A Bug's Life
USA 1998
Reviewed by Leslie Felperin
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
On a tiny island dominated by one large tree, a colony of ants gather their yearly midsummer grain offering to appease a marauding grasshopper gang led by the ferocious Hopper. Worker-ant Flik, while demonstrating his new grain-harvesting contraption, accidentally dumps the offering into deep water. An incensed Hopper demands the ants provide twice their usual offering by the time the last leaf falls from the tree. Flik offers to get help from bigger bugs in the mainland city (a rubbish pile). Princess Atta, training to take over from her mother the Queen, agrees to let him go.
In the city, a troupe of circus bugs are fired by their ringmaster P. T. Flea after a disastrous performance. Flik sees them fighting with some flies and mistakes them for warriors, while they mistake him for a talent scout. Flik leads them back to the island. When the misunderstanding is clarified, the circus bugs try to leave, but stop to help save Atta's sister Dot from a hungry bird. Flik is inspired: he persuades the colony and the bugs to build a fake bird to scare off the grasshoppers. But when Flik realises that no one expected him to succeed, he leaves with the circus bugs whom Flea has rehired.
The grasshoppers arrive, intending to squish the Queen. Dot finds Flik and persuades him to return. Flik's fake-bird plan partly succeeds until the bird catches fire. Flik stands up to Hopper and makes the ants realise that they vastly outnumber the grasshoppers. The ants attack en masse, Hopper battles Flik, but is tricked into falling into the clutches of a real bird and is eaten by its chicks. The circus bugs set off, leaving behind Flik, now considered a hero by the colony.
Review
Insects have an impressive employment record in animation. In 1909, Ladislaw Starewicz experimented with animating dead stag beetles, eventually featuring them in Cameraman's Revenge (1911 a variation on the Bride Retires cycle of voyeuristic films), one so convincing critics were amazed that Starewicz had managed to train his tiny cast so well. Animation pioneers the Fleischer Brothers made Mr Bug Goes to Town (1941), a great film maudit which features a colony of urban insects whose home is threatened by the inexorable forces of property development. This was their second unsuccessful attempt (after Gulliver's Travels in Lilliput, 1939) to mount a viable alternative to Disney's monopoly on animated features.
It's tempting to make parallels with the current battle between DreamWorks SKG and Disney circa 1998. DreamWorks, who released their own wisecracking, New York-set ant movie Antz a few months ago, might seem plucky inheritors of the Fleischers' upstart-underdog title if they were not themselves so efficient, canny and corporate. Still, history is repeating itself in the sense that Disney has the upper hand with this co-production (with Pixar) of A Bug's Life - traditionally bucolic, better executed, more tightly constructed and more commercially successful. This latest insect movie uses the same basic plot structure as Antz: a colony threatened by other more powerful insects is saved by ostracised members' ingenuity. A Bug's Life burrows a little less deeply into the muddy individual-versus-conformity soil ploughed by Antz. It's a far lighter film - literally so, with much more of its action taking place above ground rather than inside the anthill (which in Antz made a wonderfully murky, Metropolis-like setting).
It's no accident, though, that an anglepoise (star of award-winning short Luxo Jr.) is Pixar's mascot. Subtle use of light and colour has emerged as director John Lasseter and Co's trademark and their deployment of these elements in A Bug's Life is quite astounding. Where the last film, Toy Story, was set mainly indoors and afforded opportunities to mimic incandescent lighting and sunlight filtered through windows, A Bug's Life goes for an even more complex palette of effects. As the summer wanes and autumn kicks in, the shades darken and the angles of illumination change almost imperceptibly. In this arena, computers really can achieve things cel animation would struggle to get right: it's a matter of mathematical programming to calculate shadows from preset sources. A kind of lapidary realism is generated that would have equally impressed those fooled by Starewicz's stag beetles.
