| Stuart Little | |
| Director: | Rob Minkoff |
| Producer: | Douglas Wick |
| Screenplay: | |
| Music: | Alan Silvestri |
| Cinematography: | Guillermo Navarro |
| Editing: | Tom Finan |
| Distributor: | Sony Pictures Releasing[1] |
| Runtime: | 84 minutes[2] |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $105[3] –133 million[4] |
| Gross: | $300.1 million |
Stuart Little is a 1999 American live-action/animated comedy film loosely based on E. B. White's novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Minkoff in his live-action directorial 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 premiered in Westwood at Mann Village Theatre on December 5, 1999, and was released in United States on December 17, 1999, by Columbia Pictures.[4] The film received generally positive reviews and became a box office success, grossing over $300 million worldwide. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but lost to The Matrix.[5] After its success, it also started a franchise with the sequel Stuart Little 2 in 2002, the short-lived television series Stuart Little in 2003, and the direct-to-video sequel in 2006. It was Estelle Getty's final film role.
In New York City, 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 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.
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 Fredrick 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 the latter's superior, Smokey, and formulate a plan to dispose of Stuart. On the day of the race, Stuart accidentally breaks George's remote control. 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, 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. The orphanage calls to ask how Stuart is doing and when the Littles explain he has gone home with his real parents, orphanage head Mrs. Keeper 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 kicked out of the house, Snowbell informs Smokey about the news and the latter 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. At home, 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. Snowbell finds Stuart at Central Park and admits his lie, encouraging Stuart to come home. When the duo are confronted by Smokey's gang, Snowbell refuses to hand Stuart over and they give chase, cornering Stuart hanging from a branch over the park's pond. Snowbell breaks the branch the cats are on, sending them into it. Smokey sneaks up on Snowbell, but Stuart releases a branch that hits Smokey in the face, defeating him.
Stuart is taken home by Snowbell and is reunited with the Littles. Stuart tells them he owes his life to Snowbell, who has realized Stuart truly is family.
See main article: List of Stuart Little characters.
Development on the film began at Columbia Pictures in 1997 when production stalled on a film adaptation of the musical Into the Woods, which Rob 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 M. Night Shyamalan's script that he then agreed to direct. In early 1998, the studio officially announced Minkoff as director, with the budget originally set to 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-directing 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.[6] [7] [8]
Filming 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 12 weeks of production, filming wrapped on November 11. The entire shoot was described as "smooth" and "enjoyable" by the crew members.[9]
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.[10] In 2014, its owner sold the painting at an auction for €229,500.[11]
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.[4]
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."[12] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 61 out of 100 from 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[14]
Jesus Freak Hideout said that "from start to finish, Stuart Little is a near flawless family film"[15] 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."[16]
Stuart Little was released on VHS and DVD in the United States on April 18, 2000, by Columbia TriStar Home Video,[17] 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.
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.