Stitch & Ai
A Chinese girl befriends Stitch in the Huangshan mountains.
Stitch & Ai is an English-language-produced donghua television series and a spin-off of Disney's Lilo & Stitch franchise. It is the third TV series in the franchise, following the Western animated Lilo & Stitch: The Series and the Japanese Stitch! anime. The thirteen-episode series is set in Huangshan, Anhui, and features a Chinese girl named Wang Ai Ling as the human companion of the alien Stitch.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Action
- Animation
- Science fantasy
- Comedy
- Based on
- Lilo & Stitch characters, Chris Sanders; Dean DeBlois
- Runtime
- 22 minutes
- Writer
- Marc Handler
- Director
- Tony Craig; Marc Handler (voices)
- Company
- Anhui Xinhua Media
- Panimation Hwakai Media
- Disney Television International China
- Executive producers
- Wang Gang
- Pei Duo
- Tian Tian
- Tony Craig
- Marc Handler
- Producer
- Cao Jie; Wu Wensheng
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Stitch & Ai takes place after the events of Lilo & Stitch and its sequels up to Leroy & Stitch, around 2016. The story begins when Stitch is kidnapped by the Jaboodies, a reptilian alien criminal faction that wants to use him as a weapon in a space war against their platypus-like enemies, the Woolagongs. The Jaboodies discovered a hidden metamorphosis program in Stitch that causes him to grow into a giant beast with four laser-firing tentacles when his destructive programming is triggered in a large city.
The Woolagongs steal the data and attempt to kidnap Stitch, but he escapes during the fighting and returns to Earth, landing in China's Huangshan mountains. There he meets Wang Ai Ling, a spirited girl facing separation from her older sister Jiejie by their aunt Daiyu, who wants to move Ai to the city. Stitch becomes Ai's new dog, and together they help each other: Ai assists Stitch in fighting the Jaboodies and Woolagongs and in finding a shrine from his visions, while Stitch helps Ai remain in the mountains.
Stitch's creator Jumba and his friend Pleakley arrive to retrieve Stitch for the Galactic Federation, but Ai and Jiejie convince them to let Stitch stay, and the aliens remain on Earth to watch over him.
Characters
Stitch, also known as Experiment 626, is an alien genetic experiment kidnapped by space criminals but escapes to China, where he befriends Ai and becomes her dog. He is voiced in English by Ben Diskin and in Mandarin by Li Zhengxiang. Wang Ai Ling is a Chinese girl living in the Huangshan mountains who resists her aunt's plan to move her to the city; she takes Stitch in as her dog and helps him fight the alien factions. She is voiced in English by Erica Mendez and in Mandarin by Jiang Sunwei.
Wang Jiejie is Ai's older sister who works at a tea shop and cares for Ai after their parents' death; she is voiced in English by Laura Post and in Mandarin by Li Yan. Qian Dahu is Jiejie's boyfriend and Ai's drum instructor, voiced in English by Lucien Dodge. Jumba Jookiba, the Kweltikwan creator of Stitch, is sent by the Grand Councilwoman to retrieve Stitch but decides to let him stay with Ai; he is voiced in English by Jess Winfield and in Mandarin by Cheng Yuzhu.
Wendy Pleakley, a Plorgonarian former Galactic Federation agent and Jumba's partner, also stays with Stitch's new family; he is voiced in English by Lucien Dodge and in Mandarin by Hu Qian.
Production
Stitch & Ai was a joint production between Anhui Xinhua Media and Panimation Hwakai Media, made in partnership with Disney. Additional work came from Showfun Animation, Shanghai Fire & Ice Media, and Shanghai Aoju Media. It first aired on CCTV-14 on March 27, 2017. Unlike the earlier Stitch! series, this one brought in American Disney animators—including Greg Guler, who had worked on Gargoyles and as a lead character designer for Lilo & Stitch: The Series—to keep the look consistent with the original films and TV show.
The project was part of Disney’s push into the Chinese animation market, and it was originally made in English before being dubbed into Mandarin. Tony Craig, an executive producer and director from the earlier series, took on directing duties after Victor Cook, who had also directed for Lilo & Stitch: The Series, initially signed on but had to leave due to other commitments. Craig handled storyboards, animatics, animation, most designs, and all editing, but the dialogue recordings were done in Los Angeles while he lived in North Carolina.
The show premiered in English on Disney Channel Asia on February 5, 2018. In the United States, twelve episodes (all but “The Phoenix”) were available for free on DisneyNow from December 1, 2018, until around June 2019.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes of Stitch & Ai are there?
Stitch & Ai has 13 episodes across 1 season.
When did Stitch & Ai end?
Stitch & Ai last aired on 6 April 2017.
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