Western Animation / Leroy & Stitch

Spoilers for all previous Lilo & Stitch films and Lilo & Stitch: The Series are unmarked here. You Have Been Warned!

Aloha ʻoe, aloha ʻoe...

Leroy & Stitch is a 2006 animated science fiction comedy television film by Walt Disney Television Animation and the Grand Finale film of Lilo & Stitch: The Series. It is the fourth and last film in the Lilo & Stitch franchise and the conclusion to the original Western-animated, Lilo-focused parts of the franchise. It aired on Disney Channel on June 23, 2006,^note four years and two days after the theatrical release of Lilo & Stitch aired on Toon Disney three days later, and was released to DVD the day after Toon Disney's broadcast. It was written by Lilo & Stitch: The Series executive producers Jess Winfield and Bobs Gannaway, directed by Gannaway and fellow series executive producer Tony Craig, and produced by Winfield and Igor Khait.

Having captured all six hundred twenty-five experiments, Lilo and the gang are rewarded by the Grand Councilwoman for their good work. Jumba gets the key to his old lab, Pleakley gets a post as head of Earth Studies at the Galactic Alliance Community College, Stitch is granted a commission as a captain of the Galactic Armada, and Lilo becomes ambassador for Earth to the Galactic Federation and the sole official caretaker of the experiments. Unfortunately, this means they will have to split up, and after a sad goodbye, they go their separate ways.

However, Hämsterviel has once again escaped thanks to the efforts of Gantu, and he seeks to wrest control of the Federation, with the forced help of Jumba and his newly-running laboratory.

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Leroy & Stitch provides examples of:

• Ambadassador: Lilo to the Galactic Federation.
• Antagonist Title: The first word of the full title.
• Badass Crew: The experiments band together to go against the Leroy clones.
• Being Good Sucks: Lilo decides Stitch, Pleakley, and Jumba should leave Earth to pursue their dream jobs, even though she'll be lonely without them around.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: Lilo, Stitch, all the reformed experiments, and Gantu take on wave after wave of Leroy clones.
• Breaking Out the Boss: Since Lilo and Stitch have already captured and reformed all the experiments, Gantu fears that Dr. Hämsterviel will fire him since he’s no longer of any use to him, so he breaks Hämsterviel out of prison.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Reuben, who up until now has spent the series making sandwiches and wisecracking at Gantu, successfully repairs Gantu's crashed ship, something Gantu had been unable to do all series.
• Calling Me a Logarithm: As Gantu was leaving 625 to break Hämsterviel out of jail, he complained about the quality of 625's egg-salad sandwiches:
  625: You're gonna miss my egg salad!
  Gantu: Not enough mayonnaise, and too much dillweed!
  625: What did you call me?!
• The Cameo: Apparently, Timon and Pumbaa are experiments.◊ Also counts as a Production Throwback; directors Tony Craig and Bobs Gannaway developed The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa and produced that show's first two seasons.
• Chair Reveal: In this case, also a type of Chekhov's Gun.
• Chekhov's Armoury: Lilo's departing gifts to Stitch, Pleakley, and Jumba. Stitch's gift was a tiki necklace which allowed Lilo to identify Leroy as an impostor because he wasn't wearing it. Next was a rock given to Pleakley that was used to disrupt the event horizon of a black hole that he, Stitch, and Jumba were hurtling into and allow them to escape. Finally, there was the "Aloha ʻOe" record given to Jumba which he used to create a secret mechanism in Leroy that made him shut down if he (or his clones) heard it. This ends up leading to both a Crowning Moment and Awesome Music at the end where Stitch, Lilo, Reuben, and a bunch of Stitch's cousins put on a concert to defeat the Leroy clone army at the end.
• Concert Climax: Version A example; it turns out Leroy's one weakness is a shut-down trigger induced by Jumba's keepsake record of "Aloha ʻOe". In order to magnify its effectiveness against an army of Leroy and his clones, the heroic cast put on a concert. Kicking it "Up to Evil Eleven", in Jumba's own words.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Nani and Lilo's talk on the hammock.
  • Stitch is seen reading The Ugly Duckling the night before he leaves for his new job.
  • At one point during his battle with Stitch, Leroy is buried under a pile of wreckage. His emergence from the rubble is very similar to Stitch's in the first movie.
  • The frog from the first movie makes an appearance in a scene.
