"Rufus" is the fifty-eighth episodenote of Lilo & Stitch: The Series. It first aired on August 26, 2005, and is a crossover with Kim Possible.
When Stitch gets kidnapped by Dr. Hämsterviel and Dr. Drakken, Kim and Ron help to save him. Jumba also mistakes Rufus for an experiment.
Disney Channel has made this episode available to watch for free
on YouTube.
The plot synopsis below includes content originally written on Lilo & Stitch Wiki on Fandom,
which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported).Stitch is running through trees while trying to hide as Lilo had finished counting. While looking around to find Stitch, she eventually finds him in the palm tree. Lilo is not pleased by this, as Stitch was supposed to hide instead of telling her where he is, thus defeating the purpose of hide-and-seek. Suddenly, an aircraft abducts Stitch from the tree; Lilo goes after it but soon loses it.
Back at her house, Jumba finds Pleakley in the living room looking at some magazines, which he refers to them as his "treasure of Earth knowledge." Lilo soon returns back home and tells them of Stitch's disappearance. She then suggests using Jumba's ship to find him. Jumba tells her that his ship is not working, so Lilo decides to rescue Stitch on her own. Jumba warns her that she cannot go on dangerous missions without 626.
Lilo wonders who could do the job better than her until Pleakley finds a magazine cover of Kim Possible. He then tells Lilo that they can go to Kim's website, tell her that they are in trouble, and take advantage of her highly efficient secret agent skills. Jumba then looks at the magazine which soon intrigues him, regarding Kim's impressive resume. Lilo is pessimistic about having to hire Kim and claims she does not need her, as they can do the job themselves. However, Pleakley assures Lilo that the "saving business" should be left to the professionals, as he soon writes an e-mail to Kim reading: "ATTENTION! URGENT MATTER, SAFETY OF THE WORLD AT STAKE, NEED HELP A.S.A.P." and sends the letter. Pleakley then says that they will have to wait for Kim to arrive, though Lilo is worried that Stitch needs them right now.
When Kim, Ron Stoppable, and Rufus arrive to help Lilo save Stitch, Lilo tries to brush Kim off, as she wants to save Stitch on her own. However, Jumba notices Ron's pet naked mole rat. He mistakes Rufus for Experiment 607 (Launch) and chases him for most of the adventure, much to Ron's horror.
Meanwhile, Dr. Drakken and Shego, who have partnered with Dr. Hämsterviel, have Stitch confined inside an underwater base, where they both prepare to clone him. When Kim goes out to find the base and rescue Stitch, she gets sucked into a current ("People Eater") and is also taken hostage. Eventually, Stitch and Kim are rescued from their prison by Lilo and Rufus, and the heroes then manage to escape the underwater base.
Back on the beach, Jumba is still convinced that Rufus is Experiment 607. However, Stitch takes Ron's pet naked mole rat, sniffs him a few times, and reveals to Jumba that Rufus is not one of his "cousins" but a mole rat, much to Jumba's surprise. Later, Lilo teaches Kim how to dance the hula, and everyone has a good time together.
The only experiment mentioned in this episode:
- Launch (X-607): Jumba mistakes Rufus as being this experiment. This experiment is designed to warp the fabric of time and space, causing the entire universe to collapse upon itself.
Tropes featured in this episode include:
- An Aesop: Never doubt others based on what they look like or who they are.
- Cassandra Truth: Lilo warns Kim about an underwater current called "The People Eater". Kim ignores her warning and is sucked right into Drakken's underwater lair by said current and ends up captured along with Stitch.
- Continuity Nod: When hearing that Drakken's plan involves cloning, Shego is quick to point out that cloning has never worked out for him.
- Copycat Mockery: Stitch mocks Drakken behind his back as the latter gloats about his plan to clone the former and rants to a skeptical Shego that his cloning scheme is "going to work this time". He gets caught when getting carried away with his "hopping mad" act, which results in Drakken turning around and giving him an Eye Am Watching You gesture before his and Shego's conversation resumes.
- Crossover: With Kim Possible.
- Dance Party Ending: The episode ends with Lilo, the aliens, Kim, Ron, and Rufus all dancing hula.
- Just a Kid: Kim doubts Lilo can be of any help because of this, despite Lilo proving herself helping throughout the episode. Lilo proves her wrong when she successfully gets into Drakken's lair and frees both her and Stitch.
- The Unreveal: It's never mentioned why Gantu's unavailable in this episode resulting in Hamsterviel having to hire Drakken to kidnap Stitch instead.
