Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch

**Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch** is a 2005 animated film which was produced by the Australian office of Disneytoon Studios. The film was written by Michael LaBash, Tony Leondis, Eddie Guzelian and Alexa Junge.

It is the second sequel in the Lilo & Stitch Franchise.

## Plot

Stitch is having a nightmare about turning bad again and causing destruction to Eart, including hurting Lilo. After Lilo wakes him up, she comforts him by telling him she knows he would never cause harm to her. Lilo also tests his goodness level by having him do a few good deeds. Upon discovering that they are late for hula class, they use their hovercraft to get there.

While at the hula class, Kumu announces that Lilo and her classmates will be prepared to perform at the local May Day Festival. Each student is required to create an original dance. Lilo is inspired when Kumu tells her about her mother being in the festival at her age and winning, giving her a picture of the event. After the hula class ends, Mertle insults Lilo by telling her that she will never be like her mother, causing her to start a fight with her. However, after taking pictures of the brawl, Stitch forgets to flush the evidence. Kumu thinks that Lilo is not ready for the competition because of the fight with Mertle but Lilo says that she is ready and "triple promises" to be good.

While preparing for the competition, Lilo and Stitch have a hard time coming up with ideas and Nani wants them to enjoy their family fun night. While watching Them! on family fun night, Stitch's past comes back to haunt him and he goes berserk in the house. It seems that after Stitch was created, Jumba did not get a chance to fully charge Stitch's molecules as the intergalactic police arrested him, disrupting the process. At first, this glitch causes Stitch to revert to his old destructive programming but it will ultimately kill him if Jumba cannot create a fusion chamber before Stitch's energy runs out for good.

Meanwhile, Stitch's uncontrollable destructive behaviour drives a wedge between him and Lilo and threatens to ruin her chances for success at the hula competition. Lilo and Stitch try to be inspired for their hula but Stitch keeps malfunctioning because of his molecules. Since Lilo is so concerned about winning the competition, she fails to notice Stitch's glitch, which is not his fault, and she believes his new behaviour is deliberate and begins to neglect him, much to his chagrin.

Eventually, the two devise a hula based on the legend of Hi'iaka. Lilo gets increasingly mad at Stitch as he ruins their practice sessions. To make matters worse, Jumba is having problems creating the fusion chamber because he doesn't have the proper alien technology to build one and must resort to using mere household objects. However, just before the competition, Stitch arrives just before Lilo is to perform, wishing her luck. The two make up as Jumba finally completes the fusion chamber. However, Stitch has another abrupt fit. In a subplot, Nani's boyfriend David believes Nani is losing interest in him. Pleakley comes to his aid and tries to give advice on romance.

Lilo, confused, tries to come up to him, causing Stitch to accidentally scratch her face. After this, Stitch becomes greatly horrified and remorseful that he hurt her. Knowing that Stitch would never want to intentionally hurt her, Lilo finally realises that something is wrong with him. Lilo tries to ask what's wrong but Stitch runs off to leave Earth, believing himself to be too dangerous. In the middle of her performance, Lilo runs off to help him.

As Stitch attempts to leave Earth, Lilo and the rest of the family desperately try to get him to come back so they can re-charge him. While taking off, Stitch suffers his most violent and painful outburst, which causes him to lose control and crash the spaceship in the Hawaiian mountains. Lilo rides over to the crash site in their hovercraft, where she finds Stitch injured and close to death. She hurriedly gets him into Jumba's fusion chamber. However, it's too late and Lilo watches in tears as Stitch dies. Taking him out of the chamber, Lilo clings to him as she tells him that while she kept saying that she needed him, he needed her more. She says that he is her 'ohana and, therfore, will always love him and breaks down in tears. Much to everyone's shock, Stitch awakens. Pleakley is at a loss, to which Jumba explains: Stitch was revived by Lilo's love. The family (along with David) then performs Lilo's hula dance together on the empty stage of the competition. Nani tells Lilo that their mother would be proud of her and a star twinkles in the sky to prove it.

## Cast and Characters

* Chris Sanders as Stitch/Experiment 626
* Dakota Fanning as Lilo Pelekai
* Tia Carrere as Nani Pelekai
* David Ogden Stiers as Dr. Jumba Jookiba
* Kevin McDonald as Agent Wendy Pleakley
* Jason Scott Lee as David Kawena
* Liliana Murphy as Mertle Edmonds
* Kunewa Mook as Moses Puloki "Kumu"
* Emily Osment as Additional Voices
* Jennifer Hale as Additional Voices
* Paul C. Vogt as Gator Guard and Various Voices

## Production

### Cast and Recording

This is the only film in the series without actress Daveigh Chase who voices Lilo in all other Lilo & Stitch films. According to Disney Animation Studios, Chase was so busy working on Lilo & Stitch: The Series that she suggested to have renowned child actress and good friend Dakota Fanning play her. Chris Sanders, the writer/director of the first film, did not participate fully. The film also became Disney's first and only direct-to-video animated film to be rated PG by the MPAA for some mild action.

### Animation

The animation was produced by Walt Disney Animation (Australia) Inc., Australis Productions and A. Film A/S, although those animation studios were never credited, except for Australis Productions.

## Reception

On critical response aggregation website, Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 40% and an average score of 5.5 out of 10 based on 10 reviews.

Hi-Def Digest said, "The humour in the second movie is juvenile and lacking in the wit that makes the first so distinctive. The characterisations are heavily simplified, to the point where some of the characters feel dumbed down. Also, a lame subplot involving one of Lilo's peers feels silly and has a poor resolution. Even worse is the false sentimentality of the climax, which feels like cheap heartstrung-tugging." ReelFilm gave a 2.5 out of 5 star rating, saying "Lilo & Stitch 2 is cute enough, there are a few genuinely funny moments here, while the voice acting is surprisingly effective, although the film does eventually wear out its welcome."

In a 2019 list of direct-to-video sequels, prequels and "mid-quels" to Disney animated films, Petrana Radulovic of Polygon ranked Lilo & Stitch 2 first out of twenty-six films on the list, appreciating its faithfulness to the original film's tone. She stated, "The other two Lilo & Stitch sequels were just fine but they didn't capture the essence of what made the original special, choosing instead to focus on aliens. Stitch Has a Glitch, however, manages to balance the alien story with the human one. Overall, the movie verges on being cheesy but it is a satisfying, heartwarming type of goo, with very funny moments and gags." In a similar list in 2020, Lisa Wehrstedt of Insider ranked Lilo & Stitch 2 second out of twenty-five films on her list, behind The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Werhstedt, who considered the film "heartwarming" and "sweet", wrote that the film "manages to keep the perfect mix of cute and wacky that made the first one so charming."