Stuart Little [DVD]

Product Information

Book reading with optional reading by Michael J Fox (4 mins):Imagine a ‘Janet and John’ book with pictures, with an option to read toyourself or with your family, or having the voice of Stuart speak the lines. Audio Commentary Director Rob Minkoff is joined by senior visual effects supervisor Jerome Chen for a somewhat dry chat about the movie. The focus is highly technical and, while Minkoff provided an interesting commentary for the DVD of the first film, this effort is very limited in appeal. Kids will be bored by it and only those interested in animation and special effects may glean something from a movie that Minkoff describes as having "every shot manipulated".

Sound A fun-filled 5.1 sound mix excites the speakers with some great effects, particularly during Stuart's hair-raising plane ride around Central Park. DVD-ROM Content: Weblinks, a ‘Race with Stuart’ HasbroInteractive Game (which I couldn’t get to work properly) and the PR mentionsa Roadster Interactive Game, although I presume that’s the name of thecompany who wrote a game which allows an interactive and intensive lookaround Stuart’s house. Two Audio Commentaries: One from the Director and AnimationSupervisor, with the second from the Visual Effects Supervisors. Extras : Scene index, Visual Effects Interactive Featurette, “Making itBig” HBO Special Featurette, Two Feature Length Commentaries, Six DeletedScenes with Director’s Commentary, Outtakes, Boat Race: Early Concept Reelwith Director’s Commentary, Book reading with optional reading by MichaelJ Fox, Stuart’s Central Park Adventure Game, Weblinks, ‘Race with Stuart’Hasbro Interactive Game, Roadster Interactive Game, Music Videos, Trailer When Mr & Mrs Little fall in love with Stuart right away, George doesn`t quite know what to make of his new brother. And when Snowball the famaily cat finds he`s been displaced by a mouse, plans are soon afoot to get Stuart out of the Little house... permanently.

There's plenty to like about "Stuart Little 2" as a film, but the DVD release is quite disappointing in what it offers.

PlayStation Demo There's an advert around every corner on this DVD and this time it's for the PlayStation game. Stuart Little's Big Adventure The movie is condensed into a three-minute read-along adventure which ends with a charming fable about how you can buy more Stuart Little adventures. Show and Tell Select this option and whenever an icon appears on screen during the movie you can access a selection of short featurettes (average two minutes in length) on the making of the film. The CGI and other visual effects are explored, as well as the art direction which drew inspiration from the 40s editions of New Yorker magazine and, bizarrely, the Al Pacino cop thriller "Serpico". Menu :Animated and scored with – plus the occasional chip-in from Stuart – andsmaller sub-menus seemingly accessed by ‘visiting’ various rooms in StuartLittle’s house (well, he didn’t sign the lease but you get the idea). The film is presented in an anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen ratio, thus replicatingwhat you saw in the cinema and with no need to crop the image and destroy thecarefully CGI’d scenes. The print isn’t perfect, with artifacts occasionallynoticed along with other scenes that aren’t quite all they could be, althoughmost of these won’t be noticed by the vast majority of the public who don’thave their nose pressed to the TV screen like me.I was unable to determine the average bitrate.There’s few surprises to be found in the plot but then you’re unlikely toexpect something of a JFK-style conspiracy standard, although the script comesfrom M. Night Shyamalan, writer/director of the suspenseful (if youdon’t know the ending before you see it!) The Sixth Sense.It’s a film for young kids and they’ll probably enjoy it a lot more thanany adult while their view of the world hasn’t yet been coloured by prejudice,doubt and mortgages. The humans are added to in number by Dabney Coleman, Golden Girl Estelle Getty, Jon Polito, while animal voices – feline and otherwise -also come from Nathan Lane, Jennifer Tilly, Bruno Kirby and Chazz Palminteri. Stuart’s Central Park Adventure Game: Several multiple choicequestions testing you on your knowledge of the film. Correct answers allow youto proceed through the park while wrong ones obviously don’t. A Touch of Evil The introduction of the scary Falcon to Stuart's world is covered in this seven-minute featurette. James Woods pops-up for a short interview and, as always, has slightly different coloured hair than the last time you saw him. He enjoys playing bad guys in animated films and reveals his formula for being scary, without being too scary, where kids are concerned. Amazing state-of-the-art special effects, comedy and adventure make this the biggest adventure a Little can have!