| Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild | |
| Director: | Audu Paden |
| Screenplay: | Bob Shaw Don McEnery |
| Story: | Douglas Wick |
| Producer: | Douglas Wick Lucy Fisher Leslie Hough |
| Starring: | Michael J. Fox Geena Davis Hugh Laurie Wayne Brady Kevin Schon Corey Padnos Virginia Madsen Peter MacNicol Rino Romano |
| Editing: | Robert Gordon Bruce King |
| Music: | Atli Örvarsson |
| Studio: | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Red Wagon Entertainment Mainframe Entertainment |
| Distributor: | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |
| Runtime: | 75 minutes |
| Country: | United States Canada |
| Language: | English |
Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild is a 2006 animated adventure comedy film directed by Audu Paden, distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. It was released on DVD on February 21, 2006.[1] It is the third and final installment in the Stuart Little trilogy.
In the film, Stuart and his family spend their summer vacation in a cabin near Lake Garland. During the vacation, Stuart befriends a smooth-talking anthropomorphic skunk named Reeko, and a mysterious beast takes the family cat Snowbell. Michael J. Fox, Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie reprise their roles as Stuart Little, Eleanor Little and Frederick Little, while Snowbell, George and Monty are now voiced by Kevin Schon, Corey Padnos and Rino Romano (replacing Nathan Lane, Jonathan Lipnicki and Steve Zahn who previously portrayed and voiced them in the live-action films.)
Unlike its predecessors, Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild is fully computer animated. It is also the only film in the series to not have a theatrical release, instead being released direct to video. Unlike the first two films, Call of the Wild received generally negative reviews.
Stuart and his family leave the comfort of New York City to go on a camping trip near Lake Garland. When they get there, Stuart meets Reeko, a skunk who is generally disliked by the forest animals and is on a mission to give food to "The Beast", a mountain lion who terrorizes the animals of the forest every night. While hiking with their dad, Stuart and George stumble upon and join the "Lake Scouts" with Frederick watching over them. George excels at scouting while also developing a crush on a fellow Scout named Brooke, but Stuart has trouble keeping up due to his small stature. Down on his luck with the Scouts and Troopmaster Bickle looking down upon him, Stuart makes a deal with Reeko for him to learn the ways of the forest. After some training and being invited to dinner with Stuart’s family, Reeko ultimately befriends Stuart. But after deciding the food given to him isn't enough, Reeko tricks Snowbell into entering the forest and gets captured by The Beast. Soon after finding out Reeko was behind Snowbell's disappearance, Stuart goes off into the wilderness to save Snowbell. Not long after, Eleanor finds out Stuart is missing and rallies a search party with Frederick and the scouts. Meanwhile, Stuart successfully rescues Snowbell and attempts to trick The Beast into falling into a trap covered with sticks and leaves. Upon noticing the trap failing and before Stuart is eaten, Reeko shows up with a group of forest animals who initially didn't like him; the forest animals help out Stuart and Reeko. While The Beast is defeated and then taken away to a zoo by the humans.
Stuart earns a gold kerchief from Troopmaster Bickle. As Stuart’s family is packing up to leave, Reeko apologizes for his behavior and tells Stuart that he was wrong to betray him. As the film ends, Stuart says farewell to Reeko and the Littles head back home to New York City.
See main article: List of Stuart Little characters.
Martha Little (Stuart and George's younger sister) appears in the film, but her voice actress is unknown. Additional voices include Garry Chalk, Tom Kenny, Sophia Paden, Kath Soucie and Tara Strong.
Unlike the first two films, which were positively received, this film received generally negative reviews. James Plath of Reels.com rated it 2.5 out of 4, saying "Kids will still like it because the storyline is engaging, the color palette is bright and cheery, the songs are upbeat and pleasant enough, and the messages about good behavior, perseverance, and belonging are worthwhile."[2] Themoviescene.co.uk rated the film 2/5 stars and said: "What this all boils down to is that Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild is in truth a touch disappointing as it lacks much of what made the first two movies work for almost a whole family."[3]
Sloan Freer of Radiotimes.com rated it 2 out of 5, saying, "The quality plunges drastically in this uninspired direct-to-video sequel. Gone is the charming mix of live action and CGI used in the original two films, replaced by full animation whose flatness and simplicity is symbolic of the entire tale. Surprisingly, the core voice talent remains the same with Michael J Fox, Geena Davis, and Hugh Laurie wasting their efforts on a weak plot that sees boy mouse Stuart demonstrate his bravery when Snowbell the family cat is kidnapped during the Little clan's lakeside vacation. Undemanding humour, a sprinkling of mild peril, and the obligatory life lessons offer enough substance to keep the very young happy, but only the short running time will impress anyone older."[4]
Bob Hoose of PluggedIn.com said "Those who did grow to love the films Stuart Little and Stuart Little 2 will find a number of noticeable changes with this third installment. It’s fully animated, for one thing, instead of using the franchise’s established combination of live action and animation. And the target audience seems to be narrowed to kids somewhere around the age of 7. But while the adventure isn’t as large and the songs aren’t so singable, Stuart’s still the little guy with the big heart. He’s still got the charm, the determination and the spunk. He still helps us see that with a loving family and the help of our friends we can persevere, despite the odds."[5]
Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild was released for DVD on February 21, 2006. The film grossed $11.7 million in DVD sales in the United States.[6]
The DVD included a number of special features. This included memory games "Help Stuart Escape!" and "Monty's Monstrous Appetite", as well as "Stuart's Summer Journal", a recap of the film's events in a journal format. Also included was "Learn to Draw", which had step by step guides to drawing characters from the movie, and a trailer for the PlayStation 2 game Stuart Little 3: Big Photo Adventure.