Stitch (Lilo & Stitch)
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Stitch is the name of the genetic experiment 626, a fictional alien character from the Lilo & Stitch films and television program. Originally created to cause chaos across the galaxy, he is marked by his short temper and mischievous behavior, traits that endear him to his friend Lilo, who adopted him as her puppy dog. He is voiced by his creator and the film's co-director, Chris Sanders.
[edit] History
As revealed in Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, Stitch was created by evil genius Dr. Jumba Jookiba with the genes of the galaxy's strongest and most ferocious creatures, but when the experiment was finished, Jumba was disappointed to see how cute and fluffy he was. Nevertheless, Jumba soon sees 626's destructive potential and begins to charge Stitch's molecules. However, before Stitch is fully charged, both he and Jumba are captured by police officers of the Galactic Federation.
626 is then sentenced by the Grand Councilwoman to life in exile on a desert asteroid and Captain Gantu escorts him. Stitch escapes and crash-landed in Kaua'i, Hawaii. Disguising himself as a dog (although he actually looks like a koala), 626 was adopted by a little girl named Lilo, who names him "Stitch".
Stitch is trained by Lilo to be good, using Elvis Presley as a model for his behavior. Lilo's efforts prove to be fruitless at first, as Stitch is unable to suppress his destructive programming. Nevertheless, Lilo enjoys her new "puppy". Although at first he only wanted to use the girl as a human shield from Jumba and Agent Pleakley, whose mission is to capture the fugitive experiment, Stitch slowly develops feelings for Lilo, to the point where he saved her life from Gantu. After his heroics, the Grand Councilwoman allows Stitch to serve his exile on Earth with Lilo as his warder, citing her dog adoption certificate. (subsequently, Lilo seems to have become not only a best friend but also a mother and a sister figure to Stitch)
In Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch, Stitch is living well and is reasonably well-behaved (although still hot-tempered and mischievous) with the exiled Jumba and Pleakley in Lilo's house until he begins malfunctioning. Since he was not fully charged after his creation, Stitch experiences periodic glitches that have him reverting back to his original destructive programming. Seeing this, Jumba strives to create a proper charging chamber for Stitch. Not wanting to hurt anyone and not knowing about Jumba's plan, Stitch attempts to leave Earth for a remote planet, while Lilo, Jumba, and the others desperately try to have him return so they can recharge him. Although they are too late when they place him in the recharging pod, Stitch is revived by, according to what Lilo says, love..saying love is more powerful than death.
Afterward, in Stitch! The Movie, 626 discovers the remaining 625 genetic experiments locked in a crate, in the form of dehydrated pods. In order to rescue a kidnapped Jumba a trade between Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel and Jumba for the experiments is organized, but it instead results in the freedom of the experiments and the capture of Lilo and Stitch. Hämsterviel then tries to clone Stitch but he was rescued by Experiment 221 ("Sparky"). Stitch then rescued Lilo and landed Hämsterviel's spacecraft back in Kaua'i, where the Grand Councilwoman waited to arrest Hämsterviel.
In the subsequent television program Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Stitch resides in Lilo's house, continuing to disguise himself as a dog in order to conceal his identity from humans. Along with Lilo, he re-captures and rehabilitates Jumba's genetic experiments, as well as keeping them from Hämsterviel's possession.
After they have successfully captured all 625 (624, actually, as 625 is with Gantu) experiments, in Leroy & Stitch, The Grand Councilwoman offered Stitch the chance to become the captain of the Galactic Armada and its new flagship, The BRB (Big Red Battleship) 9000. That would mean that Stitch would be separated from Lilo and not wanting to make Lilo sad, he chooses to return to Kaua'i. However, Lilo tells him he should go. Before he leaves with Jumba and Pleakley, Lilo gives him a necklace with a tiki of the god Ku Tiki to give him strength. When Gantu breaks out Dr. Hämsterviel in an action of frustration, Stitch is sent on his first mission to capture the evil rodent once more. But when he arrives at Galactic Defense Industries, Stitch faces off against a new experiment - Leroy, who is basically an enhanced clone of Stitch. Though Stitch fights well, he is placed in a cage and sent with Jumba and Pleakley heading towards a black hole. They escape and arrive on the planet Turo, saving Lilo, 625 (now known as Reuben), and Gantu, in whose spacecraft they fly back to Earth to assist the other 624 experiments in the defeat of the army of Leroys. Now, with Leroy defeated, Stitch, Jumba and Pleakley return to Earth with Lilo, realizing family is more important than spaceships, laboratories, and prestige.
[edit] Abilities
While explaining his creation to the Galactic Council early on in Lilo & Stitch, Dr. Jumba gives the following rundown of Stitch's powers: "He is bulletproof, fireproof, and can think faster than (a) super computer. He can see in the dark and can move objects 3,000 times his size. His only instinct-- TO DESTROY EVERYTHING HE TOUCHES!"
