Lilo and Stitch is a considerable box office success from Walt Disney Feature Animation; that’s good news considering the studio’s previous release was Atlantis*…
Released in 2002, this movie followed a headstrong little girl, Lilo, her older sister Nani, and her “dog” stitch, a product of genetic experiments carried out by Jumba Jookiba.
Due to the success of the movie, Lilo and Experiment 626 (Stitch) were featured in three follow-up films and an animated TV show, Lilo and Stitch the Series.
A live-action version is in the works, too! Lilo may not be an official “Disney Princess,” (yes, there is an official roster for the Disney Princess brand) she and her wild blue “dog” have a larger franchise than a lot of them.
*For the record, we enjoyed Atlantis: The Lost Empire; the population in general just didn’t.
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Lilo’s Age
Lilo Pelekai and her sister Nani, who serves as guardian to Lilo, were orphaned after their parents died in a car accident.
Since then, the two have been a solid atypical family made stronger by the addition of Stitch and their other intergalactic friends.
Lilo is one of the youngest Disney animated movie protagonists.
Her age is not even double-digit; most other leads and Disney Princesses are 14 or older, up to their 20s in the case of Anna and Else from Frozen.
How Old Is Lilo in “Lilo and Stitch”?
In the movie, Lilo displays courage and heart, way beyond what we’d expect from a girl her age.
Her capacity for compassion is impressive when it comes to the (initially) terrifying Experiment 626 and dealing with Captain Gantu and the lovable odd couple Jumba and Pleakley.
The original story that the film was developed from had Lilo a year younger. In the majority of the movie, Lilo is 6 years old.
We see her celebrating during the ending montage; Lilo has 7 candles on her birthday cake, meaning she turns 7 right as the movie ends.
This detail is easy to miss if you turn off the movie too quickly; while it was in theaters, the montage was harder to ignore.
How Old Is Lilo in the Sequels and TV Show?
The other Lilo and Stitch projects have our protagonists meeting more genetic experiments, addressing Stitch’s glitches (hehe, rhyming), dealing with Stitch’s red twin, Leroy, and facing life in Hawaii.
Lilo is 7 years old during Lilo and Stitch 2 and Stitch the Movie; she turns 10 years old over time throughout the course of the TV series.