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The Littles (played by Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie) adopt a
mouse named Stuart, who isn't so warmly welcomed by his older brother (Jonathan
Lipnicki) and the family cat (voiced by Nathan Lane). Based on the story by E.B. White.
Also with Julia Sweeney, Jeffrey Jones, Estelle Getty, Allyce Beasley, Dabney Coleman, Jon
Polito and Lauren Schaffel, and with the voices of Michael J. Fox, Steve Zahn, David Alan
Grier, Chazz Palminteri, Bruno Kirby and Jennifer Tilly. [1:20]
SEX/NUDITY 0 - A couple of chaste kisses.
VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - Mostly played for laughs; no one or no animal is ever
injured. Clothes are thrown on a mouse, then the clothes and the mouse are thrown down a
laundry chute and into a washing machine; the mouse yells and pounds on the glass door to
get out and we see him floating in water before he's rescued (he coughs a bit and
burps a soap bubble, then we see him recovering in bed). In a jump scene, a cat springs
onto a table where a mouse is standing, then we see the mouse's tail hanging out of
the cat's mouth. A mouse appears to be tied to a model train track and is nearly hit
by a model train. Boys tackle each other and briefly scuffle. A mouse hits another in the
head with a purse. Several cat-and-mouse chases (some are extended scenes) during which a
mouse is flung off an ironing board into a wall, a cat lunges into a garbage can, a mouse
lands on a roller skate and rolls down a staircase, a mouse drives a model car off a ledge
and into a water-filled sewer pipe, a mouse nearly goes down a waterfall, cats fall off a
tree branch and into some water and a mouse hits a cat in the face with a tree branch and
knocks it into some water below. Cats talk to another cat about killing a mouse and hire
it to do so. In several scenes a cat talks menacingly to a mouse and appears to want to
hurt him (it never does, though). A model boat runs into and destroys a few others; also,
a mouse nearly falls off a boat. Some reckless driving in a model car. A police officer
shows two people a photograph from a book of "grisly murder photos" (we
don't see the photograph) and we learn that two mice were crushed by cans of soup
(neither are characters in the movie); both scenes are more comical than dramatic. A cat
passes gas and we hear a few mild jokes about flatulence.
PROFANITY 3 - A mild anatomical reference, a mild scatological reference,
some mild obscenities and some name-calling. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Adoption, family, separation from family, jealousy,
competition.
MESSAGE - You don't have to look alike or even be part of the same
species to be members of a happy family.
(Note: A sub-plot involving mice pretending to be Stuart's birth parents
and taking him away from his adoptive parents could be upsetting for adopted children and
their parents.)
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