Quick, who would you say are the biggest winners in entertainment this year?
Maybe Netflix, for continuing its streaming domination and securing Warner Bros.? Perhaps YouTube, which cemented itself as a true force in the industry?
Michael DeLuca and Pam Abdy, who salvaged the Warners film studio? Or Taylor Sheridan, who leveraged his many (many!) hit shows into a mega-deal with NBCUniversal?
Here’s an idea: How about a mischievous alien that rode the Disney flywheel to become arguably the biggest character in an arsenal of IP that makes everyone else in Hollywood (and in AI) blue with envy?
It’s Stitch, the adorable star of Lilo & Stitch, and his success is by design.
“When you look at some of our most famous and long-lasting characters, it’s the ones who are fun, silly, a little rambunctious but they always do the right thing in the end. And Stitch is exactly that,” Asad Ayaz, The Walt Disney Co.’s chief brand officer, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “He is flawed in ways we all recognize: sometimes being a little naughty, but always trying his best. That authenticity, and instant familiarity, is what transforms a character into a cultural phenomenon that resonates across generations.”
Indeed, Stitch has quietly become one of Disney’s cross-generational success stories, with the millennials who grew up with him from the 2002 film introducing him to their kids. The 2025 live action remake of Lilo & Stitch spent most of the year as the top theatrical film of the year (right up until fellow Disney feature Zootopia 2 passed it), and it now has $1.04 billion in theatrical revenue.
In a year that saw Disney release a reboot of The Fantastic Four, a Tron sequel, and a live-action Snow White, it was Stitch that broke through.
When the live-action remake debuted on the Disney+ streaming service in September, it passed 14.3 million views in its first five days, the second-best result for a live-action film, while Disney says that content from the original franchise passed 640 million viewing hours, and that was before the sequel landed.
And then there’s the Disney magic: The ability to bring those franchises to life, and make them available to buy in every way imaginable.
When Walt Disney first graphed out his flywheel in a now-legendary 1957 chart, he outlined how the Disney film studio will power theme parks which would power TV which would power music which would power merchandise. Stitch may be the best example of that.
The blue alien made his debut in the 2002 animated film Lilo & Stitch, and Disney quickly leveraged the film’s success to create an interactive experience a couple years later in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom called “Stitch’s Great Escape.”
Merchandise based on the character has been available for more than 20 years, but the live action remake turbocharged it. Disney says that retail sales for consumer products based on the character surged past $4 billion in fiscal 2025.
That’s $4 billion, with a “B,” of Stitch merch.
“The popularity of this global phenomenon underscores the franchise’s enduring strength and the effectiveness of our strategy to invest in popular stories and characters,” Disney CEO Bob Iger told Wall Street analysts Nov. 13 of Stitch’s success in the space.
“These touchpoints all reinforce the emotional connection back to Stitch,” Ayaz says. “The success of the new movie brought families back to the original film on Disney+, products deepen the connection through gifts people genuinely love, and experiences in our parks transform that affection into lasting memories.”
The film is an event, the theme park attractions are an experience, and Disney+ and a regular cadence of new merchandise provide year-round engagement. It’s a model that, so far, only Disney has truly been able to make work. And it is a big reason why Warner Bros. is so coveted by both Netflix and Paramount. In a world of abundant entertainment, truly iconic IP is scarce, and Stitch has hit that mark.
In fact, Stitch has managed to pull off something close to impossible in the world of Disney: He took over for Mickey Mouse.
Every year the company has a Disney Holiday Magic Tour, traveling the world to raise donations, hand out gifts for those in need, and host activations for fans. Last year Mickey led the charge, but this year Disney gave the honors to Stitch, who journeyed to more than 20 cities across the country, surprises in hand (Mickey Mouse is still expected to sell more merchandise than Stitch this year, lest the alien get too comfortable).
And earlier this month, as part of that tour, Stitch crash-landed on Broadway.
After the cast of the Disney on Broadway production Aladdin took their bows on Dec. 10, Caleb Barnett, who played the Genie that evening, grabbed the magic lamp and walked to the front of the stage: “We just got reports that Stitch has been sighted on Broadway, so don’t fangirl, just be cool, be cool,” he told the audience.
Stitch popped out into a box to stage right yelling “hello audience!,” setting off confetti cannons, before running out to the stage singing “a whole new world” and challenging the audience to donate a toy to Toys for Tots.
Kids cheered, some adults gasped, and there was a standing ovation. Not a bad Broadway debut for an alien that’s been a part of Disney’s cast of characters for more than two decades.
“Disney has a longstanding tradition of giving back, and ensuring that the connection with Stitch inspired real-world impact was a natural next step,” says Ayaz.
His appearance on Broadway followed a stop a few days earlier in Detroit, where the character let families in need “shop” for toys and play in Marvel and Star Wars-themed areas as part of its partnership with Toys for Tots.
The story of Stitch isn’t just a tale about an alien crash-landing in Hawaii, he’s a story about the entertainment business, the real value of intellectual property (it is no coincidence that Stitch will be one of the characters users of OpenAI’s Sora will be able to create videos with), and of the unique flywheel that Walt Disney himself first imagined, but that Disney the company has since perfected.
And the company knows what makes for a compelling character.
“Stitch connects because he’s joyfully imperfect,” Ayaz says. “His playful mischief and big heart reflect how many of us move through the world—trying, stumbling, and always finding our way back to ‘ohana. That authenticity makes him totally relatable. He translates into every culture and every language because he feels like he’s part of the family. “
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