LILO & STITCH – 2025

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

The film opens in outer space, where a meeting of the Galactic Council is held. The Grand Councilwoman (Hannah Waddingham) has brought mad scientist Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) into custody for the creation of numerous dangerous experiments, but the latest one, Experiment 626 (Chris Sanders), has proven to be the biggest threat to the galaxy. Jumba brags about how 626 is indestructible and powerful, but after seeing that 626 is simply a naughty and destructive creature, she has both him and Jumba imprisoned.

After being held captive, 626 manages to quickly break free and hop on a cruiser to escape into space. The other aliens track 626’s trajectory and see he is heading towards Earth. The Grand Councilwoman nearly allows the aliens to destroy the planet, until one of their Earth experts, Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), comes out and tells them not to do so, as they are working on rebuilding the mosquito population. The Grand Councilwoman orders Jumba to go to Earth to retrieve 626, with Pleakley’s supervision.

In Hawaii, Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha) feeds a sandwich to Pudge the fish before running to her hula class. Her older sister Nani (Sydney Agudong) is her guardian and struggles to maintain a stable job to support them both. Lilo is made fun of by the other girls in her class, including Mertle Edmonds (Emery Ho’Okano-Briel). Nani fails to show up for Lilo’s recital. Mertle pushes Lilo onstage, so Lilo pushes her off of it and gets herself kicked out of the class.

Back at home, Lilo locks Nani out of the house out of spite for missing the recital. Making matters more complicated is the arrival of social worker Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere). Nani tries to get Lilo to pretend like everything is going well, but Mrs. Kekoa can tell that they are having a hard time keeping things together. She has Nani come up with some goals to improve things, but after Mrs. Kekoa leaves, Nani and Lilo have a fight. Outside, Nani meets with her neighbor, Tutu (Amy Hill), who is like a grandmother figure to her and Lilo. She knows of the sisters’ problems and encourages Nani to pursue an education in marine biology like she has always wanted, but Nani feels she needs to be there for Lilo. Tutu’s grandson, a surfer named David Kawena (Kaipo Dudoit), has a crush on Nani but is awkward around her.

Later that night, Nani makes Lilo something to eat, and they reconcile. Lilo looks up at the sky and sees what she thinks is a shooting star, but is actually just 626’s ship crash-landing. Lilo makes a wish to have a real friend. Meanwhile, Stitch comes across a wedding party and causes a commotion by running through the place for some cake. He then ends up getting hit by a tour bus and is taken to a nearby animal shelter.

Jumba and Pleakley arrive in Hawaii and adopt human disguises based off two men they run into. They check into the hotel to hide out, where Jumba messes with a portal gun and briefly exposes himself and Pleakley to a local (the big guy who always drops his icy treat). They then find out about a mysterious creature being taken to the shelter.

The next day, Tutu goes to take Lilo to the animal shelter to visit the dogs as she enjoys doing. There, she finds 626, who has hidden his alien features to look closer to a regular four-legged animal like the dogs he has encountered. He breaks out of his cage and is seen by Jumba and Pleakley. He dodges their tranquilizer darts and overhears them saying they will not harm other humans. 626 sees Lilo and pretends to be a dog to protect himself. She quickly takes a liking to him and names him Stitch, even though Tutu and the shelter employee think Stitch is ugly. Nani is also none too pleased when she finds out about Stitch.

CIA Agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance) and his fellow agents come upon the crash site of Stitch’s ship. Cobra believes there is something alien nearby, and his suspicions are confirmed when he gets a notification about Lilo adopting Stitch from the animal shelter.

Lilo tries to show off Stitch to Mertle and her equally mean friends, but they are unimpressed. Stitch responds by taking the girls’ car and hot-wiring it so he and Lilo can drive off. When Stitch thinks he’s found an escape, he is upset to learn that the island is surrounded by water, making it hard for him to get away since his molecular density increases with water.

Later, Nani takes Lilo and Stitch to her luau job where David also works. The two end up horsing around the place, but at night, while David is performing with fire dancers, Stitch grabs two fire batons and accidentally starts a fire. Nani’s boss ends up firing her. When they get home, Nani is ready to bring Stitch back to the shelter, until Lilo reminds her of “ohana”, and their parents’ motto – “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” They are overheard from outside by Cobra. Upstairs, Lilo shows Stitch a photo album of her family, including hers and Nani’s late parents.

In the morning, Nani is ready to take Lilo and Stitch with her to go job-hunting, but they are first visited by Mrs. Kekoa and Cobra, as he is also the head of her social worker department. During the job hunt, Stitch continues to cause problems that make it difficult for the employers to want to hire Nani. When she is feeling let down, David suggests to her that she give surf lessons since she is good at it. Nani takes his advice and starts to do lessons on the beach, and even Stitch becomes interested in surfing along with Lilo and Nani. Unfortunately, Jumba and Pleakley show up on a jet ski. Lilo and Stitch get knocked into the water. A panicked Stitch hops onto Lilo, inadvertently pushing her underwater. Nani and David rescue Lilo, but Stitch feels bad over what happened. At the hospital, Mrs. Kekoa tells Nani that the state can pay for her and Lilo’s insurance if she gives up guardianship. Nani reluctantly agrees.

