DVD Review: Stuart Little A Little Family Fun
Sony Home Entertainment Cartoon Based on E.B. White Book
Apr 24, 2009
In 1999, Sony released Stuart Little, a live-action plus CGI family film loosely based on the classic E.B. White children's book. The flick was successful enough to spawn a sequel (2002's Stuart Little 2) and a 2003 animated series for HBO Family that only lasted for one season.
Now Sony Home Entertainment has packaged the thirteen episodes of Stuart Little: TAS into a collection of kid-friendly DVDs. It's inoffensive children's entertainment that doesn't elicit many chuckles, but not that many eye-rolls either.
Stuart Little: The Animated Series Stars Hugh Laurie, Nathan Lane, Steve Zahn
Several cast members from the original movie – Hugh Laurie (Frederick Little), Nathan Lane (Snowball the Cat) and Steve Zahn (Monty the Alley Cat) – reprised their characters for the series. However, both Lane and Zahn eventually dropped out before the show's cancellation, to be replaced by sound-alike voice actors.
The biggest issue with this DVD is that it only features 3 episodes; surprisingly chintzy considering most other children's show DVDs feature at least 4. Here are the 3 shows in the DVD, and a short synopsis:
- "A Little Too Fast": Stuart and George go crazy trying to get in as many rides at the Fun Fair as they can, while Snowball tries to romance a lady cat.
- "A Little Vacation": The Little family ends up stranded at a spooky country inn on a dark and stormy night.
- "A Little Bit Country": Uncle Crenshaw invites Stuart and George to stay at his new farm for the weekend. But Stuart's old nemesis Falcon (the villain from Stuart Little 2) has tracked them down and he's looking for revenge.
There's a mix of animation styles in this series. The main story is rendered in a sketch-style animation, which works well. There aren't any major issues with the art, other than the occasional lack of shadows. That said, the characters look like they're actually standing on the ground, as opposed to floating in mid-air.
Each episode is book-ended by a stand-up by a rather cold-looking CGI'ed Stuart Little, who explains the moral of each story both before and after the show. It's a bit heavy-handed for anyone other than little kids, but the "kids entertainment must be good for you" brigade will be satisfied.
The stories are solid but unexceptional, which pretty much sums up this DVD in general. The comic relief isn't stellar, but isn't annoying either, and the occasional scares aren't all that scary (a good thing, considering the show's kiddie focus).
DVD Extras
There's not a lot here, unless you count the previews for various Sony Pictures Animation features like the direct-to-DVD animated feature Open Season 2 and the 2007 film Surf's Up.
There is also another preview for the CGI animated feature Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild, which has an unattractive rotoscoped feel to the animation.
The Final Analysis
Stuart Little: The Animated Series isn't bad but isn't terribly good either: it's good enough for little kids, and the parents aren't likely to want to hunt the creators down with a harpoon after watching the DVD multiple times.
There are a lot better animated series out there, but there are also a lot worse. Stuart Little: The Animated Series gets a 5/10.
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