“Stuart Little 3: The Call of the Wild” is the first Stuart Little film to be animated, rather than shot in live action. The voices of the characters are the same (Geena Davis as Eleanor, Hugh Laurie as Fredrick, Michael J. Fox as Stuart) with the exception of George, who is now voiced by Corey Padnos. Jonathan Lipnicki, George’s original voice, is now too old to sound like a little boy.
The Littles are on their way to the lake for a relaxing vacation. Eleanor is looking forward to a whole summer with nothing to do, but when they arrive at their cabin, find that the place is a shambles. She sets to work putting things to rights in her very organized fashion. Meanwhile, George and Stuart join the Lake Scouts, and Fredrick becomes their assistant scout master. The children will have the chance to earn bandanas based on their performance of basic scouting skills, and Stuart is sure he’ll do great.
What he doesn’t count on, though, is the fact that everything is so big. Where this was never really a problem for the resourceful mouse while in the city, out here in the woods, he doesn’t have access to the tools he’s used to. He gets left behind on hikes, has trouble crossing the suspension bridge, and fails at the canoe float. He’ll never move past his first rank, he’s sure of it.
Meanwhile, he’s made friends with a skunk named Reeko (voiced by Wayne Brady) so his vacation isn’t a total loss. But things get dangerous as the Beast who lives in the woods demands tribute from all the other animals in the form of food, and Reeko is behind on his payments. Sneaky little skunk that he is, he lures Snowbell out into the woods to be the Beast’s dinner, and Stuart goes to the rescue.
There are some moments of great comedy in this film, although I didn’t like it quite as much as the first or second Stuart movies. I did find a few things about the cartoon out of character – Eleanor’s hair was messy, whereas in the live action films, her hair was never one speck out of place. There also seemed to be missing some of the tight family bonds that we’ve come to expect from the Littles. All in all, though, this movie was fun and I think the mouse fans in your family will enjoy it.
This film is rated G.
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