Stuart Little 2
Encyclopedia
Stuart Little 2 is a 2002 American live action
and CGI animated film, directed by Rob Minkoff
and starring Geena Davis
, Hugh Laurie
and Jonathan Lipnicki
and the voices of Michael J. Fox
, Nathan Lane
, Melanie Griffith
, James Woods
and Steve Zahn
. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film
and includes characters from the children's book
by E. B. White
such as Margalo.
The film was followed by a direct-to-video sequel, Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild
in 2006.
) questions his ability after a grueling soccer match alongside George (Jonathan Lipnicki
), who kicked him with a soccer ball. He becomes even more downhearted after George's toy airplane gets broken in an accident because of him. However, Stuart's father, Frederick Little (Hugh Laurie
), tells him that for every Little, there is a "silver lining," a good thing that comes out of an apparently bad situation.
On his way home from school, Stuart saves a female canary
named Margalo (voiced by Melanie Griffith
) who is being pursued by a peregrine falcon
(voiced by James Woods
), and they become friends. But she is secretly working with Falcon to case and steal from households. When he presses her to find and take an object of value, or lose the sanctuary he promised her, she can't seem to concentrate on her assignment, as she is beginning to have tender feelings for Stuart. Falcon eventually loses patience and threatens to kill him if she doesn't deliver. Worried for his safety, she takes Eleanor Little (Geena Davis
)'s diamond ring.
When the Littles see that the ring is missing, they think it has fallen down the sink. Stuart offers to be lowered down the drain on a string to get it, and nearly succeeds. When it breaks Margalo saves him, and his thanks to her only makes her feel even more guilty, so she decides to leave. When he can't find her, he assumes she has been kidnapped - and that Falcon is somehow involved. He leaves on a quest to rescue her with the household's reluctant cat Snowbell (voiced by Nathan Lane
), but not before setting up a plan with George.
Stuart and Snowbell decide to get information on Falcon's whereabouts, so they enlist the help of Monty, an American Shorthair
(from the original film) (voiced by Steve Zahn
), who tells them that Falcon's lair is at the disused observation deck
of the nearby Pishkin Building (in reality a heavily-modified CGI version of the Chrysler Building
). They hatch a plan to use balloons to get Stuart to the top, where he finds out that Margalo is Falcon's slave, and was forced to take the ring. He tries to save her, but Falcon captures him, and drops him from an immense height to his presumed death; however he lands on a soft trash bag in a garbage truck. Margalo and Snowbell are unaware of this. So when he goes to the top and asks her where Stuart is, she tells him that Falcon killed him.
On a garbage scow where he has ended up, Stuart blames himself for everything, and has almost lost all hope. But suddenly, he finds George's broken plane, fixes it up, and flies to save Margalo, who, having been freed by Snowbell, just fled from Falcon. The Littles, who have discovered his absence, (and that the plan Stuart made with George earlier was to lie to his parents) follow him by taxi as he begins an aerial adventure through the park, with Margalo at his side. Eventually, they lose Falcon, but he catches up and makes an attempt to kill Stuart, when he detaches the plane's upper wing, damaging the main one and causing it to enter a steep nose dive, which fails when Stuart recovers from the dive, nearly missing the Littles. He then realizes he can't run from Falcon, and lets Margalo off. He turns and flies the damaged plane in a kamikaze run while Falcon goes into an attack dive. He uses Mrs. Little's ring to temporarily blind him, and jumps out using a bandana as a parachute. The kamikaze attack works and Falcon is struck head on and defeated. Although he survives the attack, he falls out of the sky and lands in a garbage can that Monty is scavenging in, and is presumably eaten by him, but not before Stuart falls when his parachute is sliced apart by the propeller of the shattered plane, and then is rescued by Margalo.
Stuart is congratulated by his family, and Margalo, who gives Mrs. Little her ring back, and Snowbell reunites with them as well. That evening, Margalo leaves with the other birds to migrate south, but not before saying goodbye to her friends. Stuart says the "silver lining" is that she'll be back in the spring, and his baby sister, Martha, says her first words: "Bye bye, birdie."
has reported that 83% of critics gave the film a positive review. It also holds a 66|100 on Metacritic
.
