Stuart Little 2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stuart Little 2
Stuart Little2 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRob Minkoff
Screenplay byBruce Joel Rubin
Story by
Based onStuart Little
by E. B. White
Produced by
Starring
CinematographySteven Poster
Edited byPriscilla Nedd-Friendly
Music byAlan Silvestri
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing[1]
Release date
  • July 19, 2002 (2002-07-19)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$120 million[3]
Box office$170 million[3]

Stuart Little 2 is a 2002 American live action/computer-animated family 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 must save a canary named Margalo (voiced by Melanie Griffith) from an evil falcon (voiced by James Woods).

The film was released in theaters on July 19, 2002 by Columbia Pictures, and grossed $170 million against a $120 million budget.[3] It was followed by a third film, a direct-to-video sequel titled Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild in 2005. However, unlike the previous two films, which were hybrids of live action and animation, the third film was entirely animated.

Plot[]

Three years after his adoption, Stuart Little questions his abilities following a disastrous soccer match alongside his adoptive older brother George. Stuart's relationship with George is strained further after Stuart accidentally crashes a model airplane he and George were creating in the house. Stuart's adoptive father, Frederick, tries to encourage him, telling him that "every cloud has a silver lining."

Later, Margalo, an apparently injured canary, falls into Stuart's roadster as he is driving home from school. Stuart invites Margalo to stay with his family for a while. However, Margalo is secretly assisting her master, a greedy falcon, to steal valuables from households. Orphaned as a fledgling, Margalo grows reluctant to steal from the Littles and becomes close friends with Stuart. The Falcon threatens to kill Stuart unless Margalo steals Eleanor's wedding ring. Concerned for Stuart's safety, Margalo complies.

When the Littles discover that Eleanor's ring is missing, they think it has fallen down their kitchen sink. Stuart offers to be lowered down the drain on a string to get it, but the string breaks, causing him to fall. Margalo saves Stuart and leaves the Littles' house that night in order to protect him. The next day, Stuart assumes Margalo has been kidnapped by the Falcon and decides to rescue her with the help of the Littles' cat Snowbell. Before he leaves, Stuart asks George to lie about his whereabouts to his parents.

Following advice from Snowbell's alley cat friend Monty, Stuart and Snowbell discover that the Falcon resides in the Pishkin Building. There, Stuart confronts the Falcon. Margalo assures Stuart that although she was following the Falcon's orders, she is still his friend. Stuart begs Margalo to come home with him, but the Falcon refuses to let Margalo quit her job. Despite Stuart's attempt to attack the Falcon, he drops Stuart over the side of the building, although Stuart survives by landing in a passing garbage truck. The Falcon captures Margalo and imprisons her in a paint can as punishment. However, Snowbell, who has become worried about Stuart, makes his way to the building and finds Margalo while the Falcon is absent.

At the same time, Stuart awakens on a garbage barge that was leaving New York and considers giving up until he finds his and George's broken yet still-functioning model airplane on the barge. Cobbling it together using various pieces of trash, Stuart repairs the plane and escapes back to New York City to rescue Margalo. Meanwhile, the Littles discover George has lied (he told them Stuart was sleeping at his friend Will's house for a school play) because Stuart is nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, Snowbell frees Margalo from the paint can, but the Falcon arrives and attacks him. As he tries to push Snowbell off the building, the Falcon is intercepted by Margalo, who threatens to toss the ring off the roof if he kills Snowbell. Before the Falcon could reclaim the ring from Margalo, Stuart swoops in on his plane to catch her. The Falcon catches up to the two in Central Park, while the Littles and Snowbell follow them. Stuart succeeds in blinding the Falcon by reflecting sunlight off his mother's ring before jumping from the plane, which crashes into Falcon, clipping his wings and causing him to fall to his death in the trash can below, where Monty presumably eats him. Margalo safely brings Stuart back to the Littles and returns Eleanor's ring while Snowbell also reunites with them. Sometime later, Margalo says goodbye to the Littles and leaves to migrate south for the winter with Stuart’s baby sister Martha finally saying her first words, "Bye, bye, birdie".

Cast[]

Main article: List of Stuart Little characters

Live-action cast[]

  • Geena Davis as Mrs. Eleanor Little, the mother of the Little family who is overprotective of Stuart.
  • Hugh Laurie as Mr. Frederick Little, the father of the Little family.
  • 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, George's friend and classmate.
  • 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, 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[]

Puppeteers[]

Production[]

Filming began in New York City and Culver City, California on March 5, 2001, and lasted until June of that year.[citation needed] After the September 11 attacks, scenes of the Twin Towers were digitally removed and certain scenes were re-shot.[4]

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."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 29 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[7]

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."[8] 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.[9]

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.

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.[10]

Another album features the entirety of Silvestri's orchestral score for the film.

