"The Phoenix" (凤凰) is the ninth episode of Stitch & Ai. It first aired in Mandarin on March 31, 2017, and in English on February 20, 2018. Of the thirteen episodes of the series, it is the only one to have never been released in the United States.
Plot[]
Daiyu brings Ai's cousin Bao to try to convince Ai to move to the city. Jumba creates a fenghuang that quickly grows and flies off to find a ruined shrine, so Ai, Stitch, and Bao head after it. However, two alien hunters try to capture the fenghuang to try to sell it to collectors.
Trivia[]
Stitch's ears flying off his head as he, Ai, and Bao watch the alien hunters' ship fly towards the fenghuang phoenix.
- Goof: In the scene where Bao, Ai, and Stitch watch Noo-Bing and Zi's spaceship fly towards the fenghuang on the shrine's mountain, Stitch's ears inexplicably fly off his head. They may have been unintentionally placed on the same animation layer as the spaceship.
- This is one of only three episodes of Stitch & Ai that uses hand-drawn digital ink and paint throughout rather than computer animation, the other two being "The Lock" and "Nuo Opera".
- It is not known why Disney decided not to release this episode to American audiences. The most likely explanation is that Disney was concerned that Americans would be confused by the fenghuang, who is called a phoenix but is different from the Western phoenix. The fenghuang or "Chinese phoenix" is a symbol of grace and virtue as well as the union of yin and yang, while the Western phoenix is a symbol of rebirth and is affiliated with the Sun. Another possibility is that the episode's antagonists, Noo-Bing and Zi, only appear in this episode and have no affiliation with either of the main threats of the series, the Jaboodies and the Woolagongs. Having two one-shot villains in a series with an overarching plot might have been seen as bizarre or pointless storytelling-wise.
- The episode's exclusion from release in the United States leaves a plot hole for American viewers, as the events of this episode factor into later episodes, including the fenghuang's reappearance in "Monstrosity".
Experiments[]
References[]
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