Stuart Little
Columbia / 1999 / 85 Mins / Rated G


MOVIE
In a time of big budget, rootin' tootin' two guns blazing action flicks with no cohesive plot along comes Stuart Little, a wonderful movie with a small little lead character with a BIG heart. Based on the novel by E.B White of Charlotte's Web fame, Stuart Little is the story of Stuart an orphaned little mouse.

The Little family have come to adopt a child and they find you Stuart a big hearted but lonely mouse. They eventually adopt young Stuart and take him home. Now with a new found family Stuart must learn to adapt to new experiences. Getting along with the family cat, voiced by Nathan Lane and his cat friends who want to scratch him out Stuart.

Stuart Little is a wonderful family movie. Great for kids, but also enjoyable for adults alike. This is one movie that is worth the time you give it.

VIDEO
This transfer is superb. Mastered by the Sony Pictures DVD center.

Flesh tones perfect as was color saturation. Shadow detail was spot on throughout. There no visible MPEG artifacts nor were there any film artifacts present. Wonderful.

Stuart Little is framed at 1:85:1 and is 16:9 enhanced which is strange as the movie was originally framed at approx 1:66:1. 

This is a single-sided, dual layer disc.

AUDIO

A few audio formats adorn this DVD. Firstly the main soundtrack is encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1. Then there is 2 commentaries in 2.0.

I listened to the 5.1 surround track. Now while not the most thumping track around it is still a nice little track. 

The surround channels are well integrated into the sound mix with a lot of ambient music used for these channels as are some ambient sound effects. Dialog was easy to hear as well. 

The .1 channel was used sparingly, but effectively.

EXTRAS

The sheer number and quality of these extras is amazing. Pity more disc are not like this.

Audio Commentary - Director/Animation Supervisor: This track features Rob Minkoff the Director and Henry F. Anderson the animation supervisor. On the whole this is a very informative track that includes a lot of information regarding the making of the movie.

Audio Commentary - Senior Effects Supervisor/Effects Supervisor: This again is a very good track that features John Dykstra and Jerome Chen, although it is a lot more dry that than the previous commentary as it does get technical at times compared to the previous track.

Documentary - HBO First Look: This is your standard 20 minute making of program that features quite a bit of information about the movie and how it was made. 1:33:1, Dolby Digital 2.0 sound.

Theatrical Trailer: This is more like it a good solid trailer with 5.1 sound. While not the entertaining one made it's quality is wonderful. 

Visual Effects Featurette: This section feature six scenes from the movie. There is a commentary with each scene explaining how the effects were created.

Read Along With Stuart: This is a short little section of the movie in book from to read. You can read it by yourself or with Stuart reading. Limited Value.

3 Music Videos: There are 3 music videos on this disc, all with excellent quality. All are have an aspect ratio of 1:33:1 with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. The music videos include "If You Can't Rock Me" By the Brian Seltzer Orchestra, "Where I Belong" By Trisha Yearwood and " I Need To Know" By R. Angels.

Deleted Scenes: These are 6 deleted scenes from the movie framed at 1:85:1 with Dolby 2.0 sound. There is commentary from the director over the action.

Visual Effects Gag Reel: A short fluff piece made by the effect creators. Limited value.

Animator's Screen Tests: A short piece again with the test sessions used before the animators went on to create Stuart fully. Again, limited value.

Other extras include:

DVD-ROM: Whole website on disc and a demo of the Stuart Little game which can be purchased later.

Filmographies

Scrapbook: 57 images taken from the movie. Only worth one viewing.

Subtitles include: English, Dutch, Hindi 

FINAL THOUGHTS
This disc comes heartily recommended to everyone in the family and is well worth adding to your collection.

16:9 ENHANCEMENT DISC RATING

VIDEO:
AUDIO:
EXTRAS:
PLOT:
OVERALL:

REVIEW EQUIPMENT

Display: 48" Sony RPTV.
DVD Player:
Panasonic A350 Player using S-Video Cables.
Receiver:
Pioneer VSX-D508 Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.
Speakers:
Accusound speaker system.

Copyright © 2000 by [Roger Ward].
Revised: 31 Oct 2000 21:58:20 +1000 .

DVD INFORMATION
Region Coding: Region 4
No of Discs: 1
OFLC Rating G
Running Time: 85 minutes
Case Type: Keep Case
Release Date: 5/9/2000
Catalog Number:
List Price: $39.95
Distributor: Columbia/Tri-Star
DISC SPECIFICATIONS
Disc Format: PAL
Disc Type: Picture Disc
Disc Format: RSDL
Chapters: 28
Macrovision: Yes
Manufacturer: Sony DVD Center
VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS
Aspect Ratio: 1:85:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Film Format: 35mm
SOUND SPECIFICATIONS
Dolby Digital:

5.1 Surround

DTS: None
PCM Stereo: None
Other: None
Languages:

English
Dutch
Subtitles: Yes
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary: Yes (2)
Theatrical Trailer: Yes
Teaser Trailer: None
TV Spots: None
Dolby Trailer: None
Documentary: Yes
Cast & Crew Bios: Yes
Deleted Scenes: Yes
Music Videos: Yes
DVD Rom Content: Yes
Collectable Booklet: None
Scene Access: Yes
Animated Menus: Yes
Production Notes: Yes
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INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE INFO
OFFICIAL WEB SITE
VIEW TRAILER
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