All Rise...

Judge David Johnson's family once adopted a mouse. It was eaten by their adopted ferret.

The Charge

Mouse meets House.

The Case

The day-to-day goings-on of an upper-class family and their adopted mouse child Stuart Little are documented in this three-episode collection of the animated series. Based on the children's books by E.B. White, and propelled back into the pop culture consciousness by the successful CGI films, Stuart Little revisits the land of 2-D animation for this harmless, sometimes charming and sometimes dull series. Hugh Laurie of House fame lends his voice to the family's patriarch, Mr. Little, who is quick to dispense with the advice and encouragement and all that sugary Cosby-lite intuition. He's also got a hot cartoon wife, a precocious son named George and emasculated male cat named Snowbell.

Three episodes totaling just north of an hour:

• "The Meatloaf Bandit"
Mrs. Little is cooking up a pile of meatloaves for a special event, but a rumor is flying around the neighborhood of a mysterious thief who is making off with the food. George and Stuart take it upon themselves to defend their house from the hoods and, empowered by their belief that they can accomplish anything, no matter how small and rodent-like they may be, they set out to capture the meat-stuffs-stealing scumbag.

MORAL: If you work hard at something you can overcome your shortcomings.

FUN FACT: "The Meatloaf Bandit" would make a great name for an adult film.

• "A Model Driver"
Stuart gets to do whatever he wants. At least that's what George thinks, who's become envious over the multitude of cool @#$% that Stuart does, like flying in kites and driving around in RC cars. The fact that Stuart is a five-inch tall mouse is apparently lost on this kid, so Mr. and Mrs. Little encourage George to build his own model car to ride around in. But when the brakes fail on the car, George finds himself in a fight for his life!

MORAL: Parents should love their kids equally, whether they're part of the same species or not.

FUN FACT: Apparently the Littles think they should love their kids equally, whether they're party of the same species or not.

• "Team Little"
It's time for the annual school picnic, and George is practicing hard to dominate in the egg-spoon-carrying contest. But when the day of the competition arrives, George suspects that his school rival may be cheating. Can this filthy little cheater be exposed for the detestable cretin that he is?

MORAL: Winning and spirited competition isn't as important as having fun and playing fair, ensuring a pathetic life of mediocrity and underachievement.

FUN FACT: It's easy to cheat at the egg-spoon-carrying contest.

I like the simplicity of this show and the traditional artwork, but the episodes aren't really action-packed and fast-paced. I'd say the show is a bit more interesting than Arthur, but not by much. In fact, that's a good barometer: if you like Arthur, chances are you might like Stuart Little. Having Dr. House voice a main character, though, is pretty sweet. For the disc, it's strictly economy class: full frame, 2.0 stereo, no extras.

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