng Yuzhu.
* Wendy Pleakley (温帝独眼霹雳) – A Plorgonarian former United Galactic Federation agent and Jumba's partner. He is also sent by the Grand Councilwoman to retrieve Stitch alongside Jumba. After Jumba decides to let Stitch stay with Ai, Pleakley also stays with Stitch's new family and tries to help out. He is voiced in English by Lucien Dodge and in Mandarin by Hu Qian.
* Daiyu (姨妈) – Ai and Jiejie's mysophobic aunt who believes that Ai should not be living in the "dirty" mountains and move to the city, despite her nieces' protests. She is voiced in English by Laura Post and in Mandarin by Yan Lixuan.
* Meiying (美英; Měiyīng) – Ai's rival who serves as this series's counterpart to Mertle Edmonds. She is voiced in English by Cherami Leigh and Xanthe Huynh.
* Sage – A wise but mysterious sage who observes Stitch and Ai's journey, appearing to them at times. He hands ancient scrolls to Jumba so the Kweltikwan can use them to make ancient Chinese creatures. He is voiced in English by Lucien Dodge.
* The Jaboodies – A race of reptilian-like alien creatures who are at war with the Woolagongs. They desire to use Experiment 626 (Stitch) and his metamorphosis program to make him fight for them to win their space war. They were the ones to have captured Stitch prior to the events the show. Their leader, Commander Wombat, is voiced in English by Richard Epcar.
* The Woolagongs – A race of platypus-like alien creatures who are at war with the Jaboodies. They also desire to use Stitch to make him fight for them to win their space war. They accidentally freed Stitch at the beginning of the series when they attack the Jaboodies' battle cruiser spaceship. Their leader, credited as "Platypus", is voiced in English by Lucien Dodge.
* Mr. Ding – Jiejie's employer who runs a tea shop and likes to juggle tea kettles. He is voiced in English by Richard Epcar.
* Dim Long – An orange dragon-like experiment Jumba makes as a beta test for future experiments. He has the ability to fly without wings using the power of qi. Introduced in "The Lock", he acts as a pet to the aliens.
* Captain Gantu – The leader of the United Galactic Federation's Galactic Armada and a member of its Galactic Council. Unlike the previous two TV shows, Gantu is not employed by Dr. Hämsterviel (who only makes a brief cameo appearance) and maintains his original employment from the first film, which also removes him as a main character as he doesn't involve himself with Stitch unlike before. He is voiced in English by Richard Epcar, who is not credited for the role.
* The Grand Councilwoman – The leader of the United Galactic Federation and its council. Recognizing the threat imposed by the Woolagongs and the Jaboodies with their space war and separate desires to acquire Stitch to use him, she initially sends Jumba and Pleakley to Earth to retrieve Stitch. However, after the two aliens show that separating Stitch and his new friend Ai would not be good for either of them, she assigns Jumba and Pleakley to stay and look after Stitch. She is voiced in English by Laura Post, who is not credited for the role.
* Cobra Bubbles – A CIA agent who has dealt with Stitch in the past. He's in China to secretly observe Stitch and relay information to the Grand Councilwoman. He is voiced in English by Richard Epcar, who is not credited for the role.
Kyle Hebert, Bobby Thong, Sarah Anne Williams, Deborah Crane, Jacob Craner, and Steve Kramer provide additional voices. Among Craner's voice roles is a Jaboodie agent appearing in the final two episodes who disguises himself as a human to be Ai's new "brother" named "Yong".

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date (Mandarin Chinese dub) | English air date (Southeast Asia) |
| 1 | "Hello – Goodbye" Chinese title: "你好黄山" ("Hello Huangshan") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | March 27, 2017 (2017-03-27) | February 5, 2018 |
| Stitch is held captive on a spaceship above Earth by an alien faction called the Jaboodies, who want to use him against his own will to win a space war against their enemies, the Woolagongs. However, the Woolagongs themselves attack the ship wanting Stitch for themselves, accidentally freeing him in the process during the fight and allowing him to escape back to Earth. Upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere, Stitch lands in China's Huangshan mountains where he meets orphaned Chinese girl Wang Ai Ling. Her aunt Daiyu has told her that she will be forcibly moved out of her mountain home and separated from her older sister Jiejie to live in a city. The two quickly bond as the girl shows the blue alien around the mountains. Stitch desires to find a shrine he's been seeing in visions he had, but once Ai takes him to a shrine that does not match the one in his visions, they soon find themselves pursued by both alien factions. Ultimately, Stitch and Ai lead them on a goose chase around the mountains, causing a number of both factions' soldiers to be knocked out and forcing them to teleport away to regroup. When Stitch and Ai finally arrive at the latter's house, Daiyu sees the unusual and "ugly" Stitch and freaks out, calling for Jiejie, but when she turns her back, Stitch curls into a ball and Ai pretends to be playing with the blue "ball". After Jiejie brings Daiyu back inside, Stitch then tells Ai that the two of them will find a way to get her to stay in the mountains where she belongs. ||||||
| 2 | "Teacher's Pet" Chinese title: "家是最重要的" (lit. "Home is the Most Important Thing") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | March 28, 2017 (2017-03-28) | February 6, 2018 |
