A Bug's Life

On the second day of “Disney’s Pixar Month,” we will be looking at the 1998 classic, “A Bug’s Life.”

As ants fight to gather scraps of food, a leaf falls and interrupts their march. “I’m lost!” screams a worker in panic. “Where’s the line?” Rescue workers quickly arrive: “We are going around to the left!” The harvest continues. “This is nothing compared to the twig of ’93,” an ant observes.

Roger Ebert admitted, “Enjoying this, I enjoyed too the use of animation to visualize a world that could not be seen in live action and could not be created with special effects. Animation contains enormous promise for a new kind of storytelling, freed from reality and gravity, but although the Japanese have exploited that freedom, too many American feature cartoons follow the Disney formula of plucky young heroes and heroines and comic sidekicks.”

It’s a formula that has made wonderful movies. However, the Pixar computer animation studio, a Disney co-producer, debut their mastery with “Toy Story” in 1995, and now with “A Bug’s Life,” it runs free. Ebert noted, “The story, about an ant colony that frees itself from slavery to grasshoppers, is similar in some ways to the autumn's other big animated release, "Antz," but it's aimed at a broader audience and lacks the in-jokes.”

The film’s protagonist is Flik, voiced by Dave Foley, the smartest ant in the colony (the competition is not high). As the other ants work to make up “The Offering,” a mountain of food for cruel grasshoppers, Flik masters an invention to harvest grain quicker. Ebert described Flik as “the Cyrus McCormick of the hymenopterous Formicidae.” However, he’s pretty much still an ant. Ebert noted, “The film is more about the fate of the colony and not so much about individuals like the Woody Allen hero of "Antz."” Flik drops the Offering, and Hopper, voiced by Kevin Spacey, the leader of the grasshoppers, is furious. Ebert noted, “Hopper has the kind of personality that makes him talk with his hands, and since he has four, Flik gets the message: Rebuild the Offering or face unspeakable consequences.” What’s the plan? Flik feels bad because of his ineptness that made the issue. He apologizes to the Queen (the late Phyllis Diller), is encouraged by Princess Atta (Elaine from “Seinfeld,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Mr. Soil (Roddy McDowall), and decides to fight back. The hot Hayden Panettiere voices Atta’s little sister, Dot.

Flik uses a dandelion pod as his way of flying and flies off on this hopeful mission to find warriors he can hire to defend the colony. He finds nine, including a walking stick named Slim (David Hyde Pierce), a praying mantis (Jonathan Harris), a caterpillar that, as Ebert described, “looks military and sounds like a Nazi” (Joe Ranft) and his brother (Richard Kind), a black widow (comedian Bonnie Hunt), a ladybug (Denis Leary), a rhino beetle (Brad Garret) and his wife (Madeline Kahn) and twin pillbugs (Mike McShane). How does he know they aren’t really warriors, but just struggling circus actors from P.T. Flea’s (John Ratzenberger) Circus? The animators, led by director John Lasseter, give great pictures. A rainstorm feels like the colony is being flooded. A circus trick involves matches and flypaper. There are tricky incidental lines (when Flik arrives at the city, he meets a beggar who explains, “A kid pulled my wings off”).

Ebert noted, “Will "A Bug's Life" suffer by coming out so soon after "Antz"? Not any more than one thriller hurts the chances for the next one. "Antz" may even help business for "A Bug's Life" by demonstrating how many dramatic and comedic possibilities can be found in an anthill. And the Pixar animators, using later generations of the software that created such a fresh look in "Toy Story," have made a movie that is always a pleasure to look at: There are glistening, rounded surfaces, the sense of three dimensions, an eye for detail.” There are huge laughs at the end, when the credits showcase animated “bloopers” that spoof the messed up lines and missed cues in live-action credit outtakes.

Ebert noted, “"Antz" has a more sophisticated sensibility and could play for adults attending by themselves.” “A Bug’s Life” is more clearly targeted as a family film. Smaller children will react to the threat from the grasshoppers and the craziness of the eccentric variety of circus performers found by Flik.

Ebert ended his review by noting, “Note: After seeing "A Bug's Life," you might want to rent that French documentary "Microcosmos," which uses enormously magnified images to show us the insect kingdom. There's a whole other world down there. Be careful where you step.”

I really liked this movie, but not as much as the other Pixar movies. I don’t think it’s bad in anyway, but I probably thought either this or the first “Toy Story” is the last on my Pixar list, but I cannot say. However, that does not mean that I hated this movie or the first “Toy Story” in anyway. I already said that “Toy Story” is one of my favorite Pixar movies, and I wasn’t lying. This movie may not be on my favorites list, as I believe this is last on my Pixar list, but I think it’s a great film for kids to watch. My brother pointed out that this film copies Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai." I remember seeing this movie on a coach bus when I was going to a field trip in the fourth grade. If you have children or want to see a Pixar movie, definitely do not skip this one. You need to see this because it’s a really good one.

This month will be different than the last two years because I will not be uploading a review every day. The weekends will not have reviews, so wait until next Monday for the next review in “Disney Pixar’s Month.”