  • While Leroy is scouting Lilo's room, he pulls out a bunch of books from Lilo's bookstand, looks at them and chucks them away, much like Stitch in the first movie. One of the books that catches his attention is The Log Book (a book about logs) which Stitch also looks through in the first movie.
  • He also steals a can from the fridge, like Nani catches Stitch doing in the first movie.
  • Pleakley previously mentioned that he was trained at Galactic Alliance Community College in the episode "Short Stuff".
  • Leroy steals the experiment photo album Lilo was compiling in the last episode of The Series.
  • Hämsterviel uses a pile of books to make himself look taller, just as he does in Stitch! The Movie.
  • At the beginning of "Aloha ʻOe", Stitch breaks one of his guitar strings.
  • Stitch dresses up as Elvis Presley again for the concert at the end.
  • During the ceremony at the beginning, the Grand Councilwoman called Pleakley and Lilo by their full names. Previously in the franchise, their respective first and last names were mentioned or shown only once. Pleakley's first name (Wendy) was first revealed in The Series episode, "Fibber", while Lilo's surname (Pelekai) was shown on the adoption paper for Stitch all the way back in the original film.
• Conservation of Ninjutsu: At first Stitch is no match for Leroy in a one-on-one battle, in the final battle, the experiments are able to hold their own against a superior number of Leroy's clones, even though many experiments don't have powers intended for combat.
• Continuity Cavalcade: Almost every experiment who was previously shown in The Series gets a scene, usually in one of three sequences in the film: at the beginning of the movie as Jumba's ship takes off, shown in their new lives before being captured by Leroy, or in the battle with the Leroy clones. And during the credits, which shows a full list of them.
• Contrived Coincidence: Why would the black hole drop them off right where Lilo and Reuben were?
• Dance Party Ending: After a Fake-Out Fade-Out from the Group Picture Ending, the very last scene of the film is of Hämsterviel, back in galactic prison without anything in his cell (not even the ceiling restraint that he secretly modified in the show) apart from the prisoner clothes he's wearing, grouchily tapping his foot while the entire Leroy army, who are each placed in a cell of their own, are "dancin' to the 'Jailhouse Rock'". Then it fades out again to the end credits with the list of Jumba's 626 experiments.
• Demoted to Extra: David Kawena only appears at the end; subverted when his only line is saying "Aloha" in a photo shot of Lilo's ʻohana and the experiments.
• Despair Event Horizon: Lilo succumbs to despair after learning Hämsterviel has taken over the council and sent Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley into a black hole. Reuben's speech and Gantu opening their cell, though, shake her out of it.
• Disappeared Dad: The movie makes a startling, out-of-left-field reveal about Mertle's backstory, and plays it for laughs:
  Mertle: I bet your dog ran away from you, and I also bet he's never coming back.
  Yuki: Just like Mertle's dad.
  Mertle: Quiet, Yuki!
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Pleakley on the phone to Jumba: "Don't you miss your Aunt Pleakley? I'm wearing the wiiig...!" We've gone way past subtext at this point.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Link (X-251) appeared in this film first before his episode debuted.^note "Link" was first released on the Leroy & Stitch DVD, which came out four days after the film's premiere, and didn't air on television until a little over a month later on July 29, 2006.
• Easily Forgiven: After switching sides, Gantu is immediately accepted. To be fair, he was never particularly evil to start with.
• End of an Age: Not only is this the final American animated Lilo & Stitch production, but it is also the final Disney film to use the classic 2D castle Vanity Plate before it switches to the CGI one from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest onward.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Jumba has a really epic one when he remembers he played "Aloha ʻOe" when creating Leroy, which turns out to be the experiment's weakness.
  Jumba: Jumba IS evil genius! Hawaiian folksy folk music is tied into synapse matrix! If Leroy is hearing "Aloha Oe", he is shutting down like a car wash in a rainstorm!
• Eviler than Thou: Gantu is more serious, but he still just sees this as a job to pay his bills. For all his quirks, Hämsterviel is openly vicious and vindictive.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The Log Book is a book about logs.
• Finale Movie: This movie closes the book (literally during the Group Picture Ending) for Lilo & Stitch: The Series and the original Western-produced, Lilo-focused continuity of the franchise.
• Friendship Moment: Gantu and Reuben say "Aloha" to each other. This happens again when Gantu requests Reuben be made his galley officer.
• Funny Photo Phrase: At the very end of the movie, Lilo has the experiments, her family, David, and Mertle say, "Aloha!" as she takes a group shot of them all.
• Good Colors, Evil Colors: Stitch is colored blue, while Leroy is colored red.
• Group Picture Ending: The movie ends (well, almost ends) with Lilo, Stitch, her family, and all of Stitch's cousins posing for a group photo to make up the last page of Lilo's book.
• Happy Ending: Subverted in the intro. Theoretically, they should be content with Stitch being the Captain of the Galactic Armada, Jumba getting to go back to his lab, and Pleakley getting to teach others about Earth. However, they ultimately realize that their life just isn't complete without each other or Lilo. Fortunately, she leaves them gifts which ultimately leads to Hämsterviel's undoing later, and they figure out how to have a proper happy ending at the end.
• Heel–Face Turn: Gantu and 625/Reuben both reform and are allowed to be captain and galley officer for the Galactic Armada, respectively.
• Hidden Depths: After years of making wisecracks at Gantu's expense as well as making numerous sandwiches, Reuben manages to repair Gantu's old ship after Lilo reminds him that he has all of Stitch's abilities, and they head out to rescue Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley, with help from Gantu who is fired by Hästerviel.
• I Choose to Stay: Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley at the end, who all opt to stay on Earth with the Pelekais.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: The robot security drones at the prison asteroid as Gantu attempts to free Hämsterviel. Justified as Gantu knows the ship better than anyone else on account of being a former captain of the Galactic Armada and he could likely resist their gunfire anyway given how strong his race is.
• Imposter Forgot One Detail: After Stitch has been kidnapped, Leroy shapeshifts himself to look like him to throw Lilo off as she contacts him. However, Lilo sees right through the disguise when she points out Leroy is not wearing the tiki necklace she gave Stitch prior to his departure from Earth and realizes Stitch is in trouble.
• In the Dreaming Stage of Grief: After the experiments (and Mertle) have all been rounded up to be eliminated by Hämsterviel, Mertle says that this must be a nightmare. She still looks away and repeats "not happening" even when Hämsterviel's spacecraft starts pointing the cannon at them.
• Ironic Echo: "That was a rhetorical question."
• Kicked Upstairs:
  • Pleakley is promoted to the chair of Earth studies at the Galactic Alliance Community College [G.A.C.C.] by the Grand Councilwoman. Unfortunately, he is disappointed to find that the job isn't as exciting as he thought it was:
    Pleakley's Assistant: Is that a real earth rock?
    Pleakley: Why yes, yes it is.
    Assistant: You've actually been to Earth? You must tell me everything!
    Pleakley: Of course, but you will have to wait for my first lecture: "Perspectives on Earthiana: A One-Eyed View".
    Assistant: Lecture? You don't give lectures.
    Pleakley: I don't? Oh well, then in my first class you can always—
    Assistant: And you don't have classes, either. You're a supervising professor. That's why you get all this great stuff: the office, the encyclopedias, your own walk-in closet and wardrobe.
    Pleakley [dejectedly]: Oh, right. Could we take a look at that, um, new wardrobe?
  • At the end, when they attend an award ceremony for capturing Dr. Hämsterviel and the Leroys, Stitch returns to Earth, Jumba gives up his old laboratory, and Pleakley resigns his dead-end position at G.A.C.C.:
    Jumba: Jumba would like to return to Earth as well.
    Pleakley: You would? But what about your lab?
    Jumba: Jumba is finally understanding 'ohana is more important. Don't have to be evil genius to see that.
    Pleakley: Well, then, I surely don't need a non-teaching teaching job.
    Grand Councilwoman: Your point being?
    Pleakley: Crazyhead! I want to go home!
    Lilo: That's all I want, too: to go home with my ʻohana.
    Stitch: Ih.
• Kidnapped Scientist: Jumba is kidnapped (again), this time in order to create a new genetic Super-Soldier ("Leroy") for Hämsterviel to make an army of clones of.
• Last-Minute Baby Naming: A last-minute experiment naming in this case; Lilo realized 625 is the only experiment she never named, so she settles on the perfect sandwich-related name "Reuben".
  625/Reuben: The classic corned beef and sauerkraut on rye. Reuben! Ooh, I like that!
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the end, Lilo has everyone gather together for the last picture for her book.
• Logo Joke: After the logo is formed, the background turns into space as the castle goes into hyperdrive.
• Lucky Charms Title: The film's title is stylized on the DVD cover (seen on top) as Leroy Lilo & Stitch with Lilo's name struck through (which we can't render in text here) and Leroy's name "written" over it. Ironically, however, Lilo is the true protagonist in this film.
