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Stuart Little 2
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Stuart Little 2
| image = Stuart Little2 poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| alt = A mouse on a skateboard
| director = Rob Minkoff
| screenplay = Bruce Joel Rubin
| story =
| based_on =
| producer =
| starring =
| cinematography = Steven Poster
| editing = Priscilla Nedd-Friendly
| music = Alan Silvestri
| production_companies =
| distributor = Sony Pictures Releasing
| released =
| runtime = 78 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $120 million
| gross = $170 million
}}
'Stuart Little 2' is a 2002 American live action/computer-animated comedy film directed by Rob Minkoff and starring Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, and Jonathan Lipnicki, and the voices of Michael J. Fox as Stuart Little and Nathan Lane as Snowbell the Cat. Although a sequel to the 1999 film 'Stuart Little', the plot bears more resemblance to the original novel by E.B. White, in which Stuart and Snowbell meet a canary named Margalo (voiced by Melanie Griffith).
The film was released in theaters on July 19, 2002, by Columbia Pictures, and grossed $170 million against a $120 million budget, with it also receiving positive critical reviews. It was followed by a third film, a direct-to-video sequel titled 'Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild' in 2005.
Plot
Three years after his adoption, Stuart Little finds himself overprotected by his adoptive mother Eleanor. He questions his abilities following a disastrous soccer match alongside his adoptive brother George, who accidentally kicked him with a soccer ball, despite kick scoring the winning goal for their team. Stuart's relationship with George is strained further after he accidentally crashes a model airplane they both just built. Stuart's adoptive father Frederick consoles him by telling him that "every cloud has a silver lining".
One day, a seemingly injured young female canary bird named Margalo falls into Stuart's roadster on his way home from school. Stuart takes her home and introduces her to the Little family, where he invites Margalo to stay with them for a while, to which she accepts. Unbeknownst to the Littles, Margalo is secretly in cahoots with a greedy peregrine falcon. Orphaned as a fledgling, she was forced by the Falcon to steal valuables from households in exchange for a home, but Margalo grows reluctant to steal from the Littles. Unable to concentrate on her assignment, Margalo becomes close friends with Stuart. The Falcon eventually loses patience and threatens to kill Stuart unless Margalo steals Eleanor's wedding ring. Concerned for Stuart's safety, she reluctantly complies.
That night, when the Littles discover that Eleanor's ring is missing, they mistakenly think it has fallen down their kitchen sink, unaware that Margalo had actually taken it. Stuart offers to be lowered down the drain on a string to get the ring, but the string snaps while he is down the drain. A guilt-stricken Margalo saves him and later leaves the Littles' house to protect Stuart. The next day, upon realizing her disappearance, Stuart assumes she has been kidnapped by the Falcon and decides to rescue her with assistance from the Littles' cat Snowbell. Before he leaves, Stuart asks George to cover for him.
Following advice from Snowbell's alley cat friend Monty, Stuart and Snowbell discover that the Falcon resides in the Pishkin Building. Making his way to the top of the building, Stuart confronts the Falcon and Margalo assures him that although she was following her master's orders, she is still his friend. Stuart begs her to come home with him, but the Falcon refuses to let her leave. Despite the mouse's best efforts of attack, the Falcon decides to drop him off the building, but Stuart narrowly survives the fall by landing in a passing garbage truck. The Falcon then traps Margalo in a paint can as punishment. Snowbell, who has become concerned about Stuart, also makes his way to the top of the Pishkin Building and finds Margalo while the Falcon is absent and she explains what had happened, making Snowbell tearfully believe Stuart was killed by the Falcon, unaware that Stuart is still alive.
Regaining consciousness on board a garbage barge departing from the harbor, Stuart sadly considers giving up until he finds his and George's broken yet still-functioning model airplane on the barge. He cobbles it together with various pieces of junk and uses it to rescue Margalo and Snowbell. Meanwhile, the Littles discover that George has lied to them about Stuart's whereabouts because he is nowhere to be found and confront him, demanding that he truthfully tell them where Stuart is. George tries not to break his promise, but when his parents point out that Stuart's safety is more important, he finally confesses Stuart's whereabouts. However, Frederick assures George that he is still in trouble for lying, as they head out and find Stuart.
Meanwhile, the Falcon discovers Snowbell in Margalo's place after he frees her from the paint can and prepares to push him off the building to his death. Before he can do so, he is intercepted by Margalo, who threatens to drop the ring if the Falcon harms Snowbell before disowning him as her master. The Falcon, furious that Margalo has defected from him, then pursues her and attempts to take the ring from her, only for Stuart to intervene as he swoops in on his plane to rescue her. The Littles follow them by taxi as Stuart and Margalo fly through Central Park, with the Falcon in hot pursuit. The Falcon then claws the upper wings of Stuart's plane, dropping him and Margalo with the plane temporarily inoperative. As they plummet towards the ground, the Littles and Margalo encourage Stuart to regain control and continue.
