Stuart Little | English Film For Kids | Personal Reviews

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Here is more such movie for kids which is worth watching even for adults. Yes, we are talking about Stuart Little.

A very few people know that Stuart Little is the character imagined by the author Elwyn Brooks “E. B.” White (July 11, 1899–October 1, 1985). His first novel in the series is published in 1945. The series is episodic in nature. While responding to one of his readers about how the character is came to his mind; he responded something like: “many years ago I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a rat. That’s how the story of Stuart Little got started“. You can read more about that reader interaction at: http://www.harpercollins.com/author/authorExtra.aspx?authorID=10499&displayType=essay.

The movie is a delight to watch even in terms of technical aspects. As it is a really good integration of live characters and animated characters which are played using 3D model of the same. The effects are so fantastic that you may not realize that animated 3D characters are playing. For the matter of fact the movie was nominated for Academy Awards for best visual effects! However it was lost against – The Matrix – that year. It is worth to note that the script of the movie was doctored by David O. Russell and Billy Ray; but remain uncredited. It is also worth to note that the movie have a lot of differences in terms of the story than that is in the book! However the sequel of the movie is quite similar to the book.

The story of the movie is simple yet effective. Mr. and Mrs. Little live in New york with his son George. They are planning to adopt one more kid from the orphanage. During their visit to the orphanage, they meet a young mice named Stuart. They immediately start loving it and decided to adopt him! And they adopt him and took him with them to their home. At home when they introduce Stuart with George, disappointed George (for having a mouse as his younger brother) doesn’t give Stuart a warm welcome.

Mr. and Mrs. Little are worried for George’s behavior and feel for Stuart. They understand the mental state Stuart must be going through at the point. It then followed by a family-get-together where Stuart was introduced to their friends and relatives. There are also two cats waiting to kill Stuart when get a chance. How Stuart moves on, befriends with George, overcome his enemies is the rest of the story.

The movie works in almost all aspect. The little carts are quite good as well. The metaphor of white and black cats work pretty interestingly. The script is so good that you like the stuff despite of knowing it is not real. The representation of Stuart’s character (both physically and attribute wise) is fantastic. Almost all the actors perform well. There are several actors who played as voice artists only, they do their tough job in good way. The background music is really nice. The dialogs are simply superb. Some scenes will remain in your memory even after you finish watching the movie, for sure.

It is worth to note that this is the last film Estelle Getty worked in. She took retirement in 2000 and met with her death in 2008.

Some of the names (mostly of animated characters) are really well thought eg: Snowbell (is while like snow), Smokey (the dark character who is black is color). The movie conveys the message of having positive attitude and a will to never feel defeated. The same is reflected at various occasions in the film like:

• Despite of being rejected by George various times, Stuart tries being helpful to him and do something for him, it paid at the end and they became buddies.
• When discovered he was abducted Stuart doesn’t consider himself a victim of destiny. He rather tries hard to get out of the trouble, and eventually he will.

Some scenes like Stuart was dropped into washing machine, accidentally by her mother conveys us to take care of little stuffs. Sometimes being a little careless or being unable to watch small but important things; may lead us to the wrong happenings.

The scene where Smokey tries killing Snowbell conveys us that being befriend with a wrong character can lead to fatal results for us as well. So always keep a good company.

The movie also conveys the message that if someone is not like you or something is not as per your perception, it doesn’t mean it is not good. You have to keep your mind open and you may find better than what you have expected it to be!

So philosophy lies in various segments of the movie (and in the movie as a whole too) and a person with sharp mind can learn a lot when getting fun when watching this movie. The movie can be served as the wisdom tale like those found in PanchTantra, or Akbar-Birbal stories.

Final verdict: The movie is a good watch. Adults will find it entertaining in many aspects and kids will enjoy it for sure.