, Game Boy Advance
, Windows 2000
, Windows Me
, Windows XP
and 32-bit
and/or 64-bit
personal computers.
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
and CGI animated film, directed by Rob Minkoff
Rob Minkoff
Robert R. "Rob" Minkoff is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing the Academy Award–winning animated feature The Lion King ....
and starring Geena Davis
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
, Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
and Jonathan Lipnicki
Jonathan Lipnicki
Jonathan William Lipnicki is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Jerry Maguire, Stuart Little, The Little Vampire, and Like Mike.- Personal life :...
and the voices of Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
, Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...
, Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
, James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
and Steve Zahn
Steve Zahn
-Early life:Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Zelda, who worked for the YMCA, and Carleton E. Zahn, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School...
. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film
Stuart Little (film)
Stuart Little is a 1999 family film. It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by E. B. White. It combines live-action and computer animation. The screenplay was co-written by M. Night Shyamalan and Greg Brooker, with uncredited script doctoring by David O. Russell and Billy Ray...
and includes characters from the children's book
Stuart Little
Stuart Little is a 1945 children's novel by E. B. White, his first book for children, and is widely recognized as a classic in children's literature. Stuart Little was illustrated by the subsequently award-winning artist Garth Williams, also his first work for children...
by E. B. White
E. B. White
Elwyn Brooks White , usually known as E. B. White, was an American writer. A long-time contributor to The New Yorker magazine, he also wrote many famous books for both adults and children, such as the popular Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, and co-authored a widely used writing guide, The...
such as Margalo.
The film was followed by a direct-to-video sequel, Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild
Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild
Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild is a 2006 direct-to-video film directed by Audu Paden, created by Mainframe Animation and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was released on DVD in other countries in 2005, till it eventually got released in North America on February 21, 2006...
in 2006.
Plot
Two years after the first film, Stuart Little (voiced by Michael J. FoxMichael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
) questions his ability after a grueling soccer match alongside George (Jonathan Lipnicki
Jonathan Lipnicki
Jonathan William Lipnicki is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Jerry Maguire, Stuart Little, The Little Vampire, and Like Mike.- Personal life :...
), who kicked him with a soccer ball. He becomes even more downhearted after George's toy airplane gets broken in an accident because of him. However, Stuart's father, Frederick Little (Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
), tells him that for every Little, there is a "silver lining," a good thing that comes out of an apparently bad situation.
On his way home from school, Stuart saves a female canary
Domestic Canary
The Domestic Canary, often simply known as the canary, is a domesticated form of the wild Canary, a small songbird in the finch family originating from the Macaronesian Islands ....
named Margalo (voiced by Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
) who is being pursued by a peregrine falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
(voiced by James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
), and they become friends. But she is secretly working with Falcon to case and steal from households. When he presses her to find and take an object of value, or lose the sanctuary he promised her, she can't seem to concentrate on her assignment, as she is beginning to have tender feelings for Stuart. Falcon eventually loses patience and threatens to kill him if she doesn't deliver. Worried for his safety, she takes Eleanor Little (Geena Davis
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
)'s diamond ring.
When the Littles see that the ring is missing, they think it has fallen down the sink. Stuart offers to be lowered down the drain on a string to get it, and nearly succeeds. When it breaks Margalo saves him, and his thanks to her only makes her feel even more guilty, so she decides to leave. When he can't find her, he assumes she has been kidnapped - and that Falcon is somehow involved. He leaves on a quest to rescue her with the household's reluctant cat Snowbell (voiced by Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...
), but not before setting up a plan with George.
Stuart and Snowbell decide to get information on Falcon's whereabouts, so they enlist the help of Monty, an American Shorthair
American Shorthair
The American Shorthair is a breed of cat believed to be descended from European domestic cats brought to North America by early settlers to protect valuable cargo from mice and rats...
