Stuart Little (1999)

Stuart Little (1999)

7/10

Starring

Michael J. Fox

Geena Davis

Hugh Laurie

 

Directed by Robert Minkoff

There are those rare movies that are so masterfully crafted that the moment you see them, you are magically taken into that world, and you just love them. You love the characters, you love their world, and most of all, you love the story that combines these characters with their world. Stuart Little has that magical spark.

When you think of M. Night Shyamalan, you remember movies like The Sixth Sense (1999) or Split (2017), but Shyamalan also co-wrote the screenplay that became this wonderful film. With him at the helm, you can always expect a magical twist at the end. One of the other major things about this movie is the voice casting of Michael J. Fox as the titular character, Stuart Little. Along with Fox, we also have Nathan Lane voicing the cat Snowbell. In the live-action roles, we have Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie playing Mrs. and Mr. Little, respectively.

The movie plot introduces us to the Littles, a family composed of a father, mother, and a son named George. The Littles happen to live in the littlest house on the street, and the couple seems like the type of family you would want to be in. In this world of the Littles, anthropomorphic animals can talk to humans, while non-anthropomorphic animals can't, even though they can talk with the ones who can talk to humans.

The parents wanted to adopt a child so that George would have a sibling. They visited the adoption agency, where they were allowed to look at all the children as they played. As they looked and discussed, an anthropomorphic mouse named Stuart, who was also in the home waiting to be adopted, gave them a little tour of all the children. Stuart was trying to help them find the best child, but that tour led to the Littles falling for Stuart, and they adopted him instead, bringing him home. George was not pleased to have a mouse for a brother, and the movie takes us through the many adventures of Stuart as he tries to win over his brother and also stay alive without being eaten by the family cat.

This fine movie is based on a 1945 children's book of the same name by E.B. White, and it was nominated for Best Visual Effects, but that was in 1999, and the award went to The Matrix.

The movie did well at the box office, and a sequel was made in 2002 called Stuart Little 2. I still find myself sitting down to enjoy this movie anytime I come across it on TV.