'' LILO & STITCH '' : ANIMATED FILM HONOURS

EIGHT-year old student Ellie Bauerlein of Wake Forest, N.C., is obsessed with Stitch. '' Honestly, I think about him all the time,'' she said. '' Like, 10 hours every day.''

Her American Girl doll, currently clad in a Stitch onesie complete with alien-eared hood, is technically named Stacy, but Elle prefers to call her ''S'' in tribute to Stitch.

If she had to pick a favorite Disney princess, it would be Moana, but only because Moana spends time on beachy activities similar to Stitch. Her pillowcase is Stitch. Her crocs are Stitch.

Elle, a third grader, was born more than a decade after the 2002 Disney animated film '' Lilo & Stitch '' was released in theaters, and yet, for the past two years, the rambunctious title character has been a fixture in her life.

SHE'S NOT ALONE.

In an act of belated cultural permutation, Stitch - the destructible but adorable alien experiment who. crash-landed in Hawaii and befriended a young girl named Lilo - has become a crucial character in the Walt Disney's Company's modern empire, mainly in the form of a dizzying array of licensed merchandise.

At PetSmart, you can find a Stitch squeaker toy for your dog. The discount chain Five Below has Stitch neck pillows, portable power banks and slime.

Stitch clothing and accessories line the shelves at Primark. Yoplait offers berry and cherry-flavored Stitch yogurt. Even Graceland has a tie-in collection of Stitch pompadoured plushies dressed in various Elvis Presley ensembles.

If you're overwhelmed, don't worry : There's also a cottage industry of TikTokers who devote their entire accounts to showcasing the latest Stitch-centric items held to their legions of followers.

The World Students Society thanks Ashley Spencer.