| Ai, who's happy to now have Stitch in her life, is ready to show her science class a strobe light she made. However, she and Stitch, who snuck into her school, find that her teacher has been possessed and mutated by a Woolagong sent to capture Stitch, leading to Stitch and Ai fighting the possessed teacher in the classroom. Meanwhile, at Mr. Ding's tea shop, Jiejie tries to convince Daiyu to not move Ai to the city, deciding to bring her to Ai's school to show that Ai is getting a good education there. ||||||
| 3 | "Gotcha!" Chinese title: "外星访客" ("Alien Visitors") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | March 28, 2017 (2017-03-28) | February 7, 2018 |
| After Jiejie and Dahu head out, Stitch and Ai find they are being spied on by the Jaboodies' "spybots". Meanwhile, Jumba and Pleakley are ordered by the Grand Councilwoman—who knows about the "metamorphosis program" Jumba programmed in Stitch—to go to Earth and bring Stitch back before either the Jaboodies or the Woolagongs get him first. Once they arrive, however, they find that Stitch isn't willing to be taken away by anyone, even his old family. ||||||
| 4 | "The Scroll" Chinese title: "神奇的竹简" (lit. "Magical Bamboo Slips") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | March 29, 2017 (2017-03-29) | February 8, 2018 |
| Jumba and Pleakley come to Earth to get Stitch, who flees with Ai to an old shrine with a strange sage there. The sage helps Stitch and Ai flee from the aliens and sidetracks Jumba with ancient scrolls that detail monsters, which peaks the scientist's "evil genius" curiosity, leading him to create a qilin. Shortly after Stitch and Ai return home, the Jaboodies' drones arrive to capture Stitch, but he's saved by Jumba's qilin, who destroys the drones. However, Jumba then finally captures Stitch afterward, which upsets Ai to the point of having a breakdown. After Jiejie passionately argues for Jumba and Pleakley to let Ai keep Stitch, the alien partners free him and explain to the Grand Councilwoman via video chat what happened. She permits Jumba and Pleakley to let Stitch live with Ai, under the condition that they are responsible for safeguarding him. ||||||
| 5 | "Spirals" Chinese title: "爱的力量" ("The Power of Love") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | March 29, 2017 (2017-03-29) | February 12, 2018 |
| Jumba creates a dragon, which disobeys him. He then realizes the dragon needs a mate or it will turn evil for 100 years. He succeeds in making a mate for the dragon, who then produce an egg. After Stitch, Ai Jumba, and Pleakley spend the night with the dragons, Stitch finds himself targeted by the Woolagongs, who inadvertently threaten the dragon egg. Stitch, Ai, and the dragons fight the Woolagongs to protect the egg before it hatches. ||||||
| 6 | "The Lock" Chinese title: "同心锁" (lit. "Concentric Lock") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | March 30, 2017 (2017-03-30) | February 13, 2018 |
| Ai explains in the cold open that Stitch was protected by "special qi energy" during his re-entry into Earth's atmosphere in the first episode; the same energy was also responsible for him losing much of his memories of his life before Ai, including Lilo. He knew that he had to find a secret shrine but does not know where it was or why he had to find it. In the episode proper, Ai takes Stitch to a bridge where several locks are. Friends write their names on the locks and lock them on the bridge as a symbol of their unbreakable friendship. Unfortunately, Stitch does not agree with where to place the lock, resulting in them fighting over it and dropping the lock below the bridge. They then get attacked by both Woolagongs and Jaboodies going after Stitch once again, and Pleakley ends up getting caught up in the fight when he tries to rescue the duo. Jumba sends out his latest experiment, a xiezhi, to save Stitch, Ai, and Pleakley. After the two alien factions are defeated again, Stitch finds the lock, and he and Ai finally agree on a spot to lock it. ||||||
| 7 | "Dragon Parade" Chinese title: "舞龙庆典" (lit. "Dragon Dance Celebration") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | March 30, 2017 (2017-03-30) | February 14, 2018 |
| Dahu is assigned to lead the town's annual Chinese New Year dragon parade. A dragon puppet for the parade is ruined by accident when Meiying and her friends accidentally burn it while taking smartphone photos, so Ai has Jumba substitute the puppet by having Dim Long temporarily enlarged to take its place. Meanwhile, Stitch tricks the Jaboodies and the Woolagongs to invade Earth at the same time to get him, causing them to fight and severely damage each other at the end. ||||||
| 8 | "Tell the World" ("告诉世界") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | March 31, 2017 (2017-03-31) | February 15, 2018 |
| Ai and her classmates are motivated to produce and share videos for an online event called Tell the World. Meanwhile, Jumba creates a nian who captures children around town. When Stitch and Ai find out that the nian likes watching videos, they pretend to be a director and producer who are going to make him a movie star so they could trick him into leading them to where he captured the children. ||||||
| 9 | "The Phoenix" Chinese title: "凤凰" ("Fenghuang" or "Phoenix") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | March 31, 2017 (2017-03-31) | February 20, 2018 |
