Films: Original film | Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch | Stitch! The Movie | Leroy & Stitch
TV series: Lilo & Stitch: The Series | Stitch! anime | Stitch & Ai
Video games: First GBA game | Lilo & Stitch: Trouble in Paradise | Stitch: Experiment 626 | Stitch Jam games
Other media: Stitch's Great Escape! | Stitch & the Samurai
- Americans Hate Tingle: Although there was just enough American interest for most of the show to receive a free legal digital streaming release in the United States for about seven months, many Westerners were unhappy with getting another Lilo & Stitch series without Lilo, just like with the Stitch! anime.
- Ass Pull: The fact that nobody bothers to talk about or mention Lilo in order to keep Stitch living with Ai, even though he's the only one to have suffered memory loss. Jumba and Pleakley never mention Lilo at all, and during the Galactic Council's As You Know scene in "Gotcha!", the Grand Councilwoman mentions to Jumba and Pleakley at one point that after Stitch became good "they [the Grand Council] allowed [Jumba and Pleakley] to stay on Earth for many years", but at no point does she even mention Lilo and Nani despite the Pelekai sisters appearing in a flashback.
- Audience-Alienating Premise: With one show having already separated Stitch from Lilo, most fans weren't willing to take on another one that does the same thing.
- Awesome Art:
- One of the few things that fans will agree on is that the backgrounds look gorgeous; they really make you want to visit the beautiful Huangshan mountains.
- The animation of the episodes that use hand-drawn digital ink and paint is actually nearly on par with the Western Animation era of the franchise. It shows What Could Have Been if the whole show used them instead of mediocre computer-based motion-tweening.
- Base-Breaking Character: The new titular human lead Wang Ai Ling. Several fans believe that she makes for a much better friend for Stitch than Yuna Kamihara does, is more believable in the role, and is a worthy successor to Lilo Pelekai,note while others see her as annoying, way too similar to Lilo, and lacking in depth, calling Ai a bland carbon copy of her.
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Both involve Stitch's new powers separate from the metamorphosis program; he's never shown these abilities before and they never show up again after that they're used, making their sudden introductions completely pointless padding:
- In one scene in "Tell the World", Ai "interviews" the shishi for her video. When she admonishes Stitch for standing on top of one of the lion statues by saying that there are only two lions, not three, he suddenly sprouts quills (that look much like his back spines) on top of his head and below his chin pretending to be a scary lion. He then retracts the quills after Ai simply tells him that he's not scary.
- In "The Phoenix", while Stitch, Ai, and her cousin Bao are using a hang glider to reach the phoenix and the shrine after the alien hunters in the episode levitate the shrine's grounds, Stitch decides to climb on top of the glider and jump off like a BASE jumper, suddenly growing a membrane in freefall to allow him to glide through the air. Not only does this beg the question as to why he never used this ability before in the original Western continuity when he fell from great heights back then, but he only does this just to have some fun.
- Broken Base:
- This show further deepened the divide within the Lilo & Stitch fandom that the Stitch! anime started. Some fans were grateful to see more of Stitch again in more fun adventures. Others rejected this show for keeping Lilo Out of Focus, rehashing some aspects of the anime, such as the aliens getting involved with a culture's local mythology, and having Stitch paired up with a new human girl again. Other people said that the show itself was fine, but it would have been better if it was a completely original series with its own complete cast of characters, instead of just shoehorning in the characters of an existing franchise and trying to establish this series as an "official" continuation of it.
- The plot and storytelling are either better fitting and more naturally emotional than what came before from Stitch's television escapades, feeling like it captures much of the old charm of Lilo & Stitch, or it feels forced and tries too hard to sell its emotional moments with its characters, thus failing to invoke the same kind of emotional responses fans had from the original Western works.
- The animation is either nice and fluid as a Disney show should be or noticeably stilted with bad motion tweening. (In fact, this show actually comes across as both, since three episodes were hand-drawn with digital ink and paint while the rest were computer-animated.)
- The new characters are seen as either charming and likable as the original characters or annoying and aping off them too much.
- The voice acting—in both English and Mandarin—is deemed by fans as either good and fitting for the characters old and new, or irritating and ill-fitting, with the returning characters sounding almost nothing like the originals.
- Stitch's new abilities, especially the metamorphosis program and the giant destructive form. Either they fit for him due to the way he was programmed to be the ultimate monster, adding an interesting twist to his character and the show, or a badly clichéd gimmick that adds nothing meaningful to his character and ruins the series, disrespecting his legacy and how Chris Sanders originally envisioned him. It didn't help that it contradicts what was either said or shown in past works. Additionally, the design of the destructive form itself is seen as either awesome or ugly.
