STUART LITTLE 2 - DVD review

Hollywood rule # 47: If a film is successful and has even the slightest, most remote bit of success, then the sequel gets the fast track.

In 1999, "Stuart Little" premiered to American audiences with universal acclaim from parents and children alike. A fun, innocent movie, "Stuart Little" was the fairy tale story of a mouse being adopted like any other child into a human family, and the story tracked the theme of acceptance and was a pure and beautiful story about adoption.

"Stuart Little 2" features the return of the entire cast, both human and animated. The animation of the characters is better, crisper, and cleaner, and the story is more developed. Stuart, voiced by Michael J. Fox (who's expressive performance really brings Stuart to life) is experiencing the true drawbacks of being a (literally) little brother. His older sibling, George (Jonathan Lipnicki) is growing up, and he wants to do things with his friends that Stuart simply cannot participate in. He wants to play soccer and video games with his friends, and his plans don't include little Stuart. Whereas the first film detailed the difficulties of change and adaptation, the second is about growth and friendship.

The film opens with George and Stuart playing in a soccer game… or George is playing poorly and Stuart is sitting on the bench. Mrs. Little (Geena Davis) is worried about Stuart getting hurt while her husband, Mr. Little (Hugh Laurie) wants both his sons to go out and experience life. On a side note, while the first movie had Mr. and Mrs. Little in agreement about everything, portrayed as the "perfect couple," the sequel goes deeper into their relationship, showing the two at odds, (though never in a fashion other than cordial) and fleshing out the characters who were, in the first film straight out of fairytales (the theme of that movie) into real, legitimate characters. Truth is, I don't mind the change in the characterization between films, and both feel appropriate in the context of their respective film.

Mrs. Little's overprotection of Stuart, combined with his growing alienation from his brother George starts Stuart wondering if he is in the right place, since he really has no friends of his own, nor can he go out and make any, since he's not allowed to leave the house alone. Stuart's brother ferries ushers him to and from school, and once home, Stuart is supposed to stay put and not put himself in danger. One day, George shirks his duties and tells Stuart to drive himself home in his little convertible (either miraculously rescued from the first movie or rebuilt, it's never really detailed in the film). While on his way, a new friend falls out of the sky (literally) and into his car… a wounded bird named Margalo (voiced by Melanie Griffith, arguably the weak link in the film). She is being chased by a falcon named… um… Falcon (James Woods, in all his evil vocal glory). The story is fairly routine from this point on, as we find that Margalo is an unwilling pawn in the criminal machinations of Falcon, as she cases homes and finds the goods, and Falcon reaps the rewards (though what a Falcon needs with a gaudy diamond ring, I'll never know). Margalo steals the ring for Falcon, and it is up to Stuart (with assistance from the family cat Snowbell, voiced by the scene-stealing Nathan Lane) to get the ring back, redeem Margalo, and facilitate the happy ending. Of course it all comes to fruition in the end, but Stuart Little 2, much like its predecessor, is not about the conclusion, rather the fairy tale journey. The main plot of the film is an outstanding piece of work for children of all ages.

What really made the movie, for me, were the self-aware asides displayed by a variety of characters. They make snide comments, off-hand remarks and random statements that had me simply rolling. Much in the same way as Eddie Murphy's Donkey carried the first half of "Shrek," Nathan Lane's Snowbell steals the show. His dry wit is both aware and humorous, and enough that the kids will be entertained by the action, and not even notice the dialogue that's going over their head. For example, we've all seen the transitions in cinema into a classroom moments before the bell dismissing the class. And generally we're treated the end of a mundane lecture… but if you actually listen in Stuart Little 2, you'll realize there are a lot of jokes included for the intelligent, aware adult audience who would be accompanying their children. The one to which I'm referring caused me to laugh so hard I had to restart the scene just to catch the dialogue I missed while I was rolling on the ground. There are quite a few of these moments scattered throughout the film, great bonus for a quaint little family film, broadening it to truly encompass the entire family, and not just pander to the kids as most "family films" these days seem to do.

That's not to say everything about the film was great. Although I understand the fairy tale nature of "Stuart Little" and its sequel, and that the writers and filmmakers are given carte blanche for character development, the fact that some animals can communicate with humans (like Margalo and Stuart) and others cannot (like Snowbell and Falcon) drives me batty. There's no real definition of what makes an animal acceptable in the Human world. If you try not to think about it, there is no issue present… but since Snowbell is such an integral character in the narrative, for there to be no explanation was a nuisance to me. Speaking generally, the voice acting in Stuart Little 2 was excellent, but when put into comparison, Melanie Griffith's portrayal of the songbird Margalo. Griffith lacked the verisimilitude and emotion that needs to be present in voice acting to pull off the character when the character lacks the subtle facial emotions that can augment a performance. As it is, she does an adequate job, but when put in comparison with Fox, Lane, and Woods, her performance is the weak link in the chain.

What is present is 78 minutes of fun for the entire family, one that doesn't play to a certain segment (like so simplistic a story that it bores parents to tears, or so complex that the children lose interest). Anyone with children can rest assured that this film is a great and ultimately rewatchable movie that will keep the kids interest, and not drive you insane (Kangaroo Song, anyone?). In fact, considering its brevity, this is the film you toss in when you need a quick laugh when you have a little time. Cute, funny, short, and uplifting, "Stuart Little" and "Stuart Little 2" are the beginning of a great series of films, and could possibly turn into this generations benchmark films, with universal appeal much like Disney movies have possessed for years.

