Stuart Little (film)

Plot

In Manhattan, Frederick and Eleanor Little visit an orphanage to adopt a new brother for their son, George. Instead, they adopt an anthropomorphic mouse named Stuart. George refuses to acknowledge him as his brother and the family cat, Snowbell, is disgusted to be a new pet to a mouse. The next day, Stuart's life in the house goes off to a bad start when he is inadvertently trapped in the washing machine, but soon recovers from the incident.

The Littles invite their extended family to meet Stuart where George confesses he does not regard Stuart as a brother but simply a mouse. Stuart asks Eleanor and Frederick to enquire about his biological parents, feeling an empty space. Stuart encourages George to finish his model boat for an upcoming race and the duo start to bond. Meanwhile, Snowbell and his alley cat friend Monty meet with Monty's superior, Smokey, and formulate a plan to dispose of Stuart. On the day of the race, while Stuart is carrying George's remote control he accidentally drops it and it gets accidentally stepped on by a passerby, rendering the boat useless. He jumps into the boat and takes control himself, narrowly avoiding a crash and winning the race, finally enabling George to accept Stuart as his brother.

As the Littles host a celebration with the family, a mouse couple, Reggie and Camille Stout, arrive and claim to be Stuart's biological parents who were forced by poverty to give him up. The Littles reluctantly allow Stuart to leave with the Stouts. Three days later, the orphanage head Mrs. Keeper comes to visit the Littles to check up on things and when they explain that Stuart's real parents came and took him away, she informs them that Stuart's real parents had died several years earlier. Realizing Stuart has been kidnapped, the family organizes a search party with missing person posters, using his photograph from the family photo. Fearing his involvement will be exposed and that he will be thrown out of the Little house, Snowbell informs Smokey about the news and Smokey settles on assassinating Stuart instead.

Remorseful about Stuart's sadness, the Stouts, now revealed to be reluctant pawns of Smokey, reveal their deception; he is delighted and makes his way back to the Little house. On the way, he is ambushed by Smokey and his gang but evades them by going into a sewer. He makes it home, but finds the Littles absent as they had left to go put up his missing posters. A jealous Snowbell lies that the family is out celebrating his absence, using the fact that Stuart's face has been removed from the family photo as evidence. Heartbroken, Stuart leaves, but Snowbell soon regrets his actions after the Littles return home. Smokey and his gang manage to pinpoint Stuart's location at Central Park and bring Snowbell along for the hunt. However, Snowbell finds Stuart first and admits his lie, encouraging Stuart to come home. When the cats find them, Snowbell refuses to hand Stuart over to the cats and Smokey tells his gang to assassinate Stuart and Snowbell. They give chase, cornering Stuart hanging from a branch over the park's pond. Snowbell breaks the branch beneath the cats, sending them plummeting into the pond. Smokey sneaks up on Snowbell, enraged by his betrayal but Stuart releases a thin branch at Smokey, knocking him into the water. He emerges, but is immediately chased away by dogs.

Stuart is taken home by Snowbell and they arrive just as the Littles are going to bed. He taps on the window and is reunited with the Littles after George happily notices him. When they ask him how he managed to get home, he tells them that every Little can find the Little house and he owes his life to Snowbell, who has realized Stuart truly is family.

Cast

Main article: List of Stuart Little characters{{!}}List of ''Stuart Little'' characters

Voice cast

• Michael J. Fox as Stuart Little, a young anthropomorphic white mouse who is adopted as the middle child of the Little family.
• Nathan Lane as Snowbell, the family's Persian cat who initially dislikes Stuart, but later becomes his best friend.
• Chazz Palminteri as Smokey, a Chartreux who is the leader of a gang of alley cats and comes up with a plot to eliminate Stuart when summoned by Snowbell and Monty.
• Steve Zahn as Monty, a gray tabby cat, Snowbell's best friend and a former member of Smokey's gang.
• Jim Doughan as Lucky, a Siamese cat who is a member of Smokey's gang. Doughan also portrays Detective Allen in the film.
• David Alan Grier as Red, a ginger American Shorthair tomcat who is a member of Smokey's gang.
• Bruno Kirby as Reginald Stout, Camille's husband.
• Jennifer Tilly as Camille Stout, Reginald's wife.
• Stan Freberg as the boat race announcer