• Memento MacGuffin: Stitch's tiki.
• Men of Sherwood: Stitch's 625 fellow genetic experiments all do a good job in the final battle against Leroy despite their limited experience working together. They probably would have been overwhelmed in a Zerg Rush eventually if not for the main characters, but it would have been a close fight.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Hämsterviel is dumb enough to tell Gantu that he'll be fired as soon as he's finished locking up Lilo and Reuben. Naturally, Gantu decides that he's got nothing to lose, and helps them escape to get back at Hämsterviel. In the end, Hämsterviel ends up in prison again with his Leroy army, and since he’s alienated Gantu, nobody’s going to help him break out this time.
• Mooks: The Leroys.
• The Movie: Well, they already did that before for The Series, but this movie is more fitting of the trope.
• Name and Name: This time, it's an antagonist's name taking one part of the title.
• Near-Villain Victory: Upon breaking out from prison with the help from Gantu, Hämsterviel coerces Jumba into creating Leroy before having Jumba, Pleakley, and Stitch sent away into a black hole against their will. After using a cloning machine to create an army of Leroy clones, Hämsterviel was able to take over the Galactic Alliance, humiliate the Grand Councilwoman by demoting her to his secretary, capture all the reformed experiments and have them confined in the Aloha Stadium until he arrives to destroy them, have Lilo and Reuben confined in the prison block, and ungratefully fire Gantu, all just to satisfy his ego. Even when a remorseful Gantu frees Lilo and Reuben from custody and helps Stitch and the others in arriving to the stadium, Hämsterviel sets the Leroy clones to fight them and the experiments off with full confidence that the Leroy clones are too strong for them. It is only by singing "Aloha Oe" that Lilo, Stitch, and Reuben are able to scramble and knock out the Leroy clones, resulting in Hämsterviel's defeat.
• No Name Given: invoked Inverted for Leroy; he is given a name but no number. Jumba tries to number him 627, but Gantu reminds him that he already made an Experiment 627. It wouldn't be until nearly fourteen years later that Leroy was designated 629, though it wasn't affirmed for English audiences (since they never got his part of the manga's side story) until the following year when a licensed sticker book did so.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Some of Leroy's fights, given how he captured all of the experiments in less than a day but only a few are shown.
• Our Clones Are Different: Hämsterviel has a cloning machine which, at the press of a button, creates an instant clone of whoever is standing inside the machine's chamber, and it can generate a seemingly-endless supply of clones at the speed of a factory line if one desires. Hämsterviel uses it on Leroy (himself a recolored duplicate of Stitch who was deliberately created as a new Experiment in Stitch's image) to generate an army of Leroy clones.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Hämsterviel just laughs in amusement when Stitch calls him "Gerbil Boy", indicating how confident he is that Leroy is about to defeat Stitch.
• Palette Swap: The shots of the experiments standing in Aloha Stadium include many recolorings and slight edits of pre-existing experiments to inflate the number of them seen in these shots, trying to make it seem like Hämsterviel and Leroy have all the experiments.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Hämsterviel as he prepares to blast the experiments with a laser:
  Hämsterviel: Aloha!... As in, goodbye.
• Pronouncing My Name for You: When Lilo and Reuben confront Hämsterviel and say his name, the latter irritably clarifies that his name is not pronounced "Hamster-veel" (as Lilo and Reuben have been pronouncing it throughout the series), but "HAHM-ster-veel".
• Punny Name:
  • Leroy's name, which starts with "L" and has "o" as its fourth letter, plays off of Lilo's name in the title.
  • When deciding on a name for 625, Lilo thinks of various sandwich-related puns. First up is "Patty" (Patty Melt), followed by "Monte" (Monte Cristo), then "Pita Pita Sandwich Eata", before finally settling on "Reuben".
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Played straight with Lilo in the opening scene.
• Put Their Heads Together: Angel does this to two of the Leroy clones.
• Rhetorical Question Blunder:
  • Hämsterviel has the following conversation with minion Gantu:
    Hämsterviel: Ah, I think that went very well, don't you?
    Gantu: Actually, sir, I think—
    Hämsterviel: I didn't ask what you think!
    Gantu: Actually, you did. I—
    Hämsterviel: It was a rhetorical question! Don't you know what a rhetorical question is?
    Gantu: Yes, sir. I believe it's—
    Hämsterviel: No, no! That was a rhetorical question too! [A frustrated Hämsterviel facepalms at Gantu's stupidity] Argh!