Track listing[]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."I'm Alive (End Titles)" (performed by Celine Dion)Kristian Lundin, Andreas CarlssonKristian Lundin3:28
2."Put a Little Love in Your Heart (Opening Titles)" (performed by Mary Mary)Jackie DeShannon, Jimmy Holiday, Randy MyersVME3:09
3."Top of the World" (performed by Mandy Moore)Jeff Cohen, Leah Haywood 3:22
4."Another Small Adventure" (performed by Chantal Kreviazuk)  2:57
5."One" (performed by Nathan Lane)Harry NilssonRick Jarrard2:18
6."What I Like About You" (performed by The Romantics)Wally Palmar, Mike Skill, Jimmy MarinosPete Solley2:56
7."Hold on to the Good Things" (performed by Shawn Colvin)Roxanne Seeman, Holly Knight 3:30
8."Count on Me" (performed by Billy Gilman)  3:42
9."Smile" (performed by Vitamin C)Josh Deutsch, Colleen FitzpatrickJosh Deutsch, Garry Hughes3:58
10."Alone Again (Naturally)" (performed by Gilbert O'Sullivan)Gilbert O'SullivanGilbert O'Sullivan3:38
11."Born to Be Wild" (performed by Steppenwolf)Mars BonfireGabriel Mekler3:30
12."Little Angel of Mine" (performed by No Secrets)Orrin Hatch[11] 3:47
13."Falcon Finito" (Alan Silvestri)  6:51
14."Silver Lining" (Alan Silvestri)  4:21
Total length:51:27

Video game[]

Video games based on the film were released for the PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, and Microsoft Windows.

Accolades[]

Year Awards Category Nominee Result
2002 BAFTA Children's Award Best Feature Film Douglas Wick
Lucy Fisher
Rob Minkoff
Bruce Joel Rubin		 Nominated
2003 Golden Trailer Award Best Animation/Family Film Nominated
Visual Effects Society Award Best Character Animation in an Animated Motion Picture Tony Bancroft
David Schaub
Eric Armstrong
Sean Mullen		 Won
Best Visual Effects Photography in a Motion Picture Earl Wiggins
Mark Vargo
Tom Houghton
Anna Foerster		 Nominated
Young Artist Award Best Family Feature Film Rob Minkoff Nominated

Home media[]

Stuart Little 2 was released on VHS and DVD on December 10, 2002 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. A Blu-ray/DVD combo pack was released on June 28, 2011 alongside the first film by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.[26]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Stuart Little 2". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  2. ^ Laporte, Nicole (May 13, 2004). "Red Wagon raises Shane". Variety. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Stuart Little 2 (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-10-01.
  4. ^ Youngs, Ian (September 9, 2002). "Has Hollywood forgotten 11 September?". BBC News. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  5. ^ "Stuart Little 2". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  6. ^ "Stuart Little 2".
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2018-11-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ Hornaday, Ann (19 July 2002). "'Stuart Little 2': Cute as a Button". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  9. ^ Ted, Shen (14 August 2012). "Stuart Little 2". Chicago Reader. Sun-Times Media. Retrieved 27 July 2016. Date is according to Rotten Tomatoes.
  10. ^ "Stuart Little 2 - Original Soundtrack". AllMusic. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  11. ^ "Music bill puts Kid Rock, Mike Love, Donald Trump and Orrin Hatch on the same stage". Deseret News. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  12. ^ "Stuart Little 2 for Game Boy Advance Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  13. ^ "Stuart Little 2 for Playstation Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  14. ^ Beam, Jennifer. "Stuart Little 2". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  15. ^ Beam, Jennifer. "Stuart Little 2". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  16. ^ Beam, Jennifer. "Stuart Little 2". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  17. ^ Shoemaker, Brad. "Stuart Little 2 Review". GameSpot. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  18. ^ Hollingshead, Anise (August 8, 2002). "Stuart Little 2". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 19, 2002. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  19. ^ Cowboy, Code (July 29, 2002). "Stuart Little 2". GameZone. Archived from the original on August 3, 2002. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  20. ^ Harris, Craig (July 22, 2002). "Stuart Little 2". IGN. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  21. ^ Nix (July 30, 2002). "Stuart Little 2". IGN. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  22. ^ "Test : Stuart Little 2". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). November 14, 2002. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  23. ^ Kosmina, Ben (December 10, 2002). "Stuart Little 2". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  24. ^ Wint, Dominic (August 2002). "Stuart Little 2". Nintendo Official Magazine. No. 119. p. 79.
  25. ^ Ogilvie, Tristan (August 2002). "Stuart Little 2". Official PlayStation 2 Magazine-Australia. No. 5. p. 76.
  26. ^ "Jumanji, Stuart Little 1 & 2, and Zathura: A Space Adventure Coming to Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. April 17, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2018.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""