Nonetheless, the film's makers are canny enough to realise the value of stylisation. A Bug's Life really has the edge over Antz in the graphic simplicity of its characterisation. Where Antz made things harder for itself with anatomically correct six-legged ants given almost human-proportioned faces, Pixar's film takes an opposite strategy, reducing faces to huge, white-filled eyes and giving the ant bodies only four limbs. Meanwhile, the grasshoppers (their relentless leader Hopper wittily voiced by Kevin Spacey) have a lobster-shell texture, their joints constantly clicking menacingly, forming a sharp contrast with the soft, incandescent burnish on the pastel-coloured ants. Little of it will wash with entomologists, but A Bug's Life achieves the aim of reducing the squirm factor inherent in having insect protagonists. Nevertheless, the script has fun playing with our common knowledge of insects. The film's best line is a bored fly at the circus dismissing the bugs' performance with, "I only have 24 hours to live and I'm not wasting it on this." This fly would be less likely to say this of the film in which he appears. The rest of the film has similar fun mixing bug-world givens with anthropomorphism.
Credits
- Producers
- Darla K. Anderson
- Kevin Reher
- Screenplay
- Andrew Stanton
- Donald McEnery
- Bob Shaw
- Story
- John Lasseter
- Andrew Stanton
- Joe Ranft
- Director of Photography
- Sharon Calahan
- Supervising Film Editor
- Lee Unkrich
- Production Designer
- William Cone
- Music
- Randy Newman
- ©Disney Enterprises Inc/Pixar Animation Studios
- Production Companies
- Walt Disney Pictures presents a Pixar Animation Studios film
- Production Supervisors
- Technical:
- Graham Walters
- Editorial:
- Bill Kinder
- Story/Art/Layout:
- B.Z. Petroff
- Production Office Co-ordinator
- Jean Flynn
- Scheduling Co-ordinator
- Sarah Jo Daughters
- Production Manager
- Susan Tatsuno Hamana
- Post-production
- Supervisor:
- Brian McNulty
- Consultant:
- Patsy Bougé
- Casting
- Ruth Lambert
- Associate:
- Mary Hidalgo
- Additional ADR Voice:
- Mickie T. McGowan
- Story Supervisor
- Joe Ranft
- Additional Story
- GeeFwee Boedoe
- Jason Katz
- Jorgen Klubien
- Robert Lence
- David Reynolds
- Story Manager
- Susan E. Levin
- Story Artists
- Maxwell Brace IV
- Ash Brannon
- Jim Capobianco
- Jason Katz
- Jorgen Klubien
- Robert Lence
- Bud Luckey
- Bob Peterson
- Andrew Stanton
- Nathan Stanton
- Camera Manager
- James Burgess
- Camera Supervisor
- Louis Rivera
- Camera Technicians
- Don Conway
- Jeff Wan
- Lighting Manager
- Lindsey Collins
- Lighting Co-ordinator
- Tom Kim
- Modelling/Shading Manager
- Deirdre Warin
- Modelling Artists
- Mark Adams
- James Bancroft
- Loren Carpenter
- Wei-Chung Chang
- Michael Fong
- Lisa Forssell
- Deborah R. Fowler
- Damir Frkovic
Shalini Govil-Pai- Brian Green
- Mark Thomas Henne
- Christian Hoffman
- Oren Jacob
- Jeffrey 'JJ' Jay
- Rob Jensen
- Sonoko Konishi
- David Lomax
- Michael Lorenzen
- Kelly O'Connell
- Keith Olenick
- Joyce Powell
- Brian M. Rosen
- Dale Ruffolo
- Andrew Schmidt
- Don Schreiter
- Eliot Smyrl
- Galyn Susman
- Tien Truong
- Bill Wise
- Kim White
- Crowd Technical Artists
- Cynthia Pettit
- Leslie Picardo
- Crowd/Effects Co-ordinator
- Kelly T. Peters
- Lead CG Painter
- Robin Cooper
- CG Painters
- Yvonne Herbst