Eventually, knowing they cannot outrun the Falcon, Stuart decides to attack him directly. Using the light of the sun reflected in Eleanor's ring to temporarily blind the Falcon, Stuart jumps out of the plane just before it smashes into the Falcon, sending him falling out of the sky before landing in a trash can in front of Monty, who was searching for food. Margalo catches Stuart as he falls and they reunite with the Littles, where Margalo safely returns Eleanor's ring before Snowbell also reunites with them.
Sometime later, Margalo says goodbye to the Littles and leaves to migrate south for the winter, with Stuart's infant sister Martha finally saying her first words "Bye, bye, birdie".
Cast
Live-action cast
* Geena Davis as Mrs. Eleanor Little, the mother of the Little family and Frederick's wife.* Hugh Laurie as Mr. Frederick Little, the father of the Little family and Eleanor's husband.
* Jonathan Lipnicki as George Little, the eldest child of the Little family and Stuart's older brother.
* Anna and Ashley Hoelck as Martha Little, the infant daughter of the Little family and Stuart and George's younger sister.
* Marc John Jefferies as Will Wilson, George's loyal best friend.
* Jim Doughan as Stuart and George's soccer coach. Doughan previously voiced Lucky and played the role of Detective Allen in 'Stuart Little'.
* Brad Garrett as Rob, a plumber called to find Eleanor's ring in the kitchen sink's pipes.
* Amelia Marshall as Rita Wilson, Will's mother.
* Ronobir Lahiri as the cab driver.
* Maria Bamford as Stuart and George's teacher.
* Angelo Massagli as Wallace, one of Stuart and George's soccer teammates.
* Kevin Olson as Irwin, another of Stuart and George's soccer teammates.
Voice cast
* Michael J. Fox as Stuart Little, an anthropomorphic mouse adopted as part of the Little family.* Melanie Griffith as Margalo, an anthropomorphic young canary whom Stuart meets on his way home from school and becomes his love interest, though it is revealed that she is actually in cahoots with a falcon, who adopted her when she was only a fledgling and forced her into slavery to steal objects from households in exchange for a home.
* Nathan Lane as Snowbell, the family's Persian cat who is Stuart's friend.
* James Woods as The Falcon, a sadistic, greedy peregrine falcon who served as Margalo's master and adopted Margalo when she was only a fledgling and forced her to steal household objects in exchange for a home.
* Steve Zahn as Monty, Snowbell's gray tabby cat friend.
Puppeteers
* Greg Ballora
* David Barclay - supervising animation puppeteer
* Kevin Carlson
* David Greenaway
* Greg Manion
* Drew Massey
* Karen Prell
* Michelan Sisti
Production
Filming began in both New York City, and Culver City, California on March 5, 2001, and lasted until June of that year. Also, after the September 11 attacks, parts of the Twin Towers soon ended up digitally removed and scenes were re-done.
Reception
Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 81% based on 124 reviews, with an average score of 6.90/10. The critical consensus reads, "'Stuart Little 2' is a sweet, visually impressive sequel that provides wholesome entertainment for kids." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 29 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.Ann Hornaday wrote a positive review in 'The Washington Post', noting how the film's idealized setting makes it family-friendly. Hornaday praised the vocal performances of Fox, Griffith, and Woods in their roles as Stuart, Margalo, and Falcon, respectively, as well as the characters' computer animation: "The animated characters engage in such natural movements and, more important, exude such subtle emotional expression that they mesh seamlessly with their live-action counterparts." Tom Shen of the 'Chicago Reader', described the film as "fairly formulaic", but praised its jokes as "hilarious", especially those coming from the character of Snowbell, the Littles' cat. Date is according to [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stuart_little_2/ Rotten Tomatoes].
Box office
The film had an opening weekend gross of $15.1 million. The domestic total was $65 million and the worldwide total was $170 million against an estimated production budget of $120 million, less than its predecessor.Soundtrack
The soundtrack, 'Music from and Inspired by Stuart Little 2', was released by Epic Records and Sony Music Soundtrax on July 16, 2002, on Audio CD and Compact Cassette. The final two tracks are score cues composed by Alan Silvestri.
Another album features the entirety of Silvestri's orchestral score for the film.
Video game
Video games based on the film were released for the PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, and Microsoft Windows.
Accolades
Home media
'Stuart Little 2' was released on VHS and DVD on December 10, 2002, by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, and in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2002. A Blu-ray/DVD combo pack was released on June 28, 2011, alongside the first film by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
References
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