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t took the work of 150 animators and digital artists more than three years to complete the sequel to “Stuart Little.” 

It shows: “Stuart Little 2” looks fantastic. 

The digital animation, impressively lifelike the first time, is even better now. Every single white hair on Stuart’s mousey head looks real, his facial expressions are natural, and the light glistens off his tiny whiskers. 

Rob Minkoff, who also directed the 1999 original (based on E.B. White’s book about a talking mouse who lives with a New York family), wisely staged several opportunities to show off the visual effects: when the wind is blowing as Stuart drives his little red convertible, when he’s zooming around the Littles’ impeccably detailed Fifth Avenue brownstone in a model plane. 

The most minute details, crafted with loving care, give the film its real charm — from the tiny pajamas Stuart wears when he crawls into his tiny bed at night, to the Tinkertoy pulley system he uses to lower himself to the floor in the morning. 

And kids will enjoy watching Stuart doing tricks on his skateboard in the birdbath (wearing the required headgear, naturally), and running down the soccer field with the big boys. 

But “Stuart Little 2” lacks the childlike sense of fun that gave the original film its buoyancy. It its place, screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin (an Oscar winner for 1991’s “Ghost”) has injected more action sequences, which have a palpable sense of desperation. The movie tries too hard to thrill, but the result is loud and overbearing. 

Still, if you liked the original, which grossed more than $300 million worldwide, you’ll be happy to know that most of the cast is back, including Michael J. Fox as the voice of Stuart — and Fox is so incredibly likable, he makes even the most hokey lines bearable. 

Nathan Lane also is back as the voice of Snowbell, the Littles’ pampered, neurotic cat, and it’s a joy to hear him even when some of his jokes fall flat. 

Stuart still lives with the insufferably perky Mr. and Mrs. Little (Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie) and their bespectacled son, George (Jonathan Lipnicki). He’s a little older now — he drives his car to school and plays on the soccer team — but when he tries to hang out with George and his buddies, they often give him the brush off. 

Right on cue, Stuart makes a friend of his own: an injured bird named Margalo (voiced by Melanie Griffith in her usual breathy, girlie monotone). Stuart saves Margalo from the clutches of the menacing Falcon (voiced by James Woods), who chases her around the city. 

Or does he? After Margalo moves in with the Littles, and Stuart helps her mend her broken wing, it seems she’s not exactly the friend she appeared to be. When she disappears, though — along with Mrs. Little’s two-carat diamond wedding ring — he assumes some horrible fate must have befallen her and enlists Snowbell’s help in finding her. 

This sets up an overlong chase through the skies over Central Park, and the requisite happy ending with its messages of friendship and loyalty. But what comes at the end will make you long for more of what you saw in the beginning. 

Let’s hope the filmmakers get everything right if and when “Stuart Little 3” scampers into theaters. 

“Stuart Little 2,” a Columbia Pictures release, is rated PG for brief mild language. Running time: 72 minutes. Two stars (out of four).