Hollywood stars were out for the Columbia Pictures World Premiere of Stuart Little held December 5 in Los Angeles which helped raise $940,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). The film, which stars Geena Davis, Jonathan Lipnicki, Hugh Laurie, and Michael J. Fox as the voice of Stuart, is based on the classic children's book by beloved American author E.B. White. Thanks to Sony Pictures Entertainment, five other cities, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Toronto, and Washington, DC, hosted national premieres on December 12 to benefit JDRF.

"We're so pleased that Hollywood has come together to support such an important cause - finding a cure for diabetes," said Lucy Fisher, Vice Chairman, Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group. "Diabetes is a chronic disease of childhood and one you never outgrow. Insulin isn't a cure, it's only life support until a cure is found." Ms. Fisher and husband Douglas Wick, whose company Red Wagon Productions produced the film, have a child with diabetes.

Along with the stars of the film, other celebrities attending the world premiere in LA were Chazz Palminteri, Leeza Gibbons (JDRF National Walk Chair), former First Lady Nancy Reagan, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Rob Reiner, Burt Bacharach, Ellen Barkin, James L. Brooks, Brian Setzer, Trisha Yearwood and Mimi Rogers.

Stuart Little, directed by Rob Minkoff, combines live-action with groundbreaking visual effects technology by the artists and innovators at Sony Pictures Imageworks. It's the story of a mouse that is raised by the Littles, a human family, and the production of the film's title character and some of his friends and adversaries represents one of the most ambitious ventures to date into photo-real, performance-based digital character creation. The score was written by Academy Award nominated composer Alan Silvestri, who also has a child with diabetes.

"The world premiere brought together the best and the brightest in Hollywood to help JDRF in our quest for a cure," said Michael McClain, President of the Los Angeles Chapter of JDRF. "JDRF is so proud to be associated with this fine family movie and we know it will help us raise awareness about the seriousness of this disease."

A highlight of the premiere event was the pledge of $1 million to JDRF from Excite@Home and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

"We're thrilled to be aligning our brand with this meaningful cause and to be able to create an on-line event where everyone, users and industry studios alike, will not only enjoy participating, but will have the opportunity to give back to the community," said Fred Siegel, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Excite@Home. The event these internet and entertainment powerhouses intend to jointly build and host is the first-ever 'Hollywood Garage Sale' which will raise $1 million on-line for JDRF. It's scheduled to kick-off in the spring of 2000.

JDRF is the world's leading non-profit, nongovernmental funder of diabetes research. It was founded in 1970 by parents of children with diabetes. JDRF's mission is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research, and since its inception has provided more than $326 million to diabetes research worldwide