Review: A Bug’s Life (1998)

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A Bug's Life

A Bug’s Life

Rating

Director

John Lasseter

Screenplay

John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Joe Ranft, Donald McEnery, Bob Shaw

Length

1h 35m

Starring

David Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hayden Panettiere, Phyllis Diller, Richard Kind, David Hyde Pierce, Joe Ranft, Denis Leary, Jonathan Harris, Madeline Kahn, Bonnie Hunt, Michael McShane, John Ratzenberger, Brad Garrett, Roddy McDowall, Edie McClurg, Alex Rocco

MPAA Rating

Basic Plot

An ant thinks he can save the day, but who he gets to help are circus performers?

Review

Can one person make a difference in this great big world?

“A Bug’s Life” is Disney’s latest computer animated feature from Pixar. Their first picture, “Toy Story,” was an immense success. Now they face competition from Dreamworks who’s put out their own computer animated feature called “Antz.” Amazingly enough, both involve the same kinds of creatures: ants.

While “A Bug’s Life’s” main cast is ants, there are more than just ants in this feature.

The film opens on a colony of ants gathering an offering of grains and fruits for a horde of grasshoppers who threaten to annihilate them if they don’t do their bidding. We are introduced to the Queen (Phyllis Diller) and her daughters, Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), heir to the throne, and Dot (Hayden Panettiere). They are supervising the efforts to collect the food.

A young inventive ant, Flik (Dave Foley), has concocted a device to simply picking efforts, but when he accidentally launches some grass talks onto the princess, he is chastised and wanders off for a little bit. When the snail shell horn is sounded, panic sets in because the grasshoppers are on their way.

After all the ants have deposited the food and retreated below the ground, Flik returns quickly trying to get all of his grains onto the offering leaf. He inadvertently knocks over the altar and the contents spill over the cliff into a pond. He rushes down and tries to warn the others about the accident.

The grasshoppers arrive, find there is no food and threaten the ants. They must now collect twice the offering by the end of the summer for the grasshoppers or they will feel their wrath.

Because of his error, Flik is put on trial before the ant council and while they are trying to decide what to do with him, he comes up with the idea to leave the island and go in search of larger bugs to fight the grasshoppers. The council accepts his plan and he goes off on his quest.

When Flik arrives in the big city, he goes to a bar in hopes of finding his battalion. There, moping over their loss of a circus job, a group of misfit bugs gets involved in a bar brawl that they, without intending to, win. Flik thinks he’s found his bugs without realizing they aren’t who they appear to be.

He returns with them and, after initial doubt, they are accepted and come up with a plan to rid the ants of the grasshoppers.

The circus bugs include the walking stick named Slim (David Hyde Pierce), a rotund caterpillar named Heimlich (Joe Ranft), an easily irritated lady bug by the name of Francis (Denis Leary) and the magic team of Manny (Jonathan Harris), a praying mantis, and Gypsy (Madeline Kahn), a beautiful butterfly. Also in the group is a spider (Bonnie Hunt), Rosie, two non-English-speaking rolly-pollies named Tuck and Roll (Michael McShane) and their employer, P.T. Flea (John Ratzenberger) fired them, but later regrets it.

The grasshopper militia is led by Hopper (Kevin Spacey) with his dimwitted brother, Molt (Richard Kind), trying to be of help when he’s not wanted.

Other ants in the colony include council members Mr. Soil (Roddy McDowall) and Dr. Flora (Edie McClurg) and the work foreman, Thorny (Alex Rocco).

The voice work is all significantly good, most notably Kind, Pierce, Ranft and Leary who provide the largest amount of comic relief. Diller is a surprise and makes you realize how much you’ve missed her.

The technical achievement is significant. The landscape is extremely realistic and the amazing action sequences are spectacular. When compared with “Antz,” you realize how much larger an undertaking “A Bug’s Life” is. The story is better, involving far more characters woven intricately together in brilliant comic array, and the animation, though lacking six legs, is simply more amazing.

Disney has triumphed yet again and “A Bug’s Life” is easily their best computer-generated effort yet. “A Bug’s Life” is a film for the entire family. Both adults and children alike will be thrilled and delighted.

Awards Prospects

Original Comedy/Musical Score is almost guaranteed. Adapted Screenplay is not out of the question, but will be very hard to get. Sound is also in reach, as is Original Song.