Deep into production of "Stuart Little 2", director Rob Minkoff is also promoting the forthcoming DVD release of the original film. The DVD is packed with an almost overwhelming list of extras such as pop videos, special effects features, a director's commentary, and even games.
"Did we overdo it?" jokes Minkoff. "I'm involved with the DVD as consultant and contributor and I guess what was on my mind was that I'm wondering whether I would be interested in the DVD as a viewer."
Oddly, the effect of the extras is to make the whole film feel like something you dip into and that was a failing of the film: it became a sequence of set pieces rather than an involving story. "Fair criticism," grants Minkoff. "It's not my favourite aspect of the film but it came out of an artificially imposed limitation which was because the film was so expensive, we were limited in the amount of screen time we could have Stuart in. You could say Stuart Little was the most expensive actor in film - more than a Jim Carrey, Mel Gibson, or a Harrison Ford."
"A single shot, four seconds long, could cost upwards of $50,000 to $100,000 to produce for instance. So the film wanted to be more balanced in favour of Stuart and the cats but what you're pointing out is unfortunately a valid problem."
Minkoff says that this is why he's making the sequel, that he wants to use what he learned from the first one. "Stuart Little" was also dogged by negotiations over key shots and whether they could be afforded, but with the film's success it means those same negotiations should be easier for the sequel.
He's working on that now for a possible release in 2001 and says that "Stuart Little 2" is "focusing on a character from the book that we didn't use, a bird called Margolo, who comes to live with the Littles. Her character doesn't see the value of family and she teaches Stuart about striking out for adventure."