- Contested Sequel: Early on, fans of the franchise believed it was either good by having more of a focus on the two leads and for being a bit closer in tone to the original film (the latter which the past two TV entries usually lacked), or bad due to being mostly derivative of past entries, with whatever that was new not really working. Years later and without a second season having ever been made, fans who have seen the show long since its run ended now mostly agree that it wasn't a good show for that and other reasons such as the subpar animation and voice acting, seeing why Disney didn't greenlight another season, though it still has its supporters who argue that it maintains some of the franchise's better qualities.
- Fan-Disliked Explanation:
- Some fans did not buy the Word of God's explanation that Jumba's recreated Chinese mythological creatures are all genetic experiments that he made based on what he read on ancient Chinese scrolls, saying that Jumba still just recreated Chinese mythological creatures and are thus not exactly "genuine" experiments, save for maybe Dim Long.
- Likewise, some fans didn't buy the claim that Stitch's new giant destructive form was what he was supposed to become all this time, only that Lilo's and Ai's love towards him was a suppressant for it. This is especially considering that Stitch is already dangerous and destructive enough as his normal pint-sized self, a deleted version of the original film's opening
shows that Chris Sanders (the character's actual creator) never envisioned giving Stitch this kind of ability, and the giant form also contradicts Lilo & Stitch: The Series,note specifically the episode "Short Stuff".
- Fanon Discontinuity: Like with the Stitch! anime, a number of fans have rejected this series for separating Lilo and Stitch again and for other reasons (such as Stitch's metamorphosis program).
- Fridge Logic:
- Lilo and Stitch have separated this time around because he was kidnapped, which is understandable. But the series showing him suddenly liking this new girl Ai more and deciding to stay with her instead of returning to his original home of Hawaii had some fans questioning these things.
- The show itself has Ai inexplicably explain in a cold open that Stitch lost his memories when he re-entered Earth's atmosphere in the first episode because "special qi energy" surrounded him to protect him... which itself is seen as an Ass Pull since it undermines one of Stitch's previously-known abilities; his fireproofing, which presumably includes heat resistance, and that was already displayed moments before his fall to Earth with him doing his famous plasma Catch and Return in his fight against the Jaboodies and Woolagongs. Even then, why would a spiritual force choose to protect an alien from being hurt yet also take away his memories? (Although that question would have been answered in the never-greenlit second season, during which Stitch would have found the shrine he was looking for.)
- The show explains that the reason why Stitch has programming that makes him grow bigger and more powerful is because he's "too small" to actually destroy a city. However, this explanation is contradicted by three of the franchise's past works, which made some fans question the necessity of adding that new metamorphosis ability:
- A deleted version of the opening scene in Lilo & Stitch showed that Experiment 626 has already caused major destruction in an alien city, still in his familiar small size. Said deleted scene even showed Stitch tipping over a skyscraper by lifting it from its base, which this series actually referenced in one of the show's many Call Backs and Mythology Gags.
- The Lilo & Stitch: The Series episode "Short Stuff" showed that Stitch was actually not as effective of a fighter (and also clumsier) when enlarged to a giant size, with Jumba outright telling him that he was "made to operate at peak efficiency only at [his] exact original size." Granted, in The Series Stitch was enlarged by a growth ray and not via internal programming, and he didn't sprout tentacles from his back, but those are not enough to negate the issue here.
- Finally, the Stitch! anime episode "Wormhole" had Stitch and that series' human lead Yuna ending up in an alternate universe where they find themselves in an abandoned, post-apocalyptic Earth city (implied to be Tokyo) that was ravaged by an unreformed Experiment 626 who, apart from having a jetpack in that universe, is still exactly the same small size we all know him to be, not once having grown larger.
- Lilo and Stitch have separated this time around because he was kidnapped, which is understandable. But the series showing him suddenly liking this new girl Ai more and deciding to stay with her instead of returning to his original home of Hawaii had some fans questioning these things.
- Funny Moments: This dialogue from the English version of the first episode occurs when Ai and Jiejie are arguing:Jiejie: You're putting words in my mouth! (Ai tosses a pair of underwear at her face) And pants on my face. (takes the underwear off her face) Ai...Ai: (shows Jiejie her right hand) Talk to the hand!Jiejie: I'm already talking to the underpants.
- Gateway Series: This show can be this for Chinese animation since it's a Disney-produced show using characters that Westerners are familiar with. (Ironically, Disney co-produced this series to enter the Chinese animation market.)
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Like how the anime was made because the Japanese love Stitch, Stitch & Ai was made for Chinese audiences because they too love him a lot.
