Stuart Little (film)

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Stuart Little
Stuart Little.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rob Minkoff
Produced by Douglas Wick
Screenplay by M. Night Shyamalan
Greg Brooker
Based on Stuart Little 
by E. B. White
Music by Alan Silvestri
Cinematography Guillermo Navarro
Edited by Tom Finan
Franklin/Waterman Productions
Global Medien GK
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • December 17, 1999 (1999-12-17)
Running time
84 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $133 million[1]
Box office $300.1 million[1]



The film was released on December 17, 1999 by Columbia Pictures.[1]


This film was Estelle Getty's last film before her retirement in 2000 and her death in 2008.



Stuart's new life at the house gets off to a bad start when George unknowingly traps him in a pile of laundry and his mother puts the laundry in the washing machine. Stuart quickly feels like an outsider in the large Little family, especially when George declares Stuart is not his brother, but simply a mouse. When Stuart tells his parents that he is lonely, they ask Mrs. Keeper to do some background research on Stuart's biological family. After accidentally stumbling across George's playroom in the basement one day, Stuart and George get to know each other and plan to finish George's remote-controlled boat, the Wasp, for an upcoming boat race in Central Park. At the same time, one of Snowbell's alley cat friends, Monty (Steve Zahn), visits unexpectedly and discovers Stuart. Determined not to have his reputation destroyed, Snowbell meets with Monty's leader, Smokey (Chazz Palminteri), a mafia don-like alley cat, and plots revenge to remove Stuart from the household without harming him.

Stuart and George finish the Wasp in time, but when the controller gets broken on the day of the race, Stuart pilots the Wasp himself. He ends up entangled with a larger boat belonging to George's rival, Anton (Miles Marsico) who always cheats by crashing other competitors boats, but Stuart snaps the wires of Anton's boat, making it inoperable, and manages to win the race. After this, George warms up to Stuart and calls him "his brother". During the family celebration, however, the Littles are visited by a mouse couple, Reginald and Camille Stout (Bruno Kirby and Jennifer Tilly), who claim to be Stuart's parents and that they gave him up for adoption years ago due to poverty. Reluctantly, Stuart leaves with the Stouts. Three days later, however, Mrs. Keeper comes to visit and tells the Littles that Stuart's parents actually died many years ago in a supermarket accident. Realizing their son has been kidnapped, the Littles call the police, who start a search operation.

Meanwhile, Snowbell meets with Smokey and the alley cats, who reveal they had forced the Stouts to pose as Stuart's parents in order to remove Stuart from the household. Fearing retribution should the Littles discover Snowbell's deception, Smokey orders the Stouts to hand Stuart over to them. However, the Stouts, having grown fond of Stuart, tell him the truth and instruct him to flee. Smokey subsequently orders a manhunt for Stuart. He and the alley cats corner him in Central Park, and after a brief chase, Stuart evades them in a storm drain, losing his roadster in the process. He returns home, but finds the Littles absent, going out to put up posters of him. The only one present is Snowbell, who lies that the Littles have been enjoying themselves since Stuart's departure and uses Stuart's removed face from the family photograph as proof (which they had actually used for the posters). Heartbroken, Stuart leaves again.

When the Littles return distraught, Snowbell starts to recognize his selfishness and feels guilty for what he has done. The cats pinpoint Stuart's location in Central Park and bring Snowbell for the hunt. However, he finds Stuart sitting in a bird's nest in a tree and decides to save him from the cats, admitting that he lied and the Littles do love him. Snowbell then tries to reason with Smokey to let Stuart go, but Smokey refuses to listen and demands his gang to kill both Stuart and Snowbell. Stuart lures the cats away, but is left hanging from a tree branch. Monty and the cats group together on a lower branch to catch Stuart, but Snowbell breaks the branch they are standing on, sending them falling down into the river below. An angry Smokey then 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. A humiliated Smokey runs off, only to be chased away by a pack of savage dogs. Stuart rides Snowbell all the way home and they share a happy reunion with the Little family when they arrive.


Set design[edit]



Box office[edit]


Critical reception[edit]

Stuart Little received generally positive reviews from movie critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes, 66% of critics gave the film a positive review. The site's consensus reads: "Stuart Little is charming with kids and adults for its humor and visual effects."[4] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 61 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[5]


Stuart Little was released theatrically on December 17, 1999.

Home media[edit]



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

  6. He Rules - 702 (3:04)
  7. Home - Brian McKnight (4:22)
  8. Walking Tall - Lyle Lovett (3:16)
  9. Lucky Day - Matt Goss (4:03)

Video game[edit]

Stuart Little: The Journey Home is a video game for the Game Boy Color system based on the book.

See also[edit]


  5. ^

External links[edit]