Ready or Not – Stitch is Back! Find Out Where He’s Popping Up and Watch the New Trailer

Interest in Disney’s live action remakes may have cooled with all of the hoopla surrounding the upcoming release of Snow White, but it appears to be a whole different story when it comes to Lilo and Stitch opening in theaters this summer. If you are not a fan of Stitch, brace yourself. You’ll be seeing a lot of this little, fuzzy, blue alien in the coming months.

Stitch is a polarizing character (you either love him or hate him), but he has always been a Disney favorite among fans. The love for the blue beast has dwindled down some since the original 2002 film was released, but it appears to be rekindling since the Super Bowl. The preview trailer for the upcoming film showed the big game had stopped and the little CGI runt was running all over the field dodging referees.

Although the new movie doesn’t open in theaters until May, images of Stitch are beginning to show up everywhere. Including the produce aisle. If you haven’t already, you’ll be seeing the little blue guy on Dole banana stickers and pineapple hangtags soon. Further down the road, his presence will also be seen on dedicated posts featured on Dole’s Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages. It’s all part of Dole’s “Spirit of Ohana” campaign.

The “Spirit of Ohana,” a concept that Stitch fully endorses, encourages shoppers to reach out to others with hospitality. As you’ll remember from his movie, “Ohana” means “family” and “nobody gets left behind of forgotten.” (Image: Dole)

Dole has a long history with Disney. They’ve been sponsoring The Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland since the beginning and they continue to sell Dole Whip at the Tiki Juice Bar too. With this new campaign, Disney fans will be encouraged to visit a dedicated website to find character-inspired recipes, digital downloads, gathering ideas and DIY videos. Other campaign specifics will be announced in the coming months. The promotion officially begins on April 2 and continues through July 31, 2025.

According to the New Your Post’s report on the recent Toy Fair in New York City, a new robotic, stuffed Stitch (which actually came out in 2024) is poised to become the most popular toy of the year.

Wow! Stuff’s Real FX Disney Stitch Puppet is more robot than puppet. It features 15 core functions and sounds that when combined, create 100 actions. He speaks, blinks, squints his eyes, moves his mouth, turns his head and flop his ears. His nose, head and tongue have sensors. There’s a pink Angel Puppet too. (Image: Wow! Stuff)

The toy appears to be outshining Robosen Robotic’s Toy Story Buzz Lightyear, which is a marvel itself. The fact that Stitch is selling for about a tenth of the cost might have something to do with that.

Of course, you’ll always find Stitch at Disney Store. As of today, Disney Store is selling 165 different Stitch items online. Amazon lists over 4,000 items (although, not all appear to be Disney sanctioned).

Some fans have concerns about the big push for Stitch since his character is only half of the movie’s equation, but now we a glimpse of what this movie is all about with a new trailer.

I admit, I am tired of Disney’s live action remakes, but the new Lilo and Stitch looks great! We finally see all of the main players in this thing – even Cobra Bubbles. Still, Stitch is the franchise’s biggest draw, so it’s a good thing that Disney chose to invite Chris Sanders back. Not only did he write and direct the original animated tale, but he also serves at the voice of Stitch and continues one more time here. Even in CGI form, he still looks, sounds and acts like the Stitch we all know.