Although we never see Stitch shot at with a bullet, he does survive the crash of his space ship with nary a scratch, is only briefly stunned by a fall of several thousand feet, and has to be run over by three tractor-trailers in succession to be knocked out. As for fireproof, he does drive a tanker truck of gasoline into a volcano and ends up only a little singed. Thinking faster than a supercomputer is harder to quantify, but he does figure out how to escape from captivity fairly interestingly, builds a model of San Francisco after only glancing at a postcard, memorizes a horror movie from one brief glimpse, learns to play guitar in just a few minutes, builds a bomb out of a doll and a roller-skate, and generally picks up quickly on what is happening around him. However, his ability to lift objects 3,000 times his own size (meaning if he weighs 50 kg, he can lift 150,000 kg or 150 metric tons) is demonstrated amply when he picks up the descending blast door, hit Dr. Jumba with a Volkswagen Beetle wielded as a club (shouting humorously, "blue punch buggy! No punch back!") and stops an 18-wheeled tanker of gasoline dead in its tracks. This ability is sometimes joked about in the later series; for example, in Stitch! The Movie, Hämsterviel counters Stitch's strength with his weight "times three-thousand and one!"
His greatest weakness is his inability to float or swim in water (this is due to his dense molecular structure). At the beginning of the first movie, Stitch had an instinctive fear of water but was able to overcome it because of Lilo's influence over him. His claws are able to grip to anything, pads on his feet and paws contain a sticky, suction-like substance allowing him to stick to almost any surface, and his skeletal system is very flexible, allowing him to put his feet into his mouth and becoming a rolling ball. His eyes can pick up infrared and ultraviolet light as well as visible light and he can filter out one or the other if necessary. He also can act as an audio amplifier and/or microphone.
[edit] Other appearances
Since the first movie's release, Stitch has emerged as one of Disney's most popular and marketable characters. For instance, Ultimate Disney ranked him as the 16th best Disney hero. As a result, he has popped up in additional films, TV series, comic books, video games, and merchandise.
According to the Disney Adventures comic "Experiment 626", Stitch was created with the genes of the galaxy's strongest and most ferocious creatures, but somehow the genes of a puppy got mixed into the batch. Stitch was created using the so-called "Jumbatron 6000", apparently some kind of cloning or splicing device. After his creation, 626 was determined a failure and Jumba decided to fix him (in the flashback in Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, the rest happens). As shown in a deleted scene from Lilo & Stitch, 626 promptly proved Jumba wrong by causing various acts of mayhem, resulting in panic among the populace before the events of the first movie see him captured. However, it appears that this plot has been retconned, since in Lilo & Stitch 2 he is shown to have been captured before he is able to cause any further damage.
Stitch appears at Hollow Bastion in the Disney/Square Enix video game, Kingdom Hearts II because he was the second most popular Disney character in Japan. He indirectly was responsible for getting Sora and gang into the alternate Tron world of Space Paranoids by accidentally catching the attention of the MCP, and eventually becomes a summon to use shortly after. His fighting style includes use of his laser pistols and a ukulele attack, all while climbing around the screen (even when the player is looking in first-person), true to his mischievous nature. He is seen helping various Final Fantasy characters defend Hollow Bastion during a massive Heartless attack on the city. It is unknown why Stitch is in Hollow Bastion in the first place and not in his own world. Koichi Yamadera provides his Japanese voice, while Chris Sanders reprises his role as Stitch in the US version.
On Cartoon Network, Stitch was seen in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy episodes Keeper of the Reaper and Be A-Fred, Be Very A-Fred, along with some other monsters like him.
Among the numerous Stitch toys is the Concept 626 Car, a vehicle in the Walt Disney Wild Racers diecast series.
In November 2004, Stitch received his own attraction at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Stitch's Great Escape!. The attraction features an Audio-Animatronic Stitch interacting with the audience. This is out of the ordinary since almost every Disney character has to wait a decade before they get a ride in their likeness.
Stitch Encounter (opened 13 July 2006) at Hong Kong Disneyland, is a must-go attraction for fans of Stitch. In the tour to Space Traffic Control, you can chat and play with this little alien. Comedy, adventure and action are all about the tour. You could be the next victim of the mischievous experiment 626!
Stitch is also seen on some Disney pins that feature the Fab Five (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Goofy). This shows there now might be a Fab Six in the future, for Stitch's success and popularity is skyrocketing.
A santa hat with blue trim and stitch ears can be seen for sale, in place of the traditional Mickey Mouse ears, at Disney parks around Christmas time. They have been said to sell out quickly once they are available each winter season.
Finally, a doll that looks similar to Stitch can also be seen briefly on a toy rack in the beginning of Disney's Treasure Planet.
| Lilo & Stitch |
| Lilo & Stitch | Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626 | Stitch! The Movie | The Series (episodes) | Stitch's Great Escape! | Stitch Has a Glitch | Leroy & Stitch Characters: Human: Lilo | Nani | Mertle Edmonds | Cobra Bubbles |