- Bryn Imagire
- Glenn Kim
- Supervising Animators
- Glenn McQueen
- Rich Quade
- Animation Managers
- Kori Rae
- Associate:
- Maureen E. Wylie
- Animators
- Michael Berenstein
- Dylan Brown
- Sandra Christiansen
- Scott Clark
- Brett Coderre
- David Devan
- Andrew Gordon
- Timothy Hittle
- John Kahrs
- Karen Kiser
- Shawn Krause
- Bankole Lasekan
- Dan Lee
- Les Major
- Daniel Mason
- Billy Merritt
- James Ford Murphy
- Mark Oftedal
- Michael Parks
- Sanjay Patel
- Bobby Podesta
- Jeff Pratt
- Karen Prell
- Roger Rose
- Andrew Schmidt
- Steve Segal
- Doug Sheppeck
- Alan Sperling
- Doug Sweetland
- David Tart
- J. Warren Trezevant
- Mark Walsh
- Tasha Wedeen
- Additional Animation
- Kyle Balda
- Alan Barillaro
- Stephen Barnes
- Colin Brady
- Ben Catmull
- Jennifer Cha
- Tim Crawfurd
- Ike Feldman
- Stephen Gregory
- Jimmy Hayward
- Steven Clay Hunter
- Angus MacLane
- Jon Mead
- Karyn Metlen
- Valerie Mih
- Peter Nash
- Jan Pinkava
- Brett Pulliam
- Michael Quinn
- Gini Santos
- Anthony Scott
- Adam Wood
- Christina Yim
- Crowd Supervising Animator
- Dale McBeath
- Crowd Animation
- Davey Crockett Feiten
- Patty Kihm
- Bob Koch
- Robert H. Russ
- Ross Stevenson
- Kureha Yokoo
- Lead Render Technical Director
- Danielle Feinberg
- Rendering Manager
- Victoria Jaschob
- Optimization Consultant
- Oren Jacob
- Animation Software Development Director
- Darwyn Peachey
- Software Engineers
- Brad Andalman
- Ronen Barzel
- Bena Currin
- Tony DeRose
- Kurt Fleischer
- Lisa Forssell
- Thomas Hahn
- Mark Thomas Henne
- Kitt Hirasaki
- Michael B. Johnson
- Steve Johnson
- Michael Kass
- Chris King
- Eric Lebel
- Peter Nye
- Lee Ozer
- Bruce Perens
- John Singh Pottebaum
- Sudeep Rangaswamy
- Arun Rao
- Drew Rogge
- Michael Shantzis
- Heidi Stettner
- Dirk Van Gelder
- James W. Williams
- Wayne Wooten
- Rendering Software Development Director
- Anthony A. Apodaca
- Special Rendering Techniques
- Tom Duff
- Larry Gritz
- Tien Truong
- Crowd Technical Supervisor
- Michael Fong
- Effects/Crowd Managers
- Nicole Paradis Grindle
- Deirdre Warin
- Effects Technical Artists
- James Bancroft
- Keith B.C. Gordon
- Mark Thomas Henne
- Dan Herman
- Christian Hoffman
- Leo Hourvitz
- Jeffrey 'JJ' Jay
- Quintin King
- Chris Perry
- Bill Polson
- Don Schreiter
- Brad Winemiller
- Adam Woodbury
- Crowd Technical Artists
- Kirk Bowers
- Onny P. Carr
- Shalini Govil-Pai
- Quintin King
- Michael Lorenzen
- Layout Manager
- Molly Naughton
- Layout Co-ordinator
- Trish Carney
- Supervising Layout Artist
- Ewan Johnson
- Senior Layout Artist
- Craig Good
- Layout Artists
- Robert Anderson
- Kevin Björke
- Shawn Brennan
- Bill Carson
- Wade Childress
- Jeremy Lasky
- Patrick Lin
- Mark Sanford
- Adam Schnitzer
- 2nd Editor
- David Ian Salter
- Editorial Co-ordinator
- Hana Yoon
- Additional Editing
- Jessica Ambinder Rojas
- Mildred Iatrou
- Jeff Jones
- Ellen Keneshea
- Art Directors
- Tia W. Kratter
- Bob Pauley
- Art Department Manager
- Katherine Sarafian
- Shading Supervisor
- Rick Sayre
- Shading Design
- Tia W. Kratter
- Shading Artists
- John B. Anderson
- David Batte
- Lisa Forssell
- Keith B.C. Gordon
- Brian Green
- Ben Jordan
- Ken Lao
- Daniel McCoy
- Keith Olenick
- Chris Perry
- Bill Polson
- Mitch Prater
- Brian M. Rosen
- Eliot Smyrl
- Tien Truong
- David Valdez