- Glurge:
- Ai's breakdown in "The Scroll" when Jumba and Pleakley were about to take away Stitch to bring him back to the UGF comes across as this. When Jiejie angrily and passionately argues using an appeal to pity for Jumba and Pleakley to let Stitch stay with Ai because her little sister "never forgets those she loves ever". Although this is followed by her explaining that Ai was basically an emotional wreck in the year after the loss of their parents until Stitch came into her life, it still comes across more as her and Ai being selfish than heartbroken; Stitch may have been the best thing to happen in the Wang sisters' lives in a long while, but they do not suddenly own him just because of that. Never mind the fact that Jumba and Pleakley were trying to take Stitch to the UGF to save him from the Jaboodies and the Woolagongs, even if they used misguided and manipulative methods in doing so.
- The final scene of the entire show is this trope. At the end of the final episode, Stitch cries "because Stitch has [a] family." The problem with this scene? He already had a family before joining the Wangs, as the flashbacks to his time with Lilo seen in the early episodes have made pretty clear.
- It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Some fans criticize this series for rehashing past elements of the original films and TV series, with most of the main human characters being carbon copies of those from the original series and films, especially Ai and Jiejie, as well as a bit of an overreliance on Mythology Gags and Call Backs to try to invoke nostalgia for older fans.
- Just Here for Godzilla:
- Some fans were interested in this show just to see Stitch again in another new series. Humorously, Stitch's new ability makes him like the King of the Monsters himself.
- Somewhat like with the Stitch! anime, others watched this show to see some new experiments, although the excitement was dampened by the experiments being new in the truest sense of the word—they're all made within this series, after Stitch, without any of the first 625 experiments, seen or unseen, making an appearance.note
- Misblamed: While Tony Craig was Stitch & Ai's director and the most familiar name to fans among the staff, the series was written (and voice-directed) by Marc Handler, who was new to the franchise at the time. Craig joined in late into the pre-production process, taking over the directing role from Victor Cook, who found himself busy with other obligations.
- Only the Creator Does It Right: Presumably why the involvement of American animators, including those from Lilo & Stitch: The Series, were brought on board was to make sure the show would have visual consistency with the original continuity, something that many fans agree the Stitch! anime lacked (even among some of those who like that series). This is more apparent in the episodes made with digital ink and paint, as they look like they could've been lost episodes of Lilo & Stitch: The Series.
- Pandering to the Base: Thanks to the involvement of American animators, including those from Lilo & Stitch: The Series, the show uses a lot of Call Backs, Mythology Gags, flashbacks of past works, and even a notable instance of The Bus Came Back (i.e. the return of Cobra Bubbles) to try to win over the franchise's long-time fans. However, some fans believed they went too far with the callbacks and found them more annoying than amusing.
- Special Effect Failure:
- Most of the episodes that use motion-tweened computer animation à la Flash or Harmony. While not the worst animation in the world, they are pretty evident and unnatural-looking, especially in the moments where they basically recycle the animation from past works.
- Separately, the sound mixing is quite subpar throughout, with characters and scenes sounding quiet when they should be louder, and various scenes missing some necessary audio filters to give off the impression of, say, communicating via intergalactic video chat through a smartphone-like communicator.
- So Okay, It's Average: Outside of the controversies of continuing the "Stitch without Lilo" trend that started with Stitch!, this was pretty much the overall reception of this show. It's a decent enough, fun, inoffensive animated series in its own right, but it's not really original, has a number of unexplained Plot Holes and unnecessary additions to the franchise and its lore, and copies too much from the franchise's past entries. It all gets to the point that there is not much in this show to justify the involvement of the Lilo & Stitch franchise in what is ultimately an average modern-day children's fantasy series.
- Tear Jerker: Lilo and Stitch have separated again, only this time he was taken from her. Even worse, he lost most of his memories of her when he fell back to Earth escaping the Jaboodies and the Woolagongs in the first episode. Worse, since this show ended with this thread Left Hanging, then this version of Stitch will officially never remember who Lilo was.
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
- Ben Diskin's Stitch voice in this series is seen by several fans as a downgrade from his Stitch! anime voice, which is saying something considering the mixed reception of his Stitch voice in the English dub of that series. Said fans believed that his Stitch voice became too deep and his attempts to invoke Stitch's classic flawed speech were not good at all, coming across more as a bad impression of the alien.
- Lucien Dodge's Pleakley voice has been mostly panned for sounding almost nothing like Kevin McDonald's Pleakley, having the Plorgonarian instead sounding like a very annoying (even for a character who's meant to be annoying) and generic nerdy student whose voice is cracking from puberty. This even led to some fans better appreciating Ted Biaselli's Pleakley voice in the Stitch! anime, since he sounded a lot closer to the original Pleakley in his performance.
