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Your favorite mouse is back and I don't mean Mickey. It's Stuart Little (voice of Michael J. Fox) in his second feature-length film and the rest of the family is there, too, including Geena Davis as Mom, Hugh Laurie as Dad, and Jonathan Lipnicki as George plus Snowbell the cat (voice of Nathan Lane). There is an addition, a baby sister, Martha (played by Anna Hoelck and Ashley Hoelck). All's right in the world when a little white mouse can bring so much happiness and equality to a household.

In Stuart's first film, he was adopted by the Little family and eventually made friends with their pet cat. As the middle child Stuart is now ready to do such rough and tough things as play soccer. Mom is overly protective of the rodent even though Stuart has his own sports car to drive to school. Stuart has no friends (size does matter) and when he saves a small bird named Margalo from a falcon, Stuart is smitten with friendship. Alas, there are duplicitous things going on and Stuart is the last to know. Along with the friendship come such exciting things like flying a miniature biplane, riding a hot-air balloon, skateboarding in a dry birdbath and going into a sink to retrieve a ring. Life is never dull for rodents.

Stuart Little 2 presents the June Cleaver-type household in which everyone is cheerful, perky and Mom wears high heels and a pearl necklace most of the time. There are window boxes with flowers, every human accepts Stuart as the Little's son and the baby never cries. Children are overly protected and little birds are given care and shelter. To add spice to this mild concoction, Snowbell presents a brave exterior, but inside, his caustic remarks about litter boxes and oatmeal are on the mark. 

Sony Pictures Imageworks, Inc. has done a splendid job with creating Stuart, along with the yellow bird and falcon. When interacting with humans, the action is seamless. The white mouse is thoroughly believable. The mouse hair moves, there are teeth and small fingers. Stuart's clothing is part of his star appeal. Here is a little mouse with fashion sense including cargo pants, shoes, pajamas with soccer motif and a soccer outfit. The tailor made a small fortune here (excuse the pun.) Margalo, the bird is slightly less effective, perhaps because of her bright color, which has a tendency to look artificial. The falcon's large size and nostrils make him look awkward instead of threatening. 

The "PG" rating is for moments of peril for Stuart, Snowbell and sometimes Margalo. Michael J. Fox's voice personifies Stuart with just the right amount of angst for a growing middle son. As Stuart is told when he has a down day, "There is always a silver lining." Let's hope another Stuart Little film is on the horizon.

Copyright 2002 Marie Asner 7/19/2002