Darla K. Anderson Kevin Reher | |
Andrew Stanton Donald McEnery Bob Shaw | |
A Bug's Life is a 1998 American CGI film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 25, 1998. A Bug's Life was the second Disney·Pixar feature film and the third American computer-animated film after Toy Story and Antz. It tells the tale of an oddball individualist inventor ant who hires what he thinks are "warrior bugs" — actually circus performers — to fight off a huge swarm of grasshoppers who have made the ant colony their servants. The film was directed by John Lasseter, and was co-directed by Andrew Stanton.
The story of A Bug's Life is a parody of Aesop's fable of The Ant and the Grasshopper. It is similar to the comedy Three Amigos, which is about out-of-work actors defending a town while thinking they are merely giving a performance. It also gives a nod to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (as well as its Hollywood remake, The Magnificent Seven), which is about Japanese villagers hiring a group of swordsmen to fight off rampaging bandits. The film received mostly positive reviews.
Every season, a colony of ants are expected to gather food for a gang of biker like grasshoppers. One ant, Flik, is a promising inventor who isn't appreciated due to his inventions causing trouble. While trying out a mechanical harvester, he accidentally knocks the pile of food into a stream just before the grasshoppers arrive. The grasshopper leader, Hopper, gives the ants the rest of the season to gather more but orders double after Flik stands up to him in defense of the Queen's young daughter, Dot. As a result of his mistake, Flik is admonished by the colony's council. When Flik suggests that he try to recruit warrior bugs to fight the grasshoppers, Dot's older sister and the successor to the Queen, Princess Atta, allows him to do so, but only as a fool's errand to get rid of him.
Flik reaches the insect city, which is actually garbage under a trailer. He encounters a troupe of unemployed circus performers whose latest performance has just ended in disaster and mistakes them for the warriors he needs. At the same time, they believe him to be a talent scout who wants to book their act. They return to the colony, to Atta's surprise, and are greeted as heroes who can fight the grasshoppers. In a conversation, Flik and the troupe realize their misunderstandings with each other which Atta almost overhears. While about to leave the colony, the troupe reconsider when they manage to save Dot from being attacked by a hungry bird.
- Dave Foley as Flik, the main protagonist, a nerdy inventive ant who is desperate to make a difference to his colony's way of life, but tends to make things worse in the process. His inventions include a telescope created by wrapping a blade of grass around a dew drop; an automatic harvester; several items of traveler's gear; and the bird-shaped aircraft used to terrify the grasshoppers. He is friends with Dot and the Circus Bugs.
- Kevin Spacey as Hopper, the main antagonist, a feared grasshopper who is blind in one eye due to a scratch caused by a recent encounter with a bird[citation needed]. He leads a large gang of grasshoppers, who hold a Mafia-like control over the ants. Hopper is cunning, bad-tempered, and tyrannical.
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Princess Atta, the older princess ant of the royal family and heir to the throne. She is nervous about her new responsibilities and fears what the rest of the colony might think about her.
- Hayden Panettiere as Dot, the younger princess ant of the royal family. She idolizes Flik and resents being small.
- Denis Leary as Francis, an aggressive ladybug and a clown in P.T. Flea's circus troupe. Francis is frustrated by constantly being mistaken for a female and is shown to be belligerent and aggressive to the point of frightening others.
- David Hyde Pierce as Slim, a walking stick insect and a clown in P.T. Flea's circus troupe. It appears that he is unhappy with his position at the circus troupe, as his boss constantly casts him as a prop instead of a character. He is best friends with Heimlich and Francis, and often treats other bugs with respect in contrast to Francis' aggressive nature.
- Joe Ranft as Heimlich, a green caterpillar with a German accent and a clown in P.T. Flea's circus troupe. He is gluttonous, frivolous, and contemptuous of anyone he considers less intelligent than himself.
- Richard Kind as Molt, Hopper's brother and self-proclaimed Vice President of the grasshopper gang. He is named 'Molt' for his exoskelton's abnormal tendency to peel off. He is a loudmouth and provides a great deal of comic relief.
