Stuart Little (film)

Stuart Little
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rob Minkoff
Produced by	Douglas Wick
Screenplay by	M. Night Shyamalan Greg Brooker
Based on	Stuart Little by E. B. White
Starring	Geena Davis Hugh Laurie Jonathan Lipnicki
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Cinematography	Guillermo Navarro
Editing by	Tom Finan
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 17, 1999 (1999-12-17)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$100 million
Box office	$300,135,367

Stuart Little is a 1999 American family film. It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by E. B. White. It combines live-action and computer animation. The screenplay was co-written by M. Night Shyamalan and Greg Brooker, with uncredited script doctoring by David O. Russell and Billy Ray. The plot of the film bears little resemblance to that of the book; only some of the characters and one or two minor plot elements are the same. The film's sequel more closely resembles the original novel.

Michael J. Fox is the voice of Stuart Little. Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie star as Eleanor and Frederick Little, with Jonathan Lipnicki as Stuart's big brother George Little and Nathan Lane as the voice of the family cat Snowbell.

The film was released on December 17, 1999 by Columbia Pictures.

It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. The film spawned a sequel in 2002, Stuart Little 2, the short lived TV show called Stuart Little: The Animated Series in 2003, and another sequel in 2006, Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild.

Plot

The film opens with Eleanor and Frederick Little (Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie) and their son George (Jonathan Lipnicki) on the day they are intending an adoption. George wants to go to the orphanage with them, but he has to go to school. While he is at school, his parents go to the orphanage where, among all the kids there, they fall in love with a thoughtful, observant mouse named Stuart (voiced by Michael J. Fox), who knows almost everything about the other children, having been there for a long time. Despite the warnings of Mrs. Keeper (the woman in charge), who says that humans should not be adopting mice, they decide to adopt him as their second son.

Immediately after getting home, Stuart meets Snowbell (voiced by Nathan Lane) the family cat, who immediately attempts to eat him. George arrives home and is surprised when his parents introduce Stuart as his new brother. He thinks it is a joke at first, but is shocked when he realizes they are being serious. That night, Snowbell visits Stuart and requests that he keep a low profile, so as to avoid getting seen by the other cats and damaging Snowbell's image (the alley cats would laugh forever if they heard that there was a mouse with a pet cat).

George is at first sullen and somewhat disappointed and treats Stuart with contempt. He eventually snaps at a family gathering when they encourage him to play "catch" with him. He also earns Snowbell's wrath when his friend, Monty the Mouth (voiced by Steve Zahn) visits for food. As Snowbell tries to keep him from seeing Stuart, he makes a scene trying to get a cereal box from a cupboard. When he sees him and discovers he is a member of the family, Monty cannot contain himself. Enraged, Snowbell tries to kill him, who narrowly escapes by fleeing into the basement. Here, he learns that George keeps a playroom and the two interact and eventually, George comes to accept him as his brother. He also finds that George keeps a toy car just his size. They decide to work together to finish George's homemade model boat, the Wasp, for the Central Park Boat Race the following week.

Snowbell, however, isn't finished. He and Monty head to an alley that night to visit Smokey (voiced by Chazz Palminteri), a Mafia Don-like Russian Blue who is the leader of the alley cats. Since Snowbell doesn't want Stuart killed, he makes a plan with the alley cats to remove him from the Littles' house. On the day of the 92nd annual Central Park Boat Race, the Wasp is finished, and they arrive at Central Park. But, George finds a problem when he discovers his nemesis, Anton, is there. At the same time, Stuart accidentally destroys George's remote control, rendering his boat inoperable. To make up for this, he takes control of it himself. Anton, however, attempts to cheat by ramming his much larger boat into other ones and sinking them. When he attempts to do the same thing to the Wasp, Stuart manages to bite into the line of his sail, rendering Anton's boat inoperable. He subsequently wins the race.

The celebration is short lived however, as during the party that night, the Littles are visited by Reginald and Camille Stout (voiced by Bruno Kirby and Jennifer Tilly), a mouse couple claiming to be Stuart's parents. After discussion, he reluctantly leaves with his real parents, taking the toy car with him as a goodbye present from George and they go to their home, a small toy castle on a golf course. Three days later, the Littles are visited by Mrs. Keeper, whom they had asked to do some background research on Stuart. She tells them that, according to the records, his parents died several years ago after a pile of canned food fell on them. The Littles realized that he had been kidnapped and call the police.

A terrified Snowbell rushes to the alley and warns Smokey and the others about the Littles' discovery. He then decides that the only way to rectify things is to kill him. They call a meeting with Reginald and demand that he and Camille hand Stuart over. But the Stouts, having grown to care for him, reveal the truth and Reginald orders him to escape before the cats find him. He does so after saying goodbye to his "fake parents". Meanwhile, the Littles decide to place "missing" posters around the city to get help in finding him. While going through Central Park, he is ambushed by Smokey and a few cats. He manages to evade them by driving his car into the sewer, but at a cost: he loses both it and his luggage while escaping the storm drain. Eventually, he finds his way home just as the Littles leave to hang the posters. The only one home is Snowbell, and he tells him a lie about how they are enjoying life without him, and shows him the family picture with his face cut out (they had actually removed it to provide one for the missing posters). He leaves again. However, Snowbell sees the pain his absence has caused and realizes his selfishness.

