Stuart Little (film)

Stuart Little
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rob Minkoff
Screenplay by	M. Night Shyamalan Greg Brooker
Story by	E.B. White (book)
Produced by	Douglas Wick
Starring	Michael J. Fox Geena Davis Hugh Laurie Jonathan Lipnicki Nathan Lane Steve Zahn
Cinematography	Guillermo Navarro
Edited by	Tom Finan
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	December 10, 1999 (1999-12-10)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$100 million
Box office	$300,135,367

Stuart Little is a 1999 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 E. B. White 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 10, 1999 by Columbia Pictures.

It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. The film spawned a sequel in 2002, Stuart Little 2.

Plot

The film opens with Fredrick and Eleanor Little (Hugh Laurie and Geena Davis) and their son George (played by Jonathan Lipnicki) on the day they are intending an adoption. George wants to go to the orphanage with them, but has to go to school. While George is at school, the Littles 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 at the orphanage for a long time. Despite the warnings of Mrs. Keeper (the woman in charge), who says that humans should not be adopting mice, the Littles 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 Stuart. George arrives home and is surprised when his parents introduce Stuart as his new brother. George at first thinks it is a joke, 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 Stuart. Stuart 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, Stuart 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 Stuart, who narrowly escapes by fleeing into the basement. Here, Stuart learns that George keeps a playroom and the two interact and eventually, George comes to accept Stuart as his brother. Stuart 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 Stuart from the Little 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 present at the race. At the same time, Stuart accidentally destroys George's remote control, rendering his boat inoperable. To make up for this, Stuart takes control of the boat himself. Anton, however, attempts to cheat by ramming his much larger boat into other boats and sinking them. When he attempts to do the same thing to Stuart's boat, Stuart manages to bite into the line of his sail, rendering Anton's boat inoperable. Stuart 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 both Bruno Kirby and Jennifer Tilly), a mouse couple claiming to be Stuart's parents. After discussion, Stuart reluctantly leaves with his real parents, taking the small 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, Stuart's parents died several years ago after a pile of canned food fell on them. The Littles realized that Stuart had been kidnapped and call the police.

A terrified Snowbell rushes to the alley and warns Smokey and the others about the Littles' discovery. Smokey 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 Stuart, reveal the truth and Reginald orders him to escape before the cats find him. Stuart 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 Stuart. While going through Central Park, Stuart 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 the car and his luggage while escaping the storm drain. Eventually, Stuart finds his way home just as the Littles leave to hang the posters. The only one home is Snowbell, and he tells Stuart a lie about how the Littles are enjoying life without him, and shows him the family picture with Stuart's face cut out (the Littles had actually removed the picture to provide one for the Missing posters). Stuart leaves again. However, Snowbell sees the pain Stuart's absence has caused and realizes his selfishness.

Discovering Stuart's location from Monty and the other cats, who intend to eat Stuart, 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 Stuart, admitting his lie to him and that the family actually does 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, Smokey orders the cats to kill both Stuart and Snowbell. Stuart responds by taking off Snowbell's collar and using it to lure the cats.

The cats give chase, and eventually corner Stuart hanging from a tree branch. The cats group together on a lower branch to catch Stuart, but Snowbell breaks it at the last minute and sends the cats into the water below. Smokey sneaks up behind Snowbell and is about to kill him when Stuart releases a thin branch that hits Smokey in the face and knocks him into the water. Enraged and humiliated, Smokey 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 Stuart shares a warm reunion with his family, telling them that Snowbell helped him home. The Littles bring Stuart and Snowbell inside, and close the windows, ready for bed.

In January 2010, Wikileaks released a rough script, thought to have been written by Roy Keane during his time away from the Irish World Cup squad in 2002, for an original Stuart Little film. Amongst many horrific scenes, Keane scripted an exchange between Little, who by this time has been shot in both kneecaps, and ex-Manchester United left back, Dennis Irwin. Irwin proceeds to force Little to devour the remains of the family of rodents he had come to know and love, before volleying him against the wall, shattering all 89 bones in Little's small white body. Copies of the script have been passed onto Scotland Yard, and an arrest warrant has been issued for Keane.

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"

Cast

Live-action cast

• Geena Davis — Mrs. Eleanor Little
• Hugh Laurie — Mr. Frederick Little
• Jonathan Lipnicki — George Little
• Estelle Getty — the Little's Grandmother. It would be her last film role.
• Julia Sweeny— Mrs. Keeper

Voice cast

• Michael J. Fox as Stuart Little - A small white mouse based on the book character of the same name.
• Nathan Lane as Snowbell ("Snow") - The Little's cynical but scaredy house-cat. This is the second film Nathan Lane works with Rob Minkoff, the first being The Lion King where he voices Timon.
• Chazz Palminteri as Smokey the Alley-Cat - A Mafia Don-like Russian Blue cat who leads the alley-cats.
• Steve Zahn as Monty the Mouth - One of Snowbell's closest friends who also has a desire to eat Stuart.

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.

External links

• Stuart Little at IMDb
• Stuart Little at Rotten Tomatoes