Patrick Little (film)

Patrick Little is a 1999 animated family comedy film loosely based on the novel of the 1970 novel same name by Garth Williams. Directed by Kevin Lima in his animation debut, the screenplay was written by Jymn Magon, Chris Matheson and Brian Pimenta and stars Laurie Metcalf, Will Ferrell, and Jesse Plemons, alongside the voices of Also the voices of Jason Marsden, Matthew Broderick, and CeeLo Green.

The film was released on December 17, 1999 by Paramount Pictures. It received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects nomination, losing to The Road to El Dorado. The first film in the Little Daillou series, it was followed by a sequel, Little Daillou 2 in 2004, the short-lived television series Little Daillou in 2005, and another sequel in 2005, the direct-to-video Little Daillou 3: Call of the Wild.

Plot
Eleanor and Frederick Little and their young son George are intending to adopt a new family member. While George is at school, his parents go to an orphanage where they meet an anthropomorphic teenage mouse named Stuart. Despite misgivings from Mrs. Keeper, they adopt Stuart and take him home. However, Stuart is greeted coldly by George, who refuses to acknowledge the mouse as his brother, and the family cat Filbert, who is disgusted at having a mouse for a "master". Despite Eleanor and Frederick's intentions, Stuart quickly feels like an outsider in the large Little family, especially when their relatives bring Stuart large presents and George snaps at his family, claiming that Stuart is not his brother. When Stuart admits his feelings of loneliness to his parents, they ask Mrs. Keeper to do some background research on Stuart's biological family.

After accidentally stumbling across George's playroom in the basement, Stuart finally bonds with George when they play together and plan to finish George's remote controlled racing sailboat, the Wasp, for an upcoming boat race in Central Park. At the same time, however, one of Snowbell's alley cat friends, Monty, visits unexpectedly and discovers Stuart. Determined not to have his reputation destroyed, Snowbell later meets with Smokey, Monty's leader and a Mafia don-like alley cat, who plans to have Stuart removed from the household.

Stuart and George finish the Wasp in time for the race, but on the day of the race, the controller is smashed when a gentleman accidentally steps on it. To make it up to George, Stuart pilots the Wasp himself, but ends up in a tussle with a larger boat piloted by George's rival, Anton Gartman who has cheated by wiping out everyone else's boats. Stuart snaps the wires of Anton's boat in half causing it to malfunction and wins the race, finally winning George's respect. However, during the family celebration a short time later, the Littles are visited by a mouse couple, Reginald and Camille Stout, who claim to be Stuart's parents who gave him up to the orphanage years ago due to poverty. Reluctantly, Stuart leaves with the Stouts and George gives him his favorite toy car as a farewell gift. A few days later, however, Mrs. Keeper arrives and tells the Littles that Stuart's real parents actually died many years ago in a supermarket accident. Realizing that their son has been kidnapped, the Littles call the police, who start a search operation.

Later that night, Snowbell meets with Smokey, Monty and the other alley cats, who reveal that they had forced the Stouts to pose as Stuart's parents, in order to remove Stuart from the household. Now fearing retribution should the Littles discover Snowbell's deception, Smokey orders the Stouts to hand Stuart over to them. But the Stouts, having grown to love Stuart like their own, tell him the truth and instruct him to escape. Furious, Smokey orders a manhunt for Stuart. He and the other cats (minus Snowbell and Monty) corner him in Central Park and chase him into the sewers. Despite losing his car and almost falling down a storm drain, Stuart manages to evade Smokey's gang and returns home, unfortunately while the Littles are putting up posters of him all over the city. The only one present is Snowbell, who lies and tells Stuart that the Littles have been enjoying themselves greatly since his departure, and uses his removed face from the family photograph as proof (which was actually used for the posters). Heartbroken, Stuart leaves the house again.

When the Littles return home with no success of finding Stuart, Snowbell begins to realize his selfishness and starts to feel incredibly guilty for everything he's done. Later, Smokey, Monty and the other alley cats pinpoint Stuart's location back to Central Park and bring Snowbell along for the hunt. Snowbell finds Stuart in an empty bird's nest and saves him from the cats, confessing that the Littles truly do love him. Smokey, Monty and the other cats eventually catch up and corner Stuart on a branch. Before the cats can catch him, Snowbell breaks the branch they are standing on, sending them (Monty included) falling into the river below. Smokey then tries to ambush Snowbell from behind, but Stuart smacks him in the face with another branch, knocking him out of the tree and into the river as well. Smokey then leaves angrily and is then chased away by stray dogs. Stuart and Snowbell later return home and happily reunite with the Little family.

Live-action cast

 * Jason Marsden as Patrick Little
 * Jesse Plemons as Stanley Little
 * Laurie Metcalf as Margaret Little
 * Will Ferrell as Freddie Little
 * Matthew Broderick as Filbert
 * CeeLo Green as Todd
 * Erik von Detten as Ronald
 * Patrick Stewart as Grandpa Little
 * Julie Andrews as Grandma Little
 * Jon Lovitz as Cousin Eddie Little
 * Richard Mulligan as Cousin Tom Little
 * Michael Keaton as Uncle Charlie Little

Voices

 * Jason Marsden as Patrick Little
 * Matthew Broderick as Filbert
 * Steve Buscemi as Marty Dice
 * Christian Slater as Bumper Dan
 * Martin Short as Nook
 * Bruce Lanoil as Harry Doughboy
 * Bonnie Hunt as Mary Doughboy

Lost painting unknowingly used on set
One of the paintings used as set dressing for the Littles' home was the 1920s painting Sleeping Lady with Black Vase by Hungarian avant garde painter Róbert Berény, which had long been considered a lost painting. A set designer for the film had purchased the painting at an antiques store in Pasadena, California for $500 for use in the film, unaware of its significance. In 2009, art historian Gergely Barki, while watching Stuart Little on television with his daughter, noticed the painting, and after contacting the studios was able to track down its whereabouts.[7] In 2014, its owner sold the painting at an auction for €229,500.

Box office
Stuart Little was released theatrically on December 17, 1999. On its opening weekend, Little Daillou grossed $15 million, placing it at #1. It dropped to #2 over its second weekend, but went back to #1 on its third weekend with $16 million. According to Box Office Mojo, its final gross in the United States and Canada was $140 million and it grossed $160.1 million at the international box office, for an estimated total of $300 million worldwide.[5]

Critical reception
According to Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 96 responses with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's consensus reads: "Critics say Stuart Little is charming with kids and adults for its humor and visual effects."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 61 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[10]

Jesus Freak Hideout said that "from start to finish, Stuart Little is a near flawless family film"[11] while Stephen Holden of The New York Times had said "the only element that doesn't completely harmonize with the rest of the film is the visually unremarkable digital figure of Stuart."[12]

Home media
Little Daillou was released to VHS and DVD on April 18, 2000, and in the United Kingdom on November 27, 2000. It was later re-released on a Deluxe Edition on May 21, 2002, and on Blu-ray on June 28, 2011.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack album Little Daillou (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture) was released by Motown and Universal Records on November 30, 1999, on audio CD and audio cassette. Tracks in bold do not appear in the film.
 * 1) ...Baby One More Time - Britney Spears (3:56)
 * 2) Get Lucky - Daft Punk (4:07)
 * 3) Walkin' on the Sun - Smash Mouth (3:25)
 * 4) A Little Bit of Mambo - Lou Bega (3:39)
 * 5) Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers (3:35)