(from the original film) (voiced by Steve Zahn
Steve Zahn
-Early life:Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Zelda, who worked for the YMCA, and Carleton E. Zahn, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School...
), who tells them that Falcon's lair is at the disused observation deck
Observation deck
__FORCETOC__ An observation deck, observation platform or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure such as a skyscraper or observation tower...
of the nearby Pishkin Building (in reality a heavily-modified CGI version of the Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco style skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing at , it was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State...
). They hatch a plan to use balloons to get Stuart to the top, where he finds out that Margalo is Falcon's slave, and was forced to take the ring. He tries to save her, but Falcon captures him, and drops him from an immense height to his presumed death; however he lands on a soft trash bag in a garbage truck. Margalo and Snowbell are unaware of this. So when he goes to the top and asks her where Stuart is, she tells him that Falcon killed him.
On a garbage scow where he has ended up, Stuart blames himself for everything, and has almost lost all hope. But suddenly, he finds George's broken plane, fixes it up, and flies to save Margalo, who, having been freed by Snowbell, just fled from Falcon. The Littles, who have discovered his absence, (and that the plan Stuart made with George earlier was to lie to his parents) follow him by taxi as he begins an aerial adventure through the park, with Margalo at his side. Eventually, they lose Falcon, but he catches up and makes an attempt to kill Stuart, when he detaches the plane's upper wing, damaging the main one and causing it to enter a steep nose dive, which fails when Stuart recovers from the dive, nearly missing the Littles. He then realizes he can't run from Falcon, and lets Margalo off. He turns and flies the damaged plane in a kamikaze run while Falcon goes into an attack dive. He uses Mrs. Little's ring to temporarily blind him, and jumps out using a bandana as a parachute. The kamikaze attack works and Falcon is struck head on and defeated. Although he survives the attack, he falls out of the sky and lands in a garbage can that Monty is scavenging in, and is presumably eaten by him, but not before Stuart falls when his parachute is sliced apart by the propeller of the shattered plane, and then is rescued by Margalo.
Stuart is congratulated by his family, and Margalo, who gives Mrs. Little her ring back, and Snowbell reunites with them as well. That evening, Margalo leaves with the other birds to migrate south, but not before saying goodbye to her friends. Stuart says the "silver lining" is that she'll be back in the spring, and his baby sister, Martha, says her first words: "Bye bye, birdie."
Songs
- "I'm AliveI'm Alive (Celine Dion song)"I'm Alive" is the second hit single from Céline Dion's album A New Day Has Come, released on August 12, 2002.The song was written and produced by Kristian Lundin and Andreas Carlsson, who already worked with Céline Dion in 1999 on "That's the Way It Is." "I'm Alive" was also featured in the Stuart...
" - Celine DionCeline DionCéline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record... - "Put a Little Love in Your HeartPut a Little Love in Your Heart"Put a Little Love in Your Heart" is a song originally performed in 1968 by Jackie DeShannon, who composed it with her brother, Randy Myers, and Jimmy Holiday. In the USA, it was DeShannon's highest-charting hit, reaching #4 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts...
" - Mary MaryMary MaryMary Mary is an American gospel music duo, consisting of sisters Erica Atkins-Campbell and Tina Atkins-Campbell . The duo are often credited along with Kirk Franklin for broadening the fan base of urban contemporary gospel in the 2000s by introducing elements of soul music, hip hop, funk and jazz... - "Top of the World" - Mandy MooreMandy MooreAmanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of...
- "Another Small Adventure" - Chantal KreviazukChantal KreviazukChantal Jennifer Kreviazuk is a Canadian singer-songwriter of the adult contemporary music genre. She is also a classically trained pianist, and can play the guitar.-Albums:...
- "What I Like About YouWhat I Like About You (song)"What I Like About You" is a song by American rock band The Romantics. The song, written by Romantics members Wally Palmar, Mike Skill and Jimmy Marinos is featured on the band's self-titled 1980 debut album, and was also released as a single. Marinos, the band's drummer, is the lead vocalist on...
