Stitch &amp; AiStitch &amp; Ai Stitch & Ai Stitch & Ai () is an English-language-produced Chinese animated spin-off of Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" franchise. It is the franchise's third television series, after the Western animated "" and the Japanese "Stitch!" anime series, and 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 later received a free digital streaming release in the United States via DisneyNow on December 1, 2018, although it was later removed from the service in June 2019. Plot. "Stitch & Ai" follows the events of "Lilo & Stitch" and its subsequent film and television sequels up to and including "Leroy & Stitch". 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—a function that 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 themselves from the Jaboodies, only for Stitch to be freed in the fighting. He escapes back to Earth, ending  up on China's Huangshan mountains. In Huangshan, Stitch meets Wang Ai Ling, a spirited local girl who is at risk of being 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 to in with her, believing that Ai would live a better life 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 dealing 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 ward off Daiyu's attempts to take her away in order to have her stay in the mountains with Jiejie. 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", "", 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 (briefly and from a distance) Dr. Hämsterviel. Characters. Kyle Hebert, Bobby Thong, Sarah Anne Williams, Deborah Crane, Jacob Craner, and Steve Kramer provide additional voices. 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 to maintain a sense of visual continuity to the original American-produced films and TV  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. Stitch & Ai Stitch & Ai () is an English-language-produced Chinese animated spin-off of Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" franchise. It is the franchise's third television series, after the Western animated "" and the Japanese "Stitch!" anime series, and 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