Stuart Little is a 1999 American live action/computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1945 novel of the same name by E. B. White. Directed by Rob Minkoff in his live-action debut, the screenplay was written by M. Night Shyamalan and Greg Brooker, and stars Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, and Jonathan Lipnicki, alongside the voices of Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Chazz Palminteri, Steve Zahn, Bruno Kirby, and Jennifer Tilly.

Stuart Little
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rob Minkoff
Screenplay by	M. Night Shyamalan Greg Brooker
Based on	Stuart Little by E. B. White
Produced by	Douglas Wick
Starring	Geena Davis Hugh Laurie Jonathan Lipnicki
Cinematography	Guillermo Navarro
Edited by	Tom Finan
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Production companies	Columbia Pictures[1] Franklin/Waterman Productions Global Medien KG
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing[2]
Release dates	December 17, 1999 (1999-12-17) (United States) July 21, 2000 (2000-07-21) (United Kingdom)
Running time	84 minutes[3]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$105[4]–133 million[5]
Box office	$300.1 million[5]

The film was released on December 17, 1999 by Columbia Pictures.[5] The film received generally positive reviews, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, losing to The Matrix.[6] The first film in the Stuart Little series, it was followed by a sequel Stuart Little 2 in 2002, the short-lived television series Stuart Little in 2003, and another sequel in 2005, the direct-to-video Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild. It was Estelle Getty's final film role before her retirement in 2001 and her death in July 2008.

Plot

This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (October 2022)

Eleanor and Frederick Little are intending to adopt a younger brother for their older son, George. They visit the orphanage where they are soon overwhelmed by the choice of children. They meet a young anthropomorphic mouse named Stuart, who advises them on who to choose. They fall in love with him and decide to adopt him. When George meets Stuart, he is shocked and disappointed to find his new little brother is in fact a mouse. He refuses to acknowledge Stuart as his brother while the Littles' cat Snowbell, who attempts to eat Stuart when he first comes home, feels jealous of Stuart and sickened at the fact that he is now a pet cat to a mouse.

Despite a warm and loving welcome from his new parents, Stuart struggles to fit in with his new family who also have to get used to having a small mouse with them which leads to several incidents, such as Stuart accidentally being put in the washing machine with the laundry. Fortunately, Eleanor finds him in time and Stuart recovers after a coughing fit from swallowing too much detergent.

The Littles host a family gathering to introduce Stuart. Here, George openly says that Stuart is not his brother, but only a mouse who he cannot do any brotherly things with like playing ball or riding bikes. After the party, Stuart admits to his parents that he feels like an outcast and something is missing inside. Eleanor and Frederick visit Mrs. Keeper at the orphanage to try and find out about Stuart's real parents, but Mrs. Keeper has no information at this point. At home, George and Stuart begin to bond when Stuart falls into George’s playroom in the basement while trying to escape Snowbell. The two of them finish off George's Wasp boat for an upcoming race. That night, Snowbell and his friend Monty, who visited the Littles' house earlier and discovered Stuart, host a meeting with Smokey, an alley cat mobster, hatching a plan to have Stuart removed from the Little household without killing him.

On the day of the boat race, the Wasp is finished, and the Littles arrive at Central Park, where George discovers that his nemesis, Anton, is there. As the race is about to start, 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.

That evening, the Littles take their first family photo together as a four before they are suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a mouse couple named Reggie and Camille Stout, who claim to be Stuart's biological parents who were forced to give him up due to poverty. The Littles reluctantly agree to allow Stuart to leave with his parents with George giving Stuart his toy roadster as a farewell present. The Stouts drive Stuart away from the Littles as they both look back at each other, heartbroken. Three days later, Mrs. Keeper visits the Littles enquiring to how things are going (not knowing that Stuart has gone) and to give them some news. She informs them that, according to the records, Stuart's parents died in a supermarket several years ago after a pile of canned food fell and crushed them. Realizing Stuart has been taken and believing the Stouts to be kidnappers who posed as his real parents, the Littles call the police, who start searching around the house.

Fearing that his deception will be exposed and he may lose his home, a frightened Snowbell informs Monty and Smokey that the Littles know about the Stouts so Smokey decides that Stuart must be killed instead. The Stouts are told by the cats to hand Stuart over to them. Filled with remorse, Reggie and Camille struggle to hide their emotions, so they tell him the truth; that they were cornered by the cats and in exchange for their lives, agreed to pose as his parents. Stuart is delighted to hear he is not a Stout and realises what has been missing: the Littles. He drives away in the roadster bidding farewell to his fake family. On his way home, Stuart is confronted and ambushed by Smokey and his gang, but manages to evade them by driving his car into the sewers, losing his car and luggage in the process when they both fall into the sewer water.