- Phyllis Diller as The Queen of the ant colony. She is an ancient ant, who is due to give up her crown to her eldest daughter Atta. She has a pet aphid called Aphie, whom she adores.
- Jonathan Harris as Manny, a praying mantis with an English accent; the magician of P.T. Flea's circus troupe. Manny is Gypsy's husband. His magic act involves the 'Chinese Cabinet of Metamorphosis', which is really a Chinese food take-out carton.
- Bonnie Hunt as Rosie, a black widow spider who is maternal toward the rhinoceros beetle, Dim, and the younger ants of the colony. She has apparently had twelve husbands.
- Madeline Kahn as Gypsy, a gypsy moth who has beautiful patterns on either side of her wings. She is Manny's wife as well as his "lovely assistant" during his magic act.
- Brad Garrett as Dim, a dung beetle who has a childlike, impressionable, but clear-sighted character. He is usually mothered by the black widow spider, Rosie. He is the largest insect of the circus troupe, and also the transport to Heimlich, Tuck, Roll, and Rosie.
- Michael McShane as Tuck and Roll, twin pill bugs who are Hungarian[1] but speak a language that is entirely fictional and do a Russian Folk dance. Tuck and Roll occasionally argue with each other, but are usually the best of friends.
- John Ratzenberger as P.T. Flea, the ringmaster of the circus troupe, who is unwilling to give refunds after his show has lasted two minutes.
- Roddy McDowall as Mister Soil, a member of the Ant Island council. This was McDowall's last role before his death in 1998.
- Edie McClurg as Doctor Flora, the nurse of Ant Island, another member of the council.
- Jack Angel as the Bar-and-Grill Flies.
DreamWorks Animation's similar film Antz was released a little more than a month before A Bug's Life. DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney in 1994 and said the idea for Antz came from a 1991 story pitch by Tim Johnson that was related to Katzenberg in October 1994.[2] However, Disney had been working on developing an ant film since 1988.[3] Pixar head John Lasseter pitched A Bug's Life the day Katzenberg left Disney in August 1994, and said he felt "betrayed" when he learned Antz was scheduled for release before A Bug's Life.[3] According to Lasseter and Steve Jobs, Katzenberg offered to stop development of Antz if Disney moved the release date of A Bug's Life, which was coming out opposite DreamWorks Animation's The Prince of Egypt. Pixar refused.[3]
The film received very positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 91% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 81 reviews, with an average score of 7.9/10. The critical consensus is "A Bug's Life is a clever and enjoyable movie with great animation."[4]
A Bug's Life made approximately $162.7 million in its United States theatrical run, easily covering its estimated production costs of $45 million. The film made $200,600,000 in foreign countries. The film made a worldwide gross of $363.3 million, surpassing the competition from DreamWorks Animation's Antz.
The pan and scan or 'full screen' version of the video (on the DVD as well as VHS releases) has been reframed and restaged; rather than sacrifice image in some parts of the film, the frame has been extended or objects moved to fit the narrower aspect ratio. Pixar continued this process on its later video releases. Also, the different characters (Flik, Dot, Francis, etc.) were on one (by themselves) cover of the video cover, considered a collectible in many cases.
To show off its new DVD capabilities, a copy of the film was included with the Apple iMac DV, which made its debut in 1999. A laserdisc version was also released in Japan by Pioneer, one of the last.
The widescreen version of the film preserves its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. A Bug's Life is the first fully computer animated feature to be created with this ratio.
A set of "fluffs" and "outtakes" was included, in which various animated characters "blew" their dialog, or broke up laughing inappropriately. In one, Flik yells the line "To infinity, and beyond!", quoting Buzz Lightyear from an earlier Pixar film, Toy Story. Later, Woody leans into view with an upside down clapperboard to mark the end of a botched take.
Another DVD was released as a 2-disc Collector's Edition. This DVD is fully remastered and has substantial bonus features about the film. On May 19, 2009, a Blu-ray version was released. These versions included a DisneyFile Digital Copy
