Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at The Lilo & Stitch/Kim Possible Crossover

No, you’re not high right now, this was actually a thing. Lilo and Stitch had a crossover with Kim Possible and today, on a special bonus edition of Deep Dive Disney, we’re going to talk about it. We already discussed the Kim Possible TV show in detail in our last article, but this is actually not an episode of Kim Possible, but rather, an episode of Lilo & Stitch: The Series that just so happens to feature Kim Possible. Lilo & Stitch: The Series aired on the Disney Channel for two seasons between 2003 and 2006. While I was a little older than the show’s target age group, I still found myself watching it from time to time since it just happened to be what was on when I got home from school and would occasionally find myself flipping back and forth between it and reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The premise for Lilo & Stitch: The series, as laid out in the pilot film simply entitled Stitch: The Movie, was fairly simple. Jumba’s 625 experiments, referred to as Stitch’s “cousins” are now loose on the Hawaiian Islands and it’s up to Lilo & Stitch, along with Jumba and Pleakley, who are still on Earth posing as Lilo’s aunt and uncle, to track them down, subdue them if necessary and then find the one place they truly belong, usually a place where their unique abilities could be put to positive use. However, things are not that simple since Captain Gantu, the villain from the original movie, having been forcibly retired from his position as captain of the galactic Armada, has now become the henchman of the evil Dr. Hamsterviel, Jumba’s former lab partner who plans to use the experiments for evil purposes. The show was very much a monster of the week affair, often showcasing various creatively designed aliens with equally creative powers, including experiment 625, later nicknamed Reuben, an experiment with the same capabilities of Stitch but prefers not to use them, instead opting to spend his days making sandwiches, Spooky, a shapeshifting experiment that appeared in a Halloween episode with the ability to turn into one’s worst fear (Jumba’s apparently being his ex-wife) and Drowsy, a sheep-like experiment with the ability to put people to sleep. Side note, the episode that featured Drowsy was actually kind of amazing. The plot involved Hamsterviel wanting to use the mutant sheep to capture “the most powerful man on the planet” and the reveal of who that actually turns out to be is one of the biggest laughs I ever got out of the series, and Stitch pulling a Weekend at Bernies with a sleeping Lilo is also pretty hilarious. The show also had four crossover episodes with various Disney Channel shows of the time including The Proud Family, American Dragon Jake Long, Recess and of course, the reason we’re all here, Kim Possible. I discovered this episode, simply entitled Rufus, one day while flipping channels and had my mind immediately blown by the fact that this was even happening. While it can be a bit jarring to see two drastically different animation styles sharing the screen it is still kind of cool that we have this crossover in the first place so let us waste no further time and discuss the Lilo & Stitch/Kim Possible crossover episode.

Before we get too deep into this, I just want to take a moment to say that I love the theme song for Lilo & Stitch: The Series. It’s got a lot of energy to it, the use of what I sincerely hope is the actual Hawaiian language is nice, and I distinctly remember never being able to get it out of my head back when the show was airing. Anyway, on with the show!

We open on a typical evening for Lilo & Stitch as the two best friends are playing a friendly game of hide and seek, even though I’m not sure if Stitch fully grasps the concept. However, it doesn’t take long for the conflict of the episode to show itself as Stitch is captured by an aircraft that Lilo claims looks like a French roll. Lilo goes to Jumba and Pleakley and insists that they help her find Stitch, but Jumba reminds Lilo that Nani’s rule is that Lilo is not allowed to go on potentially dangerous missions without her super-powered alien bodyguard for protection. Lilo thinks that there’s no one better qualified to save Stitch than she is, but Pleakley actually has an interesting suggestion that he got out of one of his magazines: call Kim Possible. While Lilo is incredulous about reaching out to Kim for help, Pleakley leaps at the opportunity to meet his apparent new idol and sends for her right-away.

Meanwhile, we learn that it is indeed convenient that we’re calling Kim Possible since the one who abducted Stitch was none other than her arch-nemesis, Dr. Drakken. It seems that Hamsterviel has contacted Drakken and together they’ve hatched a plot to clone an army of Stitches and conquer the world. I have to say, the back and forth between Drakken and Hamsterviel is just wonderful, much like Drakken’s interactions with his fellow Kim Possible villains back in A Sitch in Time.