Meanwhile, the Littles and their extended family have been putting up missing posters for Stuart around the city, using his face from the family photograph. Stuart arrives home, only to find that he arrived too late because the Littles have already left the house when he came home and encounters Snowbell, who lies to him that the Littles have been happy since he left and shows him that his face has been cut from the family photograph. A heartbroken and tearful Stuart leaves, but Snowbell realizes the error of his ways when he sees the pain the Littles are going through and that Smokey and his cronies are still planning to hunt down Stuart.

Smokey and his gang return to Central Park along with Snowbell, trying to track Stuart down, but are unable to find him. Snowbell, unfit and out of breath, takes a break and finds Stuart up in a bird's nest. He tries to get Stuart to leave, but the cats return and find them in the tree together. Snowbell refuses to give Stuart to the hungry cats and takes him higher up the tree with the cats giving chase. Stuart is astonished that Snowbell is trying to save him which causes Snowbell to confess he lied about the Littles being happy without him and that they truly love him. Stuart is overjoyed and hugs Snowbell in gratitude. The cats see this and mock Snowbell when he asks that they cancel the hunt. Smokey refuses to listen and gives the order 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 get together on a lower one to catch him, but Snowbell saves Stuart by snapping the branch which sends Monty and the cats falling into the water below. A vengeful Smokey sneaks up behind Snowbell, but before he can kill him, Stuart intervenes by releasing a thin branch that smacks Smokey in the face, sending him tumbling into the water. Embarrassed, Smokey climbs out of the water and escapes, only to be attacked by a pack of dogs after turning a corner. Monty and the other cats also climb out of the water.

Snowbell takes Stuart home, where he looks in the window to find the Littles miserable without him. They are just heading to bed when Stuart calls out to them but they cannot hear him through the glass. He taps on it and George looks up to see Stuart. The Littles rush to him and are overjoyed to be reunited with their son and brother. They ask him how he managed to come home to which Stuart replies: “Every Little in the world can find the Little house” confirming he is a Little and is back where he belongs.

Cast

Live-action cast

Voice cast

• Michael J. Fox as Stuart Little, an anthropomorphic mouse who is adopted as the middle child of the Little family.
• Nathan Lane as Snowbell, the Little family's Persian cat who initially dislikes Stuart.
• Chazz Palminteri as Smokey, a sadistic and intelligent Russian Blue cat with a mafia-like personality who is the leader of a gang of Mafia-like alley cats and came up with a plan to kill Stuart when Snowbell and Monty summoned him.
• Steve Zahn as Monty, a gray tabby cat, Snowbell's best friend and a former member of the alley cats.
• Jim Doughan as Lucky, a Siamese cat and a member of Smokey's gang. Doughan also played Detective Allen in the film.
• David Alan Grier as Red, a ginger American Shorthair tomcat and a member of Smokey's gang.
• Bruno Kirby as Mr. Reginald Stout, Camille's husband and Stuart's fake father.
• Jennifer Tilly as Mrs. Camille Stout, Reginald's wife and Stuart's fake mother.
• Stan Freberg as the Race Announcer

Lost painting unknowingly used on set

One of the paintings used as set dressing for the Littles' home was Hungarian avant garde painter Róbert Berény's 1920s painting Sleeping Lady with Black Vase, which had long been considered lost. A set designer for the film had purchased the painting at an antiques store in Pasadena, California for $500 for use in the film, unaware of its significance. In 2009, art historian Gergely Barki, while watching Stuart Little on television with his daughter, noticed the painting, and after contacting the studios was able to track down its whereabouts.[7] In 2014, its owner sold the painting at an auction for €229,500.[8]

Reception

Box office

Stuart Little was released theatrically on December 17, 1999. On its opening weekend, Stuart Little grossed $15 million, placing it at #1 dethroning Toy Story 2. It dropped to #2 over its second weekend, but went back to #1 on its third weekend with $16 million. According to Box Office Mojo, its final gross in the United States and Canada was $140 million and it grossed $160.1 million at the international box office, for an estimated total of $300 million worldwide.[5]

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 97 responses with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's consensus reads: "Critics say Stuart Little is charming with kids and adults for its humor and visual effects."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 61 out of 100 from 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[11]

Jesus Freak Hideout said that "from start to finish, Stuart Little is a near flawless family film"[12] while Stephen Holden of The New York Times had said "the only element that doesn't completely harmonize with the rest of the film is the visually unremarkable digital figure of Stuart."[13]

Home media

Stuart Little was released on VHS and DVD in the United States on April 18, 2000 by Columbia TriStar Home Video,[14] and in the United Kingdom on November 27, 2000. It was later re-released on a Deluxe Edition on May 21, 2002, by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, and on Blu-ray on June 28, 2011, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album Stuart Little: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture was released by Motown and Universal Records on November 30, 1999, on audio CD and audio cassette. Tracks in bold do not appear in the film.

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Stuart Little (film).

• Stuart Little at IMDb

На других языках

[de] Stuart Little

[es] Stuart Little

[it] Stuart Little - Un topolino in gamba

[ru] Стюарт Литтл (фильм)