Discovering Stuart's location from Monty and the other cats, who intend to eat him, Snowbell heads to Central Park and finds him sitting alone in a bird's nest. Snowbell, however, turns on the other cats and escapes with him, admitting his lie to him and that the Littles actually do love him, he is in fact the only one who hates him. The cats catch up with them and Snowbell attempts to convince Smokey to call off the hit on Stuart, but is refused. Instead, he orders the cats to kill them both. Stuart responds by taking off Snowbell's collar and using it to lure them.

The cats give chase, and eventually corner Stuart hanging from a tree branch. They group together on a lower one to catch him, but Snowbell breaks it at the last minute and sends them into the water below. Smokey sneaks up behind Snowbell and is about to kill him when Stuart releases a thin branch that hits him in the face and knocks him into the water. Enraged and humiliated, he walks off, only to be attacked by dogs upon turning a corner. Monty and the other cats also climb out of the water, whimpering and embarrassed. Snowbell and Stuart walk home and he shares a warm reunion with his family, telling them that Snowbell helped him get there. The Littles bring them inside and close the windows, ready for bed.

Soundtrack

• "I Need to Know" – R Angels
• "The Two of Us" – S Club 7
• "You're Where I Belong" – Trisha Yearwood
• "If You Can't Rock Me" – Brian Setzer Orchestra
• "1+1=2" – Lou Bega
• "He Rules" – 702
• "Home" – Brian McKnight
• "Walking Tall" – Lyle Lovett
• "Lucky Day" – Matt Goss
• "Mouse in the House" – Colby O'Donis
• "As Long as I Can Dream" – Debelah Morgan
• "You're Where I Belong" (dance version) – Trisha Yearwood

Original score by Alan Silvestri

• "The Boat Race"
• "I'm Gonna Miss You"

In addition, "Give a Little Bit" by Supertramp was included in the original trailers, but did not end up in the final film.

Cast

Live-action cast

• Geena Davis as Eleanor Little – Wife of Frederick and George's biological mother and Stuart's adopted mother.
• Hugh Laurie as Frederick Little – Husband of Eleanor and George's biological father and Stuart's adopted father.
• Jonathan Lipnicki as George Little – Eleanor and Frederick's biological son and Stuart's adopted older brother. At first George dislikes the idea of having a mouse for a brother learns to accept Stuart for who he is and realizes that having a mouse for a brother isn't so bad after all.
• Jeffrey Jones as Crenshaw Little – George's uncle and Frederick's brother.
• Connie Ray as Tina Little – One of George's aunts and one of Frederick's sisters.
• Allyce Beasley as Beatrice Little – One of George's aunts and one of Frederick's sisters.
• Brian Doyle-Murray as Edgar Little – George's cousin and Frederick's nephew.
• Estelle Getty as Estelle Little – George's grandmother and Frederick's mother.
• Harold Gould as Spencer Little – George's grandfather and Frederick's father.
• Julia Sweeney as Mrs. Keeper – The orphanage owner.
• Jon Polito as Detective Sherman
• Jim Doughan as Detective Allen
• Bella the Cat as Snowbell

Voice cast

• Michael J. Fox as the voice of Stuart Little — A small white mouse based on the book character of the same name. He is the main protagonist of the film.
• Nathan Lane as the voice of Snowbell — The Little's cynical but timid pet cat, he's a Persian. He starts off as a villain but reforms after hearing Smokey's plans.
• Chazz Palminteri as the voice of Smokey the Chief — the main antagonist of the film. He is the leader of a group of Mafia-like alley cats who all desire to eat Stuart. In the end, he is attacked by a pack of dogs offscreen.
• Steve Zahn as the voice of Monty the Mouth — One of Snowbell's closest friends who also has a desire to eat Stuart. He is also one of Smokey's henchcats and an American Shorthair.
• Jim Doughan as the voice of Lucky — an alley colorpoint shorthair cat
• David Alan Grier as the voice of Red — an alley red tabby cat
• Bruno Kirby and Jennifer Tilly as the voices of Reginald Stout and Camille Stout — the mouse couple who claim to be Stuart's parents.

Box office

On its opening weekend, Stuart Little grossed $15,018,223, placing it at #1. On its second week it dropped down, but went back to #1 on its third weekend with $16,022,757. According to Box Office Mojo, its final gross in the United States and Canada was $140,035,367, it grossed $160.1 million at the international box office, with a total of $300,135,367 worldwide. It covered its budget and was a box office success.

Game Boy light version

Stuart Little: The adventure Home is a video game based on the book

Reception

Stuart Little received generally positive reviews from movie critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes, 66% of critics gave the film a positive review, making the film gain a "Fresh" rating. Stuart Little currently has a Metascore of 6.1 out of 100.

External links

• Stuart Little at the Internet Movie Database
• Stuart Little at Rotten Tomatoes