Anywho, we soon see Kim and Ron arriving in Hawaii, Ron disappointed that they likely won’t have time for a luau while they’re there. At Lilo’s place, Pleakley is putting the finishing touches on his creepy collage of Kim Possible when the real thing arrives through the window in typical Kim Possible manner. Pleakley naturally feints at the mere sight of his idol. Lilo continues to insist that they don’t need Kim to help find Stitch but Kim further insists that she do what she can since Pleakley’s E-mail said that the situation was urgent. After an amusing exchange where Kim and Lilo get confused over the words “Sitch” and “Stitch,” Kim is brought up to speed about the fact that Stitch is actually an alien with powers that could devastate the entire planet if he chose to use them as such. By the way, Kim and Ron strangely don’t seem to be reacting to the fact that there’s two actual aliens in the room with them. Sure, those disguises may fool some of the rubes living in Lilo’s neighborhood and, let’s face it, probably Ron, but Kim is way too smart for that, even if she for some reason finds herself unable to remember Stitch’s name, leading me to actually do a spit take when she mispronounces it as “Snooch.” Lilo insists on coming along, but Pleakley insists that the seven-year-old girl be kept out of danger. The plot thickens when Jumba gets a good look at Rufus and recognizes him as Experiment 607, an experiment with the ability to warp the fabric of reality and potentially destroy the universe as we know it. Jumba tries to take Rufus from Ron leading to Ron, Jumba and Pleakley chasing Rufus out the door.

Lilo shows Kim the spot where Stitch was taken, Kim continuing to condescend to Lilo in order to keep her out of danger. However, despite Kim insisting that she can’t help, Lilo actually manages to find a vital clue in the form of one of Drakken’s gloves which Kim instantly recognizes. With the help of Wade, Kim quickly locates Drakken’s lair in the middle of the ocean.

Speaking of Drakken, we join our villain du jour as he’s imprisoned Stitch in a cage with electrified bars, something Shego suggests will be murder on his electric bill. It’s here where we get more of the greatest thing about Kim Possible, the back and forth between Drakken and Shego. I meant it last time when I said I could never get enough of their dynamic and even though they’re outside of their own show, it’s still here in full force. Couple that witch Stitch mocking Drakken in the background and this entire scene is hilarious. Of course, since Drakken is an egomaniacal moron and Stitch is an alien with enhanced strength and the intelligence of a supercomputer, our fuzzy blue hero escapes his confinement rather easily. Stitch manages to overpower Shego only to realize that Drakken’s lair is underwater, meaning he can’t escape. Remember, Stitch can’t swim because his molecules are too dense.

Meanwhile, Kim is parachuting down to the coordinates of Drakken’s lair given to her by Wade, leading to an absolutely adorable scene where Lilo stows away in Kim’s parachute bag. When Kim asks what she’s doing there, Lilo hilariously responds “I have a problem with authority.” Lilo’s also there to inform Kim that Drakken’s lair must be underwater since that would be the only way to affectively contain Stitch. Lilo also warns Kim about a nasty current in this area known locally as “The People Eater.” Kim insists she can handle herself and calls for the helicopter to bring Lilo back to shore. Unfortunatley, Kim finds herself caught up in that very current which allows her to be captured by Drakken.

Lilo arrives on the beach where the chase between Ron, Jumba, Pleakley and Rufus is still in progress. Ron insists that Rufus is not an alien experiment but finds himself shocked when Jumba shows him the blueprints for experiment 607 that look exactly like Rufus. Kim, using a hidden Kimmunicator device in her gloves, calls Ron from her prison in Drakken’s lair in order to get some backup. Despite Kim insisting that it’s too dangerous for her, Lilo insists on coming along as well. Our heroes make their way to Drakken’s lair and Lilo, being Hawaiian and therefore, and adept swimmer, braves The People Eater in order to save Kim and Stitch, taking Rufus along with her in case she needs someone who can fit into small spaces.

Lilo successfully breaks into Drakken’s lair leading Drakken to laugh at the idea that Kim Possible’s backup is a rodent and a seven-year-old. Yeah, big talk from a guy who got his ass kicked by a pre-school age Kim back in the last movie we covered. Lilo manages to use Kim’s grappling hook to free Stitch and Kim. While Rufus shorts out Drakken’s machine, Stitch and Kim battle Drakken and Shego respectively until everyone needs to escape before Drakken’s machine explodes.

On shore, Stitch quickly figures out from his scent that Rufus is, in fact, not one of his cousins, but indeed, an ordinary naked mole rat. However, in a really sweet moment, Lilo says that even if Rufus is not an experiment, they still know the one true place he belongs, in Ron’s pocket. And so our episode ends with all of our heroes partying down at a luau.

Final Thoughts:

While this crossover is nowhere near on the level of Hercules and The Arabian Knight, the other Disney animated crossover episode we covered, it was still pretty cute for the most part and it was kind of nice to see these two popular Disney Channel shows coming together. That said, I do have two minor nitpicks. First, Kim’s constant insistence that the situation is too dangerous for Lilo when she’s dealt with far worse at this point in the series was a little grating. It didn’t ruin the episode but did somewhat lesson my overall enjoyment. The other issue was the fact that Gantu does not appear in this episode. While The Kim Possible gang coming along for the ride already makes this episode feel a bit crowded, I personally would have loved to see some kind of interaction between Gantu and Shego where they bond over how much it sucks to work for an idiotic mad scientist. However, overall, this was a fun little crossover that I very much enjoyed. However… I find I can no longer put it off. Next time, we cover one of the most infamous films in Disney’s entire filmography, Home on the Range. Pray for me.