A Bug's Life
| A Bug's Life | |
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 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | John Lasseter Andrew Stanton |
| Produced by | Darla K. Anderson Kevin Reher |
| Written by |
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| Starring | Dave Foley Kevin Spacey Julia Louis-Dreyfus Hayden Panettiere Denis Leary Phyllis Diller Joe Ranft David Hyde Pierce Brad Garrett Richard Kind Bonnie Hunt Jonathan Harris Madeline Kahn Roddy McDowall Michael McShane John Ratzenberger |
| Music by | Randy Newman |
| Cinematography | Sharon Calahan |
| Editing by | Lee Unkrich |
| Studio | Pixar Animation Studios |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures Buena Vista Distribution |
| Release date(s) | November 25, 1998 |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60 million |
| Gross revenue | $363,398,565 |
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.
Contents |
Plot
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. 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 younger daughter and his only supporter, 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 a hungry bird.
Flik proposes to build a model bird to scare Hopper away. Whilst working together on the bird, the troupe members bond with the colony. Atta and Flik, who share mutual feelings of pleasing everyone, begin an awkward attraction for each other. At the grasshopper's hideout, Hopper's brother Molt suggests that they not go back, since they have more than enough food and that it will rain. Hopper reminds him and everyone else to keep ants living in fear because of their superior numbers, and they all set out to collect their due.
Eventually, circus master P. T. Flea arrives looking for his missing performers and unknowingly exposes them. Upset at Flik's deception, Atta orders him exiled from the colony, while the other ants rush to collect whatever food they can for Hopper. When the grasshoppers arrive, they are unable to meet his demands, so he takes over the colony and forces them to bring him food. Dot overhears their plans to kill the Queen once they have all the food, catches up with Flik and the troupe, and persuades them to return and put their plan into action. Flik, with help from Dot and her friends, fly the bird, which frightens the grasshoppers.
P. T. Flea, thinking the bird to have injured one of his stars, sets it on fire. Realizing the bird is all a trick, Hopper beats Flik to the ground. Flik, however, is able to stand up and reveals that the ants are more powerful than they are led to believe, with grasshoppers being the weak reliant ones. Realizing this, the colony swarms against the gang and forces all, except a captured Hopper, to leave. However, a rainstorm begins, causing panic in which Hopper grabs Flik and flies off. Atta rescues Flik and they lure Hopper toward the bird's nest. Hopper corners Flik and starts strangling him, but the bird grabs Hopper and flick and atta watch as the bird feeds hopper to its chicks. The next spring, the colony has adopted Flik's harvester to speed up grain collection, and Atta becomes the new queen, passing the princess crown to Dot and choosing Flik as her mate, presumably making him the king. They wave goodbye to the troupe, now joined by Molt, who all stayed over winter as guests.
Cast and characters
- 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. 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 rhinoceros 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. "bird", he goes in his protection.
- 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.
References to other Pixar films
Music
Production
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 release date of Antz was moved up from March 1999 to October 1998 in response to Disney's refusal.[2] Even though A Bug's Life was the first to be pitched, Antz was finished and released first.[2] A Bug's Life, however, was more profitable.
Reception
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]
Box office
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.
Home release
The DVD of the film was the first wholly-digital transfer of a feature film to a digital playback medium. No analog processes came between the creation of the computer images and their representation on the DVD.
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.
Attached short film
Theatrical and video releases of this film include Geri's Game, a Pixar short made in 1997, a year before this film was released.
References
- ↑ "Tuck and Roll". http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/abl/chars_pop14.html. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Of Ants, Bugs, and Rug Rats: The Story of Dueling Bug Movies". AP. October 2, 1998. http://laprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/october02/ants.htm.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Antz vs. Bugs". Business Week. November 23, 1998. http://www.businessweek.com/1998/47/b3605013.htm.
- ↑ "A Bug's Life". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bugs_life/. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
External links
- Information at Pixar's site
- A Bug's Life at the Internet Movie Database
- A Bug's Life at Allmovie
- A Bug's Life at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- A Bug's Life at Rotten Tomatoes
- A Bug's Life at Metacritic
- A Bug's Life at Box Office Mojo
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