- Bill Wise
- Modelling/Shading Co-ordinators
- Victoria Jaschob
- Mark Nielsen
- Sketch Artists
- Mark Holmes
- Glenn Kim
- Dan Lee
- Bud Luckey
- Lawrence Marvit
- Nathaniel McLaughlin
- Additional Storyboarding
- GeeFwee Boedoe
- Jill Culton
- Pete Docter
- Davey Crockett Feiten
- Harley Jessup
- Jeff Pidgeon
- Sculptures
- Norman De Carlo
- Jerome Ranft
- Character Design
- Bob Pauley
- Additional:
- Dan Lee
- Jason Katz
- Bud Luckey
- GeeFwee Boedoe
- James Ford Murphy
- Sanjay Patel
- Tasha Wedeen
- Visual Development
- Peter Desève
- Dave Gordon
- Steve Johnson
- Paul Kratter
- Lou Fancher
- Jean Gilmore
- Bruce Zick
- Fred Warter
- William Joyce
- Kevin Donahue
- Rick Maki
- Title Design
- Susan Bradley
- Orchestrations
- Jonathan Sacks
- Don Davis
- Ira Hearshen
- Executive Music Producer
- Chris Montan
- Music Production Supervisor
- Andrew Page
- Music Production Manager
- Tom MacDougall
- Music Editors
- Supervising:
- Lori Eschler Frystak
- Associate:
- Bruno Coon
- Temporary:
- David Slusser
- Music Recorder/Mixer
- Frank Wolf
- Soundtrack
- "The Time of Your Life" by/performed by Randy Newman
- Sound Design
- Gary Rydstrom
- Additional Dialogue Recording
- Bob Baron
- Vince Caro
- John McGleenan
- Jackson Schwartz
- Re-recording Mixers
- Gary Rydstrom
- Gary Summers
Original Dialogue Mixer- Doc Kane
- Mix Technicians
- Gary A. Rizzo
- Tony Sereno
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Tim Holland
- Sound Effects Editor
- Pat Jackson
- ADR
- Editor:
- Michael Silvers
- Foley
- Artists:
- Dennie Thorpe
- Jana Vance
- Recordist:
- Frank 'Pepe' Merel
- Mixer:
- Tony Eckert
- Editors:
- Mary Helen Leasman
- Marian Wilde
- Supervising Technical Directors
- William Reeves
- Eben Ostby
- Voice Cast
- Dave Foley
- Flik, the hero ant
- Kevin Spacey
- Hopper, badass grasshopper
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- Princess Atta, a she-ant
- Hayden Panettiere
- Princess Dot
- Phyllis Diller
- the Queen
- Richard Kind
- Molt
- David Hyde Pierce
- Slim, a walking stick
- Joe Ranft
- Heimlich
- Denis Leary
- Francis, a male lady bug
- Jonathan Harris
- Manny, the praying mantis
- Madeline Kahn
- Gypsy, a moth
- Bonnie Hunt
- Rosie, a black widow spider
- Michael McShane
- Tuck/Roll, Hungarian pillbugs
- John Ratzenberger
- P.T. Flea
- Brad Garrett
- Dim, a not-so-bright beetle
Roddy McDowall- Mr Soil
- Edie McClurg
- Doctor Flora
- Alex Rocco
- Thorny
- David Ossman
- Cornelius
- Carlos Alazraqui
- Jack Angel
- Bob Bergen
- Kimberly Brown
- Rodger Bumpass
- Anthony Burch
- Jennifer Darling
- Rachel Davey
- Debi Derryberry
- Paul Eiding
- Jessica Evans
- Bill Farmer
- Sam Gifaldi
- Brad Hall
- Jess Harnell
- Brendan Hickey
- Kate Hodges
- Denise Johnson
- David Lander
- John Lasseter
- Sherry Lynn
- Mickie T. McGowan
- Courtland Mead
- Christine Milian
- Kelsey Mulrooney
- Ryan O'Donohue
- Jeff Pidgeon
- Phil Proctor
- Jan Rabson
- Joe Ranft
- Jordan Ranft
- Brian M. Rosen
- Rebecca Schneider
- Franchesca Smith
- Andrew Stanton
- Hannah Swanson
- Russie Taylor
- Travis Tedford
- Ashley Tishdale
- Lee Unkrich
- Jordan Warkol
- additional voices
- Certificate
- U
- Distributor
- Buena Vista International (UK)
- 8,533 feet
- 94 minutes 49 seconds
- Dolby digital/SDDS/Digital DTS sound
- In Colour
- Prints by
- Technicolor
- Anamorphic