  • Lampshaded after Leroy has reported that all of Jumba's experiments except Stitch and Reuben have been caught:
    Hämsterviel: It has taken Leroy a paltry few hours to succeed while you took three years to fail. What is wrong with you?!
    Gantu: Well, I have a bad knee.
    Hämsterviel: No! That was a rhetorical question, you don't answer it! Now will you get me down from this chair!
    Gantu: Uh, was that a rhetorical question?
    Hämsterviel: No! That one was not-- Get me down, get me down!
  • Gantu Took a Level in Badass when he gives one to Hämsterviel after his Heel–Face Turn:
    Lilo: He's on the aloha team now.
    Gantu: You never did understand the meaning of "aloha", did you?
    Hämsterviel: Well, I think it means—
    Gantu: Uh, that was a rhetorical question. [Hämsterviel groans in frustration at being outwitted by Gantu]
• Secondary Character Title: To be honest, Stitch has more of a supporting role in this film than a leading role, and Leroy is only a secondary antagonist since Hämsterviel is still the main Big Bad. If anything, a more accurate title for this movie would be "Lilo & Reuben".
• Series Fauxnale: Thanks to the Stitch! anime that came two years later in Japan, then again over a decade after this film thanks to the Chinese series Stitch & Ai (which was partly worked on by some of the guys who did this film and Lilo & Stitch: The Series).
• Ship Tease: Bonnie and Clyde show hints — in the group portrait at the end, he's got his arm around her and she's leaning into him.
• Shot in the Ass: During the battle between the first 626 experiments and the army of Leroys, Spike (Experiment 319) shoots one of the Leroys in the butt with his silliness-inducing spines.
• Shout-Out:
  • The Hawaii Five-O theme plays as Leroy captures all the experiments.
  • Hämsterviel sends Jumba, Pleakley, and Stitch to coordinates 12-21-979, the location of a black hole. The release date of The Black Hole was December 21, 1979.
  • Jumba cranks up the volume of the amplifier for the end song "up to evil eleven".
  • The day is saved through The Power of Rock and a reinterpreted pop song disabling a horde of mind-controlled villains dressed in a flamboyant costume with an electric guitar. Not unlike the climax of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
• Single Specimen Species: All the experiments. Even Leroy, if you don't count the cloning.
• Special Thanks: Aloha Stadium gets this for its appearance in the film.
• Spotting the Thread: Lilo immediately deciphers "Stitch" is Leroy in disguise because he isn't wearing the tiki necklace she gave him.
• 10-Minute Retirement: Hämsterviel to the Grand Councilwoman.
• Theme Music Power-Up: "Aloha ʻOe", which is actually an inversion, believe it or not — if Leroy hears the song, he shuts off, a switch that also applies to his clones. Naturally, Lilo, Stitch, and company perform a rockin' concert to accomplish this. So it's really more of a Theme Music Power Down for the villains.
• Three-Point Landing: Angel does this in front of two Leroy clones just before she puts their heads together.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Since 625's trademark food is sandwiches, this leads Lilo to name him after one.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Hämsterviel fires Gantu because he doesn’t need him now that he has the more competent Leroy working for him, even though Gantu is the one who made Hämsterviel’s conquest of the Galactic Alliance possible by breaking him out of prison and helping him coerce Jumba into creating Leroy in the first place.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: 625's snark about partnerships early on is what gives Gantu the idea to dump him and break Hämsterviel out of prison.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: When Angel sees Stitch surrounded, she yells out "Boojiboo!", leaps over, takes out four Leroys, and then blows Stitch a kiss.
• Wants Versus Needs: Stitch, Pleakley and Jumba want to pursue careers, so they go their separate ways, leaving Lilo behind. They all end up lonely and unhappy. In the end, they decide to reunite and stay with Lilo.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The fates of Stitch's captured bridge crew aren't fully shown aside for some scene where they're being held prisoner working for Hämsterviel.
• You Can Talk?: Mertle's reaction to Gigi talking for the first time.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After taking over the Galactic Alliance, Hämsterviel fires Gantu, claiming that he no longer needs him now that he has Leroy.

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Lilo: OK, everybody! This is it! With the last picture in my book... a group shot! The whole ʻohana! Everybody say, "Aloooooha!"
The Pelekai ʻohana: Alooooha!
[Camera flashes as they say "Aloha".]
Off-screen singers: ♪ Aloooha... ʻOhaaana... ♪