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Part of the charm of this series is the routine acceptance by one and all of Stuart's existence, a talking mouse with human interests and emotions. For the most part, there is considerable care taken with Stuart's interactions with the human world. We readily accept modified toys as Stuart's surrogates for human transportation and possessions; he's not expected to be a supermouse. So when, early in the film, Stuart competes as a member of a soccer team with George and his classmates, and is expected to kick a ball that is the mouse equivalent of a two story house, I was overcome with a sinking feeling that the filmmakers may have gotten sloppy. Fortunately, this sequence appears to be filler, intended to portray Eleanor Little (Geena Davis) as the overprotective mom and Frederick Little (Hugh Laurie) as the supportive dad who'd like to give Stuart the chance to mature and become a bit more independent. (I have to admit that despite my misgivings about this sequence, I really liked the punch line. )  Once this preamble is out of the way, the charming plot kicks in.

It seems that George is beginning to behave more like a stereotypical big brother, gravitating to his friends and including his little brother less and less. Stuart craves a friend of his own, and she literally falls in his lap. She's a goldfinch, a bird no larger than Stuart. Her name is Margalo (voiced by Melanie Griffith) and she's being chased by Falcon (voiced by James Woods), a swift airborne predator with large appetites. Stuart saves her from becoming lunch and takes her home; the family readily accepts her. As Stuart and Margalo spend time together, his feelings deepen. The two of them go on a date, snuggling in his diminutive red sports car parked in front of a television, an indoor drive-in movie. On the screen is Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo - a story about another Stewart cruelly deceived by another blond - a portent of events to come. Margalo will fall victim to the feathered villain of the show and Stuart will have to risk all to save her from Falcon's talons.

Stuart Little 2 works on several levels. Children will enjoy the overt plot. Adults will enjoy some of the more mature wordplay, like Snowbell's snide remarks (Lane gets all the best lines). The CGI is better than it was during the first film; I was truly impressed with the fur and feather algorithms. Ultimately, it's the skills of the animators (in addition to the voice actors) that draw us into the film and create our empathy for these CGI creations.  The film has heart, a story of friendship, loyalty, and sacrifice. And while some may object to the saccharine sweetness of some of the characters, they are nicely balanced by the dark villain and Snowbell's cynical selfishness. This is a warm bit of fantasy fluff punctuated by wit.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is presented in anamorphic video. This is a splendid transfer from Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment. Edge halos are rarely visible, and are much suppressed compared to other DVDs from this studio. Yet small object detail and fine textures remain outstanding. Watch carefully during any of Stuart's close-ups and marvel at the fine-grained appearance of his fur. The director plays with the palette, putting us in an environment of dull grays in the villain's lair and bright primary colors in the Little household. Stuart's car and George's model airplane are bright red and yellow, as well. These colors are vividly painted to the screen without any smearing or chroma noise. Shadow detail is excellent during the nighttime scenes, like the dark alley where Stuart and Snowbell seek the help of Monty the Mouth (voiced by Steve Zahn). I noticed no compression artifacts.

There is a second full frame transfer on this disc, selectable from the very first menu that appears after loading the DVD. As with other films shot on 35mm film with spherical optics, the full frame version offers a bit more image above and below the widescreen frame while cropping some of the widescreen frame's extreme left and right sides.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

This disc offers a great Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The surround channels are very active, particularly during the airborne scenes. This may not an official EX mix, but I strongly recommend that you engage EX decoding. The surround effects decode perfectly and never collapse into the center surround. When Stuart makes his accidental maiden flight in George's model airplane, he begins within the Little house. As he pulls a sharp turn, orbiting around the viewer, the sound of the engine pans smoothly from the front to the right, around the back, and from the left to the front, one of the best 360-degree pans I've heard. Very deep bass doesn't extend into the bottom-most octave, but the low end is satisfying. Alan Silvestri's orchestral score is a bit thin on content - a pity, since I enjoy his work - but it is presented with a great sense of presence across a convincing soundstage. The dialog remains crystal clear throughout, very likely the result of the overwhelming use of looping.

The alternative language track is in French. The audio is supported by subtitles in French and English, for which Closed Captions are also offered.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Director Rob Minkoff and visual effects supervisor Jerome Chen may be heard in a feature-length, screen specific audio commentary. As you might expect from Chen's participation, this is a more technically oriented discussion. The filmmakers discuss at length how the CGI effects were integrated into the live action. Minkoff also likes to describe the difficulties of working with children and animals. As someone who is fascinated by the behind-the- scenes technology, this is my favorite type of commentary. Lest you think it might be a tad dry, don't be concerned; Minkoff also sprinkles in some anecdotes from the set to liven the discussion. Nicely done.

Show and Tell is the now-familiar feature of pressing the remote's enter key or clicking on a graphic when it appears. This branches to short featurettes that highlight some aspect of the filmmaking - CGI or looping, for example - or some other less informative background information, like a map of Central Park showing the location of the film's specific landmarks. On most such DVDs that offer a similar supplement, one can find the featurettes as individual titles and navigate directly to them. This does not seem to be the case here. Perhaps it's my player and DVD software, but I could only access these shorts by running the feature with the option enabled.

There are two featurettes; they are entitled A Touch of Evil (7:44) and Life in the Fast Lane (2:03). The first is an informative short describing the character of Falcon from the point of view of the animator and of the voice actor, James Woods. The second short is a tongue-in-cheek accelerated view of the production from end to end; it condenses months into seconds.

Of the several supplements intended for children on this DVD, we have Read-Along: Stuart Little's Big Adventure (3:31) in which a child may read from the screen with or without the help of a narrator. The illustrations are taken from the film and Silvestri's music plays in the background with the occasional sound effect. Stuart Little's Circle of Friends Game is a six-question trivia game played with the remote control or mouse; the game might challenge those too young to have been admitted to this PG film without a parent. Stuart Little 2: The Playsation Game is a demonstration of the video game that runs 3:21.

There are several trailers on this disc: Stuart Little 2 (2:31) is shown in very respectable anamorphic video; the painfully embarrassing Master of Disguise (2:24) is also presented in anamorphic video; Family Fun (2:22) is a full screen advertisement for the release of several television shows suitable for preschoolers; Kermit's Swamp Years (0:46) is a full screen direct video release; and, Little Secrets (1:36) seems to be a preview of an adolescent's film not yet released to the theaters.

Filmographies are included for six of the filmmakers and seven of the players. Celine Dion may be heard in her music video of "I'm Alive" (3:38). The short 77-minute feature film is organized into twenty- eight chapter stops.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

After a special skin has loaded onto the InterActual DVD software, you'll see several Columbia Tristar DVD-ROM features that are oriented to the younger set. Read-Along Stuart's Soccer Session and acting out a favorite scene both require the installation of ReVoice software on your Windows-based PC. Stuart's Roof Skate Game is a modest game that must be installed to run. It's pretty clear to whom this disc is being marketed. Links to the Columbia Tristar web site and the official Stuart Little web site are also included.

Parting Thoughts