Stitch & Ai

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 opens with Stitch being kidnapped by a faction of alien criminals known as the Jaboodies, who want to use him as a weapon to win a space war. The Jaboodies started pursuing Stitch after hacking into the Galactic Federation's database and discovering a previously-unrevealed "metamorphosis program" that was secretly coded into him. 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, another warring faction called the Woolagongs manage to steal the data from the Jaboodies, board the rivaling battle cruiser, and attempt to kidnap Stitch for themselves. Stitch is accidentally freed in the fighting, allowing him to escape back to Earth, where he ends up in China's Huangshan mountains. In Huangshan, Stitch meets Wang Ai Ling, a spirited local girl who is soon to be separated from her older sister Jiejie by their aunt Daiyu after the sisters lost their parents in the past year. Daiyu desires to move Ai out of the mountains and into the city with her, believing that it would help Ai would become a "proper lady", but Ai loves her home and is resistant to the idea. Stitch quickly befriends Ai, becomes her new "dog", and the two help one another solve their problems; Ai helps Stitch fight off the Jaboodies and Woolagongs, as well as help him look for a shrine that he has been seeing in a mysterious vision. In return, Stitch helps Ai stay in the mountains with Jiejie and ward off Daiyu's attempts to take her away. Jumba and Pleakley later arrive in Huangshan, as they are ordered to bring Stitch to the Galactic Federation for security purposes, but Ai and Jiejie convince the two aliens to let Stitch stay with them. Jumba and Pleakley are then given permission to stay on Earth to keep watch over Stitch as they help out his newfound 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==

, Pleakley, Ai, and Stitch. • Stitch () – 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, In Mandarin, the character is voiced by Jiang Sunwei. • Wang Jiejie () – 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 • 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. ==Episodes==

Stitch & Ai is produced by Anhui Xinhua Media 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. 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. 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. It was later removed from the service in June 2019. ==Notes==