Movie · 1999 · Family, Fantasy, Comedy, Adventure · 1h 24m · PG · English
Curator score: 1.8/10 (508.1K ratings)
The Little family just got bigger.
Overview
When the Littles adopt Stuart, the mouse, George is initially unwelcoming to his new brother, and the family cat, Snowbell, is even less enthusiastic. Stuart resolves to face these difficulties with as much pluck and courage as he can muster.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.8/10
IMDb: 6.0/10
Letterboxd: 2.90/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 66%
Metacritic: 61
TMDB: 6.1/10
Director
Rob Minkoff
Production
Franklin/Waterman Productions, Columbia Pictures, Global Medien KG, Red Wagon Entertainment
Cast
Michael J. Fox, Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, Jonathan Lipnicki, Nathan Lane, Chazz Palminteri, Steve Zahn, Jim Doughan, David Alan Grier, Bruno Kirby, Jennifer Tilly, Stan Freberg, Jeffrey Jones, Connie Ray, Allyce Beasley, Brian Doyle-Murray, Estelle Getty, Harold Gould, Patrick Thomas O'Brien, Julia Sweeney
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, very 1999 family fantasy with strong voice work, warm domestic comedy, and a surprisingly sturdy emotional core about belonging. It’s charming if you’re in the mood for a gentle live-action/CG hybrid, though the premise and visual style can feel a little uncanny or overly cutesy for some viewers.
Best for
families with younger kids
fans of talking-animal comedies
viewers nostalgic for late-90s studio fantasy
people who like cozy, low-stakes adventure
audiences who enjoy earnest adoption-and-belonging stories
Skip if
you dislike early CGI/live-action hybrid aesthetics
you want fast-paced or edgy comedy
you’re allergic to sentimental family films
you prefer animal stories with more bite or satire
Overview
Stuart Little is one of those late-90s studio family films that commits completely to its own odd little premise. The movie’s appeal comes less from plot mechanics than from tone: it wants to be sweet, polished, and lightly adventurous, with a household full of friction that gradually turns into acceptance. The result is easy to watch and often genuinely charming, even when the concept itself is a bit absurd on paper.
Worth noting
The cast gives it a lot of warmth, especially the parents, who make the family feel inviting rather than merely functional. The movie also has a neat streak of comic antagonism in Snowbell, which helps keep the story from becoming too sugary. That said, the visual effects and character design are very much of their era, so modern viewers may find the mouse-in-the-world illusion more quaint than seamless.
Bottom line
As a piece of family entertainment, it lands best as a comfort watch: gentle, polished, and built around kindness, courage, and finding your place in a family that doesn’t quite know what to do with you at first. If you’re open to its old-school studio-magic vibe, it still has enough personality to work.
Top Letterboxd reviews
COBRARocky (1★) · 4754 likes
Imagine being a kid at that orphanage and someone picked a talking mouse over you.
demi adejuyigbe · 3061 likes
i am literally on snowbell's side. why does the mouse get a bedroom if the cat doesn't. cat struts around with his dick out eating meals off the ground, but stu drives up to the big boy table, hopping out a fucking two-door convertible in a three-piece suit off the toy store runway. the whole little clan can eat shit. musty lil dursley ass family
edit: beep beep vroom vroom
shay (2★) · 2978 likes
i fucking hate stuart little’s stupid paper napkin body built ass look at this mf just grinning in the movie poster i hate him so much can you imagine being a kid in that orphanage and seeing this married couple walk in the room and you’re like wow maybe today is my day maybe i‘ll finally get to be adopted and loved but then they fucking sit down and talk to the mouse in the goddamn room and then these… more i fucking hate stuart little’s stupid paper napkin body built ass look at this mf just grinning in the movie poster i hate him so much can you imagine being a kid in that orphanage and seeing this married couple walk in the room and you’re like wow maybe today is my day maybe i‘ll finally get to be adopted and loved but then they fucking sit down and talk to the mouse in the goddamn room and then these… more
milo · 1292 likes
remy the rat could beat the shit out of this fucking nerd
Lucas · 783 likes
I fucking hate Stuart Little. I know what you’re thinking, this is some kind of funny joke, but no. Stuart Little is a piece of shit. A damn rat got picked over actual children at an orphanage and he’s supposed to be a hero? And I can’t even tell you how many damn times I’ve seen a great parking space only to turn the corner and realise Stuart Little is already parked there in his stupid little fucking convertible. He… more I fucking hate Stuart Little. I know what you’re thinking, this is some kind of funny joke, but no. Stuart Little is a piece of shit. A damn rat got picked over actual children at an orphanage and he’s supposed to be a hero? And I can’t even tell you how many damn times I’ve seen a great parking space only to turn the corner and realise Stuart Little is already parked there in his stupid little fucking convertible. He… more