" - The RomanticsThe RomanticsThe Romantics is an American New Wave band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1977. The band adopted the name "The Romantics" because they formed on Valentine's Day, 1977. The Romantics achieved popularity in the United Kingdom, The U.S... - "Hold On to the Good Things" - Shawn ColvinShawn ColvinShawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
- "Count On Me" - Billy GilmanBilly GilmanWilliam Wendell "Billy" Gilman III is an American country music artist. In 2000, at the age of 12, he debuted with the single "One Voice," a Top 20 hit on the Billboard country music charts and became the youngest singer to a Top 40 hit on the country music charts...
- "Smile" - Vitamin CVitamin C (artist)Colleen Ann Fitzpatrick is an American pop music singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress better known by her stage name, Vitamin C. Her singles include "Graduation ", "As Long As You're Loving Me", "The Itch", and her most successful hit the Top 20 Gold certified "Smile"...
- "Alone Again (Naturally)Alone Again (Naturally)"Alone Again " is a song by Irish singer–songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. It was released in 1972, and in total spent six weeks, non-consecutively, at #1 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In Casey Kasem's American 'Top 40 of the 1970s', "Alone Again " ranked as the fifth...
" - Gilbert O'SullivanGilbert O'SullivanGilbert O'Sullivan is an Irish-English singer-songwriter, best known for his early 1970s hits "Alone Again ", "Clair" and "Get Down". The music magazine, Record Mirror, voted him the No... - "Born to Be WildBorn to Be Wild"Born to Be Wild" is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude...
" - SteppenwolfSteppenwolf (band)Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The... - "Little Angel of Mine" - No SecretsNo Secrets (girl group)No Secrets was an American girl group with five members: Angel Faith, Carly Lewis, Erin Tanner, Jessica Fried and Jade Ryusaki. The group debuted in the United States in 2002 with their single "Kids in America".-Debut album:...
- "For Whom the Bell TollsFor Whom the Bell Tolls (Bee Gees song)"For Whom the Bell Tolls" is a song by the Bee Gees, released as their second single from their album Size Isn't Everything in 1993. It peaked at #4 on the UK charts. There is also a music video for this song.-Chart performance:...
" - Bee GeesBee GeesThe Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
Cast
- Geena DavisGeena DavisVirginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
as Eleanor Little - Hugh LaurieHugh LaurieJames Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
as Frederick Little - Jonathan LipnickiJonathan LipnickiJonathan William Lipnicki is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Jerry Maguire, Stuart Little, The Little Vampire, and Like Mike.- Personal life :...
as George Little - Anna and Ashley Hoelck as Martha Little
- Marc John JefferiesMarc John JefferiesMarc John Jefferies is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Derrick Mitchell on the NBC sitcom The Tracy Morgan Show, and as Darius on Treme, the HBO drama series set in post-Katrina New Orleans.-Career:Jefferies debuted as the title character "Isaiah",...
as Will, George's friend - Jim Doughan (who voiced Lucky in the first filmStuart Little (film)Stuart Little is a 1999 family film. It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by E. B. White. It combines live-action and computer animation. The screenplay was co-written by M. Night Shyamalan and Greg Brooker, with uncredited script doctoring by David O. Russell and Billy Ray...
) as Stuart and George's soccer coach
Voice Cast
- Michael J. FoxMichael J. FoxMichael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
as the voice of Stuart Little, the main protagonist of the film. - Nathan LaneNathan LaneNathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...
as the voice of Snowbell - Melanie GriffithMelanie GriffithMelanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
as the voice of Margalo - James WoodsJames WoodsJames Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
as the voice of Falcon, the main antagonist of the film. - Steve ZahnSteve Zahn-Early life:Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Zelda, who worked for the YMCA, and Carleton E. Zahn, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School...
as the voice of Monty
Reception
The film has received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
has reported that 83% of critics gave the film a positive review. It also holds a 66|100 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
Video game
Stuart Little 2 (2002) is for the PlaystationPlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, Windows 2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
, Windows Me
Windows Me
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
, Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
and 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
and/or 64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
personal computers.