The movie was so popular that it started a franchise. A direct-to-video sequel, "Stitch! The Movie", was made. It launched a television series, "", and a second direct-to-video sequel, "", was released in August 2005. A third and final television sequel, "Leroy & Stitch", was released in June 2006 and ended the TV series. Another television series, an anime called "Stitch!", aired in Japan from 2008 to 2011, later gaining two post-series specials in 2012 and 2015. A third TV series, a Chinese animated series called "Stitch & Ai", began airing in 2017. Both the later two series took out Lilo as a main character, separating Stitch from her and putting him into different countries on Earth where he makes new friends with other human girls and becomes part of their families.