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Credit: DisneySony Pictures has decided to challenge the Walt Disney Company and is rebooting its own beloved mouse character to compete with the iconic Mickey.
While Disney remains one of the world’s most powerful media companies, encompassing everything from its own animated films to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Star Wars to a global array of theme parks, its competitors have been gaining an edge.
In particular, Sony Pictures has had a windfall couple of years, with movie franchises like the Spider-Verse films, the Venom franchise, the Jumanji series, and Ghostbusters all grossing hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office (and that’s not counting the profit-sharing that Sony gets from the MCU Spider-Man movies).
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As such, it is not really that surprising that Sony would think to reboot an existing franchise character to act as the company’s own mascot, especially considering Disney has been minimizing the usage of Mickey Mouse in recent years due to various public domain issues.
Sony Pictures announced that it is rebooting the popular Stuart Little series as a television series (per Deadline) under the SPT – Kids entertainment and production line of the company. The show, along with a reboot of the 1960s supernatural comedy series Bewitched and a children’s version of the long-running game show Wheel of Fortune, is set to premiere at Mipcom Junior at Cannes later this month.
Stuart Little is based on a 1945 novel of the same name by EB White, which was adapted into a live-action/CGI hybrid movie in 1999.
The story concerned an anthropomorphic mouse named Stuart (Michael J. Fox), who is adopted by human parents in New York (Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie), and learns to do some pretty sweet moves on an appropriately sized skateboard. The movie also featured Jonathan Lipnicki, Steve Zahn, Nathan Lane, Chazz Palminteri, Bruno Kirby, and Jennifer Tilly.
Stuart Little was a huge success, grossing nearly $300 million worldwide. It was followed by a live-action/CGI sequel and an animated direct-to-DVD film, both of which included Michael J. Fox and most of the returning cast. Stuart Little has become a far-flung franchise, including an animated HBO series and multiple video games.
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The new Sony Pictures reboot of Stuart Little is animated and unlikely to include Michael J. Fox, who has essentially retired from acting due to his struggle with Parkinson’s. Sony describes the reboot as “Freaks and Geeks… but with a mouse,” referring to the late 1990s cult Judd Apatow show.
With that in mind, it seems likely that Sony is looking to update and modernize Stuart Little, likely putting the mouse in a high-school-age setting. We will have to just wait and see if Disney counter-attacks with a “Mickey Mouse goes to college” animated show.
Will Stuart Little ever be as popular as Mickey Mouse? Is this reboot a good idea? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below!