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Extras : Scene index, Visual Effects Interactive Featurette, "Making it
Big" HBO Special Featurette, Two Feature Length Commentaries, Six Deleted
Scenes with Director's Commentary, Outtakes, Boat Race: Early Concept Reel
with Director's Commentary, Book reading with optional reading by Michael
J Fox, Stuart's Central Park Adventure Game, Weblinks, 'Race with Stuart'
Hasbro Interactive Game, Roadster Interactive Game, Music Videos, Trailer
Director:
Rob Minkoff
(The Lion King, Stuart Little)
Producer:
Douglas Wick
Screenplay:
M. Night Shyamalan
Music:
Alan Silvestri
Cast:
Mrs Little: Geena Davis
Mr Little: Hugh Laurie
George Little: Jonathan Lipnicki
Stuart Little: Michael J. Fox
Snowbell: Nathan Lane
Smokey: Chazz Palminteri
Stuart Little
is one of the year's most well-received films by children although having
been released in the USA last year it's taken until this summer for it to see
the light of day.
At the time of writing (early October), the film, based on the children's
book by E.B. White (author of Charlotte's Web), has taken around $300m
worldwide (£16 in the UK box office alone) topping the cinema charts
and continuing to grace the silver screen a few months after release.
It has a plot too, albeit a simple one. George Little (Jonathan Lipnicki,
who hasn't aged a day since his appearance in 1996's
Jerry Maguire as
the son of Renee Zellweger) is an only child and wants a brother and through
the strange quirk of fate that is Hollywood, the chosen one comes in the
form of a tiny very well-computer-generated mouse, Stuart Little (voiced by
Michael J. Fox).
"You and whose army?"
The cast isn't short on big names either given that George's parents - here
only known as Mr and Mrs Little - are played by Geena Davis and
our very own Hugh Laurie, who sadly sports a diabolical American accent,
probably to wreak revenge on the English accent foistered upon the world by
Dick Van Dyke.
The humans are added to in number by Dabney Coleman, Golden Girl
Estelle Getty, Jon Polito, while animal voices - feline and otherwise -
also come from Nathan Lane, Jennifer Tilly, Bruno Kirby and
Chazz Palminteri.
There's few surprises to be found in the plot but then you're unlikely to
expect something of a JFK-style conspiracy standard, although the script comes
from M. Night Shyamalan, writer/director of the suspenseful (if you
don't know the ending before you see it!)
The Sixth Sense.
It's a film for young kids and they'll probably enjoy it a lot more than
any adult while their view of the world hasn't yet been coloured by prejudice,
doubt and mortgages.
Life on the ocean wave...
The film is presented in an anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen ratio, thus replicating
what you saw in the cinema and with no need to crop the image and destroy the
carefully CGI'd scenes. The print isn't perfect, with artifacts occasionally
noticed along with other scenes that aren't quite all they could be, although
most of these won't be noticed by the vast majority of the public who don't
have their nose pressed to the TV screen like me.
I was unable to determine the average bitrate.
Dolby Digital 5.1 is the order of the day, in English, Dutch and (somehow)
Flemish. The sound quality is basically perfect, mostly used best in terms
of the occasional directional sound effect and the typical over-use of a music
score to get the point across in a kids film. That's as strong as it gets
though, so it won't be the greatest test of your speakers.
Extras :
Chapters :
The usual 28 chapters for a Columbia film, which is great for an 81-minute
movie.
Languages/Subtitles :
Dolby Digital 5.1 in English, Dutch and Flemish, with subtitles in
the first two plus Hindi.
And there's more... :
Plenty more in fact. Columbia have really gone to town on this day-and-date
release.
Stuart's Central Park Adventure Game: Several multiple choice
questions testing you on your knowledge of the film. Correct answers allow you
to proceed through the park while wrong ones obviously don't.
Visual Effects Interactive Featurette: Six moments from the
film, such as 'How a mouse brushes his teeth' and 'Stuart steers the wasp',
each broken down into four stages of animation creation with commentary from
the various crew members.
Book reading with optional reading by Michael J Fox (4 mins):
Imagine a 'Janet and John' book with pictures, with an option to read to
yourself or with your family, or having the voice of Stuart speak the lines.
Music Videos:
The Brian Setzer Orchestra - If You Can't Rock Me
Trisha Yearwood - You're Where I Belong
R Angels - I Need To Know
Basement Treasures (20 mins):
Animators' Screen Tests: Scenes created by animators auditioning to work on
the film
Six Deleted Scenes with Director's Commentary: exactly what it says on
the tin, each presented in a non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen ratio
Visual Effects Gag Reel: a couple of scenes that began as simple dialogue
cock-ups and were then turned into CGI
Production Gag Reel: many more scenes but with humans this time
Boat Race: Early Concept Reel with Director's Commentary: storyboarded
sketches of the scene
U.S. TheCATrical Trailer (3 mins): Just what you expect
and in Dolby Digital 5.1.
Scrapbook: Storyboards of Stuart, various concepts in the film
and the cars and boats depicted.
"Making It Big" HBO Special Featurette (22 mins): The usual
mix of clips with cast-and-crew interviews, plus the revelation that Stuart
Little had a small, uncredited cameo in A League of Their Own,
alongside Geena Davis, as a hotdog vendor. Sadly his scene ended up on the
cutting room floor.
Scrapbook: Storyboards of Stuart, various concepts in the film
and the cars and boats depicted.
Talent Profiles: Filmographies for all the main actors plus
director Rob Minkoff.
DVD-ROM Content: Weblinks, a 'Race with Stuart' Hasbro
Interactive Game (which I couldn't get to work properly) and the PR mentions
a Roadster Interactive Game, although I presume that's the name of the
company who wrote a game which allows an interactive and intensive look
around Stuart's house.
Two Audio Commentaries: One from the Director and Animation
Supervisor, with the second from the Visual Effects Supervisors.
Menu :
Animated and scored with - plus the occasional chip-in from Stuart - and
smaller sub-menus seemingly accessed by 'visiting' various rooms in Stuart
Little's house (well, he didn't sign the lease but you get the idea).
"So, what's for dinner?"
Overall, you've read the above, it's out on November 27th as a rental/retail
VHS release simultaneous with this DVD. Given that the DVD only costs £4
more than the video, it'd be foolish not to make the DVD the purchase of
choice.
The only thing that appears to be missing, compared to the Region 1 DVD,
is an isolated music score, plus that disc is already out now, but you're
the one who votes with their credit card so make your choice.
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Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
