Stuart Little – 1999
This was a kid’s movie, so generally not my favorite genre. But the special effects were actually really amazing. They were done so well! I think they were far superior to one of its fellow nominees, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. They were simpler and yet so much more effective. This is a clear case of less-is-more. The effects turned this average film into an impressive feat of visual effects.
Of course, the main focus of the film’s visual effects was the talking mouse. It was incredibly photo-realistic. It had movement and expression, and yet the fact that the character was a three inch mouse was never forgotten. The fur and the whiskers looked real. The eyes conveyed emotion, but never stopped looking like the eyes of a mouse. The resulting effects were charming and I think Stuart Little really deserved its nomination, though there was really no way it could have won the Oscar. It was up against The Matrix, so really, it never stood a chance.
The realism that made the mouse expressive was created by the visual effects artists building the mouse from the inside-out. First, they combined aspects of both humans and rodents. Then they gave him an appropriate skeletal structure and musculature so that his movements would be believable as a mouse, but recognizable as a human. They were able to manipulate this computer model in minute ways, giving him the ability to emote as well as any actor. Michael J. Fox’s wonderful voice talents completed the illusion.
And I have to say that all the little details were given attention. A blanket would depress when Stuart was waking over it, and he would cast an appropriate shadow. There was even a scene in which he was driving a remote controlled roadster, even though it apparently no longer required a remote and simple drove like a regular car… but I digress. When he got out and stood in front of the vehicle, you could see the hint of his reflection in the front bumper. Very nicely done!
But there was much, much more! Stuart wasn’t the only talking animal. A herd of cats also spoke, but these were a little different than the mouse. These were mostly real cats that had digitally moving mouths, like all the animals in the 1995 Best Visual Effects winner, Babe. But here the effect of the talking felines was more refined, and so much more realistic. They seemed to have perfected Babe’s admittedly innovative effect.
And I have to make special mention of the boat race, which was a wonderful combination of both practical and CGI effects. One of the things that I really liked was how the boats never stopped looking like toy boats, just like they were supposed to. But the fact that they were size appropriate for Stuart made the whole thing seem like a real race, and was a very fun sequence to watch. All in all, the effects in this movie were very well done and I applaud them!