After their latest failure, the Grand Councilwoman contacts Jumba and Pleakley to let them know that she is relieving them of their duties and is ordering Pleakley to bring Jumba back so he can be taken into custody. Jumba decides to take matters into his own hands and sends Pleakley through a portal into the hotel’s storage closet so that he can get Stitch back himself.

At night, Nani brings Lilo pizza and talks to her about some changes that are going to happen. Stitch overhears and feels he is responsible for breaking up the sisters’ “ohana”, so he walks himself back to the animal shelter.

The following morning, Mrs. Kekoa and Cobra arrive for Lilo, but they discover that she is not in her room. She has gone back to the shelter to look for Stitch, but unfortunately, Jumba has found them there as well. He tries to turn Lilo against Stitch by telling her that he only picked her as a human shield. Stitch grabs the portal gun from Jumba and traps him in a loop, leaving them room to escape. Jumba reverts to his larger alien form to stop falling. He follows the duo back to the house and begins causing destruction in his attempts to get Stitch. Eventually, he manages to capture Stitch and bring him onboard his ship, but Lilo follows them through the portal. Nani returns to see smoke coming from their house and joins Pleakley, David, Tutu, and Cobra in going to save Lilo.

Onboard the ship, Jumba tells Stitch he plans to remove his capacity for love and turn him into the more powerful and violent Experiment 627. Lilo sneaks around and manages to free Stitch, who breaks from his chains and fights Jumba again. Lilo opens the bay door, which sucks Jumba out into the ocean. The ship crashes into the water, and Nani jumps in to swim and save her sister. Lilo and Stitch sink underwater, but she is unable to pull him up since he has gotten heavier due to his increased density. Stitch lets go of her hand so she will not sink with him. David gets Lilo out, but Nani dives back for Stitch. He is unconscious, and David uses defibrillators to revive him, but it doesn’t work. Lilo then suggests using car batteries to do the trick, and, after a while, Stitch regains consciousness.

The Grand Councilwoman arrives on Earth. She has Jumba pulled out of the water and arrested before attempting to bring Stitch into custody. He speaks to her and asks to say goodbye to his “ohana”. While the Grand Councilwoman fears that Stitch’s exposure to the public could create a catastrophe, Cobra agrees to keep it a secret. The Grand Councilwoman then agrees to allow Stitch to serve out his exile on Earth, so he can stay with Lilo. Pleakley also agrees to stay behind to keep an eye on Stitch.

Everyone returns home and are met by Mrs. Kekoa. She tells Nani that she can allow Lilo to be fostered by Tutu and David, allowing her to go to college. While she is upset about leaving Lilo behind, her sister encourages her to live for herself.

During the credits, everyone works together to rebuild the Pelekais’ house. Later, Lilo is talking to Nani via webcam, but Nani surprises Lilo by using Jumba’s portal gun to visit her. Cobra, who has also stayed to keep an eye on Lilo, almost catches them messing around, but the sisters (and Stitch) are laying together in bed, ready to go to sleep.

Mad alien scientist Jumba Jookiba creates Experiment 626, a dangerous and indestructible little monster that is seen as a threat to the galaxy. 626 escapes from custody and makes his way to Earth, where he is adopted by a lonely Hawaiian girl named Lilo. She names him Stitch and takes him in as a dog. The Grand Councilwoman orders Jumba to go to Earth, along with an "expert" named Pleakley, to capture Stitch.

Stitch causes problems at home between Lilo and her older sister Nani, who is struggling to maintain guardianship of Lilo after the death of their parents. Stitch is also pursued by CIA Agent Cobra Bubbles, who also works with the sisters' social worker, Mrs. Kekoa, to see if Nani is fit for guardianship.

After nearly causing Lilo to drown, Stitch feels bad over nearly breaking up the sisters' "ohana", so he returns to the shelter where Lilo found him. She runs away to find him, and they are found by Jumba, who has decided to work alone when the Grand Councilwoman tries to have him brought back into custody. Jumba takes Stitch, but Lilo sneaks onboard his ship to save him. They eject Jumba from the ship, and it crashes into the ocean. Nani and her boyfriend David rescue Lilo and Stitch, but the Grand Councilwoman arrives to arrest Jumba and Stitch. When she sees that Stitch has changed for the good and come to care for his new "ohana", the Grand Councilwoman agrees to let Stitch serve out his exile on Earth, while Pleakley and Cobra keep an eye on him and work to protect their secret.

Nani goes off to college and leaves Lilo and Stitch in the care of David and his grandmother Tutu. She occasionally visits her sister by using Jumba's portal gun.