M Night Shyamalan, writer/director of The Sixth Sense and The Village, co-wrote the screenplay to this adorable mousey movie, based on the EB White book. Mr and Mrs Little (Laurie and Davis) decide to adopt a baby boy so their son George (Lipnicki) can have a brother. Instead, they come home from the orphanage with Stuart (Fox), a mouse (computer-animated but furrily realistic) who’s cute and sweet, but there’s one family member who’s not impressed – the family cat Snowbell (voiced by Nathan Lane), who plots to get rid of him with the help of mean alley cat Smokey (voiced by Chazz Palminteri).
There isn’t much else to the story, but it’s told beautifully, thanks to nice performances from the humans and funny vocal ones from Fox, Steve Zahn as the dopey Monty the Mouth, and the wonderful Lane, who gets all the best lines. It looks fantastic too, and has a great mix of wit and adventure, with a nice dollop of sentimentality about the importance of family.
Is Stuart Little suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
There are no real scary bits, but some very tiny tots may get upset by seeing Stuart sloshing about (and nearly drowning) in the washing machine.
If you like this, why not try: Stuart Little 2, Babe, Alvin And The Chipmunks, G-Force, Marmaduke,