Live-action cast

• Geena Davis as Eleanor Little, the matriarch of the Little family and Frederick's wife.
• Hugh Laurie as Frederick Little, the patriarch of the Little family and Eleanor's husband.
• Jonathan Lipnicki as George Little, the eldest son of the Little family and Stuart's adoptive older brother.
• Jeffrey Jones as Crenshaw Little, Frederick's elder brother, the younger brother of Beatrice and one of George and Stuart's two uncles.
• Connie Ray as Tina Little, Crenshaw's wife and Beatrice and Frederick's sister-in-law and one of George and Stuart's two aunts.
• Allyce Beasley as Beatrice Little, Crenshaw and Frederick's elder sister and one of George and Stuart's two aunts.
• Brian Doyle-Murray as Edgar Little, Beatrice, Crenshaw and Frederick's cousin and Grandpa Spencer's nephew.
• Estelle Getty as Estelle Little, Beatrice, Crenshaw and Frederick's mother and George and Stuart's grandmother.
• Harold Gould as Spencer Little, Beatrice, Crenshaw and Frederick's father and George and Stuart's grandfather.
• Patrick Thomas O'Brien as Stretch Little, the husband of Beatrice, the brother-in-law of Crenshaw and Frederick and one of George and Stuart's two uncles.
• Julia Sweeney as Mrs. Keeper, the head of the New York City Public Orphanage.
• Dabney Coleman as Doctor Beechwood, a medical doctor who visits the Littles' house following Stuart's entrapment in its washing machine.
• Miles Marsico as Anton Gartman, a mean-spirited boy who bullies George during the boat race.
• Jon Polito as Detective Sherman, a police detective who works for the New York Police Department.
• Jim Doughan as Detective Phil Allen, Detective Sherman's partner. Doughan also voices Lucky, a member of Smokey's gang, in the film.
• Joe Bays as the boat race starter
• Taylor Negron as a clothing salesman

Production

Development and pre-production

Development began at Columbia Pictures in 1997 when production stalled on a film adaptation of the musical Into the Woods, which Minkoff was originally set to make his live action directorial debut with. Looking for an alternative route, the studio heads informed him that they had picked up the film rights to E.B. White's novel with Douglas Wick set to produce under his Red Wagon Entertainment banner. It was after reading Shyamalan's script that he then agreed to direct. In early 1998, Columbia officially announced Minkoff as director, with the budget originally set to be under $90 million.

While his first full-length live action film, Minkoff directed various short films combining live-action and animation earlier in his career, all of which helped him earn the job, alongside the overwhelming success of his co-directoral work on Disney's The Lion King (1994). All the cats featured in the film were real and were trained by Boone's Animals for Hollywood. News outlets originally claimed the film would be G-rated, but the darker tone of the third act would result in the MPAA giving it a PG rating.

Filming

Principal photography began on August 3, 1998, both on location in New York City and Central Park, and on soundstages at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, where Stage 30 was converted into the set for the boat race scene and Stage 15 became the exterior of the 5th Avenue street on which the Little family lives. After twelve weeks, filming wrapped on November 11. The entire shoot was described as "smooth" and "enjoyable" by the crew members.

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. In 2014, its owner sold the painting at an auction for €229,500.

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. It contains songs from and inspired by the film, including the end credits song "You're Where I Belong," written by Diane Warren and performed by Trisha Yearwood, which was submitted for Best Original Song consideration at the 72nd Academy Awards, but didn't make the initial shortlist. Also included are two tracks from the orchestral score by Alan Silvestri. Tracks in bold do not appear in the film.

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.

Critical reception

Stuart Little received positive reviews from critics upon release. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Jesus Freak Hideout said that "from start to finish, Stuart Little is a near flawless family film" 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."

Home media

Stuart Little was released on VHS and DVD in the United States on April 18, 2000, by Columbia TriStar Home Video, 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. In 2008, the film was released as part of a double feature with Stuart Little 2. Stuart Little and Stuart Little 2 were released in a combo on Sony PSP's UMD format on January 3, 2006, and Blu-ray on June 28, 2011, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

References

References

1. "Stuart Little". [[American Film Institute]].
2. "Stuart Little".
3. (January 10, 2000). "''Stuart Little''". [[British Board of Film Classification]].
4. "Stuart Little (1999) – Financial Information".
5. (April 16, 2000). "Stuart Little (1999)". Box Office Mojo.
6. (April 22, 2015). "The 72nd Academy Awards".
7. Archerd, Army. (September 4, 1998). "Celebs voice kidpic 'Stuart Little'". Variety.
8. (2019). "On Animation: The Director's Perspective Volume 2". [[CRC Press]].
9. "Stuart Little: Production Notes".
10. "Stuart Little: Production Notes".
11. (November 27, 2014). "Stuart Little leads art historian to long-lost Hungarian masterpiece". The Guardian.
12. Laura Westbrook. (December 14, 2014). "Lost painting auctioned after discovery in Stuart Little film". [[BBC News]].
13. (February 12, 2000). "Mariah's Gonna Make Garden Sweat".
14. McNary, Dave. (December 19, 1999). "'Stuart Little' tops U.S. box office". [[United Press International]].
15. "Home".
16. "Stuart Little". Jesus Freak Hideout.
17. Stephen Holden. (December 17, 1999). "Film Review – Extra! Sly Cat Upstages Stuart Little!". [[The New York Times]].
18. (March 4, 2000). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc..