Walt Disney Animation Studios is bringing Stitch back to the big screen this month. Disney Animation shared new art yesterday for Lilo & Scratch, an all-new short that plays in theaters with Disney's Hexed starting Wednesday, November 25, with Stitch creator Chris Sanders voicing the character again. Check out the official post down below:
The poster shows Stitch with all 4 arms out and a glowing green plasma blaster in each hand, looming over Scratch, a small pink kitten with huge eyes. In the logo, "Stitch" is crossed out in red with "Scratch" scrawled underneath, and the poster carries a PG rating.
What Disney Has Shown From Lilo & Scratch
Directors Fawn Veerasunthorn and Malcon Pierce revealed the short at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 26, the date fans call "626 Day" after Stitch's designation, Experiment 626. It is Walt Disney Animation Studios' 1st theatrical short in 5 years and the studio's 1st Lilo & Stitch project since the original 2002 film. Veerasunthorn also co-directs Hexed with Jason Hand. Disney Animation announced the short on X the same day:
The short is set shortly after the events of the 2002 film. At Annecy, Disney screened its opening 2 minutes, which find Stitch on the couch watching a black-and-white silent comedy and feeding a sandwich to Pudge the fish, who now lives in a water-filled coffee pot. Lilo arrives with Scratch, the family's newest member, and the cat lunges for Pudge the moment Lilo turns her back. Stitch stops her but gets scolded for it, and Lilo then heads out to get Scratch a celebration cheesecake, leaving Stitch in charge just as Scratch's powers start to show. The directors said the rest of the short escalates into a chase across the island and a laser battle between Stitch and Scratch through town.
Sanders voices Stitch, and Maia Kealoha voices Lilo after playing her in the 2025 live-action film. Alex Kupershmidt, the supervising animator of Stitch on the 2002 film, returned to animate on the short by hand, on paper. Disney built a pipeline that mixes hand-drawn and computer-animated characters, with every CG element designed to look as close to 2D as possible. In an early animation test shown at Annecy, a hand-drawn Stitch and a CG Scratch trade laser blasts and look identical. The backgrounds were painted both traditionally and digitally, and Haim Mazar and Grace Fisher composed a score performed by a 70-piece symphony orchestra and a 9-piece Hawaiian ensemble. The original announcement is covered in LILO & SCRATCH Animated Short To Play In Theaters Ahead Of HEXED.
The watercolor look the short is matching comes from the original film, which Disney Animation's official gallery includes in this painted art of Stitch reading surrounded by ducklings:
Every Lilo & Stitch Movie And Series In Order
The franchise's main animated story runs from the 2002 film through Leroy & Stitch, with Lilo, Nani, Jumba and Pleakley in Hawaii. The overseas series that followed move Stitch to new countries and new families. Every film and series is listed below in release order:
- Lilo & Stitch (June 21, 2002): Sanders and Dean DeBlois wrote and directed the film, with Daveigh Chase as Lilo and Sanders as Stitch. It grossed more than $273 million worldwide and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
- Stitch! The Movie (August 26, 2003): This direct-to-video sequel sends Gantu after Jumba's remaining experiments for Dr. Hämsterviel and serves as the pilot for the TV series.
- Lilo & Stitch: The Series (September 20, 2003, to July 29, 2006): Lilo and Stitch track down Jumba's missing experiments, turn them from bad to good and find every experiment a place to belong across 65 episodes and 2 seasons. It premiered on ABC Kids before moving to Disney Channel.
- Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (August 30, 2005): This direct-to-video film is set between the original movie and Stitch! The Movie. Lilo, voiced by Dakota Fanning, prepares for a hula competition while a flaw in Stitch's molecules starts reverting him to his destructive programming.
- Leroy & Stitch (June 23, 2006): The Disney Channel movie ends the series and the original continuity. Hämsterviel creates a new experiment, Leroy, and Lilo and Stitch reunite every experiment to fight Leroy's army of clones.
- Stitch! (2008 to 2011, with specials in 2012 and 2015): This Japanese anime places Stitch on Izayoi Island off the shore of Okinawa with a girl named Yuna Kamihara. Madhouse animated the first 2 seasons and Shin-Ei Animation handled the 3rd, and Ben Diskin voices Stitch in the English dub.
- Stitch & Ai (2017): This 13-episode Chinese series, set in the Huangshan mountains of Anhui, pairs Stitch with a girl named Wang Ai Ling. It aired on CCTV-14 and later streamed in the U.S. on DisneyNow.
- Lilo & Stitch (May 23, 2025): Dean Fleischer Camp directed the live-action remake, with Kealoha as Lilo, Sydney Elizebeth Agudong as Nani and Sanders voicing Stitch. It grossed $1.038 billion worldwide and became the 1st live-action/animated hybrid to pass $1 billion.
- Stitch & Angel's Perfect Summer Day (June 24, 2026): A 2-minute short in which Stitch and Angel spend a day at the beach, released on Disney+ and the Disney Kids YouTube channel.
- Lilo & Scratch (November 25, 2026): The new theatrical short, set shortly after the 2002 film, plays in front of Hexed.
Disney Animation's gallery also includes this still of Nani, Lilo and Stitch surfing from the 2002 film:
Disney's official side-by-side puts the storyboards for Stitch's crash landing on Earth next to the finished scene from the 2002 film:
Which Lilo & Stitch Titles Are On Disney+
Disney+'s Lilo & Stitch collection in the U.S. lists the 2002 and 2025 Lilo & Stitch films, Stitch! The Movie, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, Leroy & Stitch, Stitch & Angel's Perfect Summer Day and the "Glitter Glide" music video from Angel's Pop Star Party. The Stitch! anime and Stitch & Ai are not listed in the collection. Disney+ lists The Series with 2 seasons, opening with the episode "Richter," in which an earthquake-making experiment threatens to split the earth apart.
Lilo & Stitch 2 And What Comes Next
Disney announced a sequel to the live-action film on June 26, 2025, with Sanders writing and directing and Jonathan Eirich returning as producer. It is the 1st time since the 2002 film that Sanders has worked on the franchise in a role beyond voicing Stitch. Lilo & Stitch 2 is dated for May 26, 2028, and Disney revealed at D23 2026 that Angel, Experiment 624, will appear in the film. The first set photos of Angel are covered in Lilo & Stitch 2 Set Photos Reveal First Look At Experiment 624, aka Angel.
Disney released this official trailer for the 2025 film ahead of its theatrical run:
Will Lilo & Scratch's mix of hand-drawn and CG animation get you into theaters for Hexed on November 25?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
If you want to learn more about another upcoming Disney animated film, Hexed stars Hailee Steinfeld as Billie, a teenager who discovers magical powers and lands in a world of witches called Hexe, as detailed in Disney's Hexed: Release Date, Voice Cast, Story And Everything Else To Know About The Witch Movie.