Video:
The video on "Stuart Little 2" comes in two distinct flavors, wide screen and full-frame, with the option to choose between brought up on a menu when you first play the disc. If I may digress for a moment, I would like to commend Columbia Pictures for including both options on this disc, as there are camps of consumers that prefer both. I would rather have, when possible, both versions presented on one disc, or a two disc set like Fox's "Ice Age" or Dreamwork's "Shrek." Consumers already have a tough time figuring out what editions to buy with actual labeling of wide screen and full screen rapidly losing its prominence in packaging (look to Paramount's "E.T." or "Back to the Future," or Dreamwork's "Minority Report" for confirmation of this). When we have a family title that has the potential for both full-and-wide screen purchases, I have no problem with, and in fact encourage, the inclusion of both flavors of video. It's much better than releasing a full-frame only title (see also "Stuart Little DE" or "Muppet Christmas Carol").

Getting off my soapbox and back to the DVD at hand, I have to say that the video presented on "Stuart Little 2" is flawless. Presented in beautiful Anamorphic video (though it doesn't say so anywhere on the box), "Stuart Little 2" meets and exceeds the standards laid down by its predecessor. The movie itself is a highly stylized piece, as its fairy tale origins would imply, and that is reflected in the visuals. During the commentary, director Rob Minkoff talked about the lengths the crew had to go to in creating the distinct color palate that is reflected in character's clothing, the uniformity of the sky and surroundings in the film. When that much work has gone into the movie's look, it would have been a terrible shame to see it marred by a poor transfer that lacked the flamboyant fidelity the movie deserved. Shadows are solid and lacking in any compression artifacts (you might expect some, when you have got 2 versions of the film on one disc with a host of extras) and lines are sharp and distinct, right down to the whiskers on Stuart's face.

Audio:
The disc contains a Dolby Digital 5.1 options in both English and French. Most of the action within the "Stuart Little 2" DVD is limited to the front three speakers in your surround sound setup. There are a few sequences in the film, like when Stuart is flying his plane around, that the rear speakers will become active and there are some cool spatial effects as the plane whizzes around your head. Furthermore, I was absolutely floored when Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)" came through the speakers, taking full advantage of the surround sound setup. The same was found with the classic Steppenwolf tune "Born to be Wild." Unfortunately, the Billy Gilman, Mandy Moore, and Celine Dion songs sounded just as good. The score, on the other hand, was very under whelming when in comparison to the utilization of these popular musical tunes, and a disappointment.

Extras:
The centerpiece of this Special Edition for the serious DVD aficionado is the Filmmakers Commentary featuring director Rob Minkoff and effects supervisor Jerome Chen. The two talk at length about the manipulation that was required to perfect the fairytale look of the movie, to seamlessly integrate digital, computer-generated images with the live actors so that the effects are believable. A few anecdotes from the set are peppered in through the commentary from director Minkoff, and delineations between set and location, and what was done to make Stuart Little surpass the original. The commentary is interesting, but not enough to keep you rapt to your television. I had it running while I was cleaning my living room, and it made great background, and I did stop on several occasions to hear what they were talking about, but overall it is an average commentary with a good presentation.

The second major extra included on the DVD is an Infinifilm-style interactive feature, called Show and Tell that allows the viewer to access bits of information on the making of the film. Much of the information is repeated in the commentary, or is generally useless (like the map of Central Park… I mean, really, how useful is that?) Unlike the Infinifilm features, none of these short features are accessible through the special features menus, only by watching the film with the feature enabled.

One beef I have with the DVD presentation is the lack of uniformity in the menus. Yes, the Animated Menus are very cute, and yes they are appropriate to the film. But the fact is that each menu is completely dissimilar from the one that preceded it, making navigation through the menus for a novice a potentially frightening experience. Ditch the clutter, and make the menus look the same (or at very least similar in navigation for similar areas, like Audio, Special Features, and Chapter Selection so that we don't feel like we're getting lost). (If you're wondering why I included this comment at this point of the DVD review… if they are going to call animated menus a special feature, I am going to critique them as such, and these are over the top.)

Two short Featurettes are included in the "Stuart Little 2" DVD package and not involved in the branching Show and Tell feature. The first is called "A Touch of Evil – Creating the perfect villain." This feature goes through the progression of the creation of Falcon from the perspective of evil-voice-actor du jour, James Woods, as well as the animators that would be rendering his character. The other is a 2 minute accelerated look at the creation of Stuart Little 2… it's funny in an off-kilter way, but ultimately forgettable.

There is a Music Video for the Celine Dion song "Alive" included with this disc, it incorporates scenes from the movie juxtaposed with Dion singing inside what appears to be the innards of Stuarts plane… so she's the size of a flea? I'm not really sure, I couldn't stomach more than a minute of the video. But for what I saw, the compression artifacts were heavy in the video, which overall looked pretty terrible, but the Dolby Digital 2.0 audio was clean and clear.

The final two supplements included in the package are aimed toward children. The first is a multiple-choice quiz to match clues about characters in the film. There are six questions, it takes about a minute to complete, and there is no real payoff (aside from Fox as Stuart saying that we'd be friends for life… I like you Michael, but don't you think it's a little soon for such a commitment?) The other is a video read along of the Stuart Little story… if you've ever seen a read along storybook/audio cassette, then you know what this is. It can be played with and without the narrator reading along. Neat for kids, useless for anyone else.

Film Value:
The "Stuart Little 2" package put together by Columbia Pictures is a great little set, one that should be added with pride to any family's collection to sit aside its predecessor. The visual quality of the film is stunning, but something that is expected in this day in age. The commentary is solid for those interested in technical incorporation of effects without blue screen in every shot, and how to meld the two seamlessly so that we can believe that a mouse is suited up and playing soccer. Not to mention the film is great family fun and loaded with jokes and gags that will make a child of any age laugh out loud.