| Daiyu brings Ai's cousin Bao to try to convince Ai to move to the city. Jumba creates a fenghuang that quickly grows and flies off to find a ruined shrine, so Ai, Stitch, and Bao head after it. However, two alien bounty hunters named Noo-bing and Zi try to capture the fenghuang to try to sell it to collectors. (Note: This episode was not released in the United States.) ||||||
| 10 | "Dream On" Chinese title: "梦境" ("Dreamland") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | April 5, 2017 (2017-04-05) | February 21, 2018 |
| The Woolagongs send an agent down to knock out and capture Stitch. His dream beam gun instead zaps Ai, bringing her imaginary friend, Cheng Fei, to life. Cheng Fei takes her to a mythical land in the mountains called the Valley of Dreams, which brings Ai's dreams, good and bad, to life, including a dream of Stitch growing into a monster. Meanwhile, Jumba creates a mo, and Stitch captures the agent that zapped Ai. After Jeijei contacts Jumba saying that Ai was absent from school, the aliens set out to find the little girl. ||||||
| 11 | "Nuo Opera" ("傩戏") DisneyNow title: "Creatures" | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | April 5, 2017 (2017-04-05) | February 22, 2018 |
| Stitch decides to be naughty and mass-produce mythical creatures Jumba has been working on. The end result is ruining the nuo opera the town was planning to put on. Cobra Bubbles radios the Galactic Alliance, ready to apprehend Stitch. However, after witnessing Stitch remedy his mistake and gets the creatures to behave and successfully help put on the nuo opera, he calls off the attack. ||||||
| 12 | "Brothers" ("兄弟") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | April 6, 2017 (2017-04-06) | February 26, 2018 |
| In this first half of the two-part series finale, Pleakley receives a strange alien device with various functions called a "Tetra-Tab". Ai and Stitch use the device to give themselves "brothers" named "Yong" and "Scratch". They all get along until Scratch starts convincing Stitch to destroy things, getting him to destroy a model city and then a construction site, with Ai, Jumba, and Pleakley finding out about the latter on the local news. After Stitch destroys the construction site, Scratch leads him to a city under construction and convinces him to start destroying it, finally getting Stitch to activate his metamorphosis program and grow into a giant monstrosity. Ai and Yong arrive on Jumba's hovercraft to see the giant Stitch beginning to approach the city. ||||||
| 13 | "Monstrosity" Chinese title: "我有家了" ("I Have a Home") | Tony Craig Marc Handler (voices) | Marc Handler | April 6, 2017 (2017-04-06) | February 27, 2018 |
| Ai learns that Yong and Scratch are actually disguised Jaboodies that have activated the metamorphosis program in him. The now-giant Stitch attacks the city, unwittingly on behalf of the Jaboodies, growing bigger and more powerful the more he destroys. The Jaboodies, including their leader Commander Wombat, then reveal themselves to him and capture Ai. Despite Wombat and Scratch's attempts to convince Stitch serve the Jaboodies to win their space war against the Woolagongs, Ai is able to get through to the real, good-hearted Stitch. Stitch turns on the Jaboodies and uses his new form to destroy their weaponry and rescue Ai, and then he shrinks back down to his normal size and form. Jumba and Pleakley arrive to help, with the former summoning his recreated Chinese creatures from his pocket dimension, and the heroes drive the Jaboodies away. After returning home, Stitch is disappointed to still not have found the shrine from his visions but is nonetheless grateful to have a family. ||||||

## Production

Stitch & Ai is produced by Anhui Xinhua Media and Panimation Hwakai Media in association with Disney with additional work by Showfun Animation, Shanghai Fire & Ice Media, and Shanghai Aoju Media. The series began broadcast on CCTV-14 on March 27, 2017. Unlike Stitch!, this series was produced in co-operation with American Disney animators—including those who worked on Lilo & Stitch: The Series—to maintain a sense of visual continuity to the original American-produced films and TV series. Such artists included Greg Guler, the character designer of Gargoyles and a lead character designer on Lilo & Stitch: The Series. The series was produced as part of an effort by Disney to enter the Chinese animation market. It was originally produced in English then dubbed into Mandarin Chinese.
Tony Craig, an executive producer of Lilo & Stitch: The Series who directed Stitch! The Movie, Leroy & Stitch, and the season two episodes "Spike" and "Shoe", served as director for Stitch & Ai. Victor Cook, who was a director for both seasons of Lilo & Stitch: The Series, was initially signed onto the Chinese series and even visited China to assist making the eighth episode. At first, Cook contacted Craig to storyboard the first episode, but when Cook had to drop out due to other commitments, he had Craig take over directing. Craig joined during pre-production, and had to delay joining in full due to a prior employment issue, although Panimation waited for him. Craig oversaw the storyboards, animatics, animation, most of the designs, and all the editing sessions, but he was not involved with the dialogue recordings, which happened in Los Angeles while Craig lives in North Carolina.
The show made its English premiere on Disney Channel Asia on February 5, 2018. The series (except for the ninth episode "The Phoenix") later became available in the United States for free streaming on DisneyNow on December 1, 2018. It was later removed from the service in June 2019.