I added Lilo & Stitch to my watchlist, and I wanted to check to see if I got the release order right, plus a few questions.
\#1 Lilo & Stitch (2002 original animated film)
\#2 Stitch! The Movie (2nd animated film)
\#3 Lilo & Stitch: The Series (animated)
\#4 Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (3rd animated film) + The Origin of Stitch (short)
NOTE: the 3rd film & short take place "before" the 2nd film.
\#5 Leroy & Stitch (4th animated film & franchise finale)
\#6 Lilo & Stitch (2025 live-action remake)
Do I have this right?
Stitch! (anime series) & Stitch & Ai (Chinese animated series)
Are these part of the franchise or do I ignore them?
Which L&S movies/shows do you like?
Which are worth seeing?
Which should I dodge?
Thanks, everyone!
The anime series are kinda their own thing - they basically take Stitch and put him in different settings (Japan and China) with new human companions, so you can skip those if you want the core Hawaiian family story
Your order looks spot on btw, though watching Stitch Has a Glitch before Stitch! The Movie makes more sense timeline-wise even if it was released later
Skip the direct-to-video sequels except maybe Leroy & Stitch if you get invested in the characters, the original 2002 film is where all the magic happens and there honestly isn't much reason to watch the others unless you're completionist about it
15
MovieFan1984Mar 27, 2026
I like watching stuff in "release" order over chronological order, so that's what I was going for in my watchlist for the L&S franchise. haha
Pretty much everything after the original film is direct-to-video and made-for-TV, yes?
I'm definitely going to watch the first film, too many of my friends have seen it. haha
After that, I figure I might as well keep watching as long as it's entertaining.
Did you like the TV series?
Do you recommend dropping the anime & Chinese series off the list?
0
KitlunMar 27, 2026
+3
Yes this is the release order. My wife and I watched the original film and then stitch has a glitch afterwards and honestly the drop in animation quality from big budget animation to straight to TV is quite stark.
By far my favourite character added outside of the film was experiment #625, who appears a lot in the TV series too from what I recall.
I have. A soft spot for the TV series as they went with a Pokémon/creature of the week approach that I thought was great for kids TV.
3
zowietremendouslyMar 27, 2026
+1
I'm old enough to have watched the original movie in the theaters.
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