'''A Bug's Life''' is a
computer animated film produced by
Pixar Animation Studios and released by
Walt Disney Pictures and
Buena Vista Distribution in the
United States on
November 25,
1998, in
Australia on
January 12,
1999 and in the
United Kingdom on
5 February 1999. It's also the second
Disney /
Pixar feature film. It tells the tale of an oddball individualist
ant who hires what he thinks are "warrior bugs" (actually circus performers) to fight off greedy
grasshoppers. The film was directed by
John Lasseter .
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're merely giving a performance. It also gives an obvious nod to
Akira Kurosawa's ''
Seven Samurai'' (as well as its
Hollywood remake, ''
The Magnificent Seven''), which is about
Japanese villagers hiring a rag-tag group of swordsmen to fight off rampaging bandits.
Reviews for ''A Bug's Life'' were overwhelmingly positive at the time of the film's release, and it has remained popular since.
Plot
Flik is an oddball. An individualist and would-be inventor among a
colony of
ants that is being oppressed by a gang of
Mafia-like
grasshoppers. The grasshoppers arrive once a season to
extort food from the ants, supposedly in return for protection from "bigger bugs," but while working with an invention to pick grain more efficiently, Flik accidentally destroys the annual offering that the ants were collecting to appease the grasshoppers. In exchange for a temporary reprieve from the grasshoppers, the ants are given until the end of autumn to produce an offering of twice the usual amount. Later, while he is being admonished by the royal council of the colony, Flik proposes a plan to recruit "warrior bugs" to fight off the grasshoppers. When the council agrees to his proposal, Flik actually believes they have accepted the merits of his plan, whereas the council actually saw it as a convenient way of simply keeping Flik from wreaking any more havoc with their food-gathering activities.
Flik finds his way to the "city" (garbage under a trailer), where he mistakes a group of recently-fired
circus performers, whose act had collapsed into chaos, for the warrior bugs he's seeking. The bug
troupe, meanwhile, mistakes Flik for a talent agent who wants to book their act, and agrees to travel with him back to Ant Island.
Both Flik and the circus troupe soon become aware of their respective mistakes. However the rest of the ant colony had become convinced that these newcomers are indeed the warriors for which they had hoped when the circus bugs help Flik pull off a daring rescue of Dot (a young princess ant of the colony, who idolizes Flik) and a wounded Francis (a
ladybug performer of the circus bug troupe) from a hungry bird. Caught between the opportunity to turn around his fortunes within the colony, and the knowledge that the bug troupe were not who they appeared to be, Flik advocates building a fake bird to scare away Hopper, the leader of the grasshoppers, who is deeply afraid of bug-eating birds. The ants unite behind Flik's plan until the circus' ringmaster, P.T. Flea, arrives to retrieve his performers, thereby blowing Flik's cover. As punishment for deceiving the colony, Atta (the older sister of Dot and soon-to-be queen of the colony) banishes Flik, who sadly joins the rest of the circus.
Having wasted an enoromous amount of time pursuing Flik's plan to stand up to the grasshoppers, the ants try desperately to gather enough food for a new offering, but due to the rapidly-approaching winter season, they can't find enough food to meet the quota. When the grasshoppers return and are angered by the meager offering, Dot overhears Hopper's plan to kill the queen after receiving the full offering, and convinces her friends to put Flik's bird plan back into action. She goes after Flik and convinces him and the circus bugs to return to help the colony. It all nearly works, but when a confused P.T. inadvertently incinerates the bird, Hopper realizes he has been tricked and takes out his anger on the primary instigator: Flik. After absorbing a beating from Hopper, Flik declares, in response to Hopper's claims of racial superiority, "Ants are not meant to serve grasshoppers! It's ''you'' who need ''us''! We're a lot stronger than you say we are ... and you know it, don't you?" Indeed, Hopper does know that Flik has reasoned out the truth (earlier, Hopper had stated so much when one of his "henchbugs" had asked him why they were even bothering to return to Ant Island to collect their belated offering when they could easily find food where they were at the time). However, Hopper's reaction to Flik's challenge in front of the whole ant colony make them collectively realize that they vastly outnumber the grasshoppers, and that they needn't endure their oppression any longer. The ants all rise up in a wave of fury and chase the grasshoppers out for good, but not before Hopper makes off with Flik in a plan to exact revenge upon him. Flik's friends, including Princess Atta, set off in pursuit, and thanks to some quick thinking by Flik, Hopper ends up being eaten by a real bird. Flik is welcomed back to the colony, and all the circus bugs join him in a celebration before departing Ant Island.
Characters
Flik
Flik is an odd, inventive ant who is desperate to make a difference to his colony's way of life, but just makes things worse in the process. He does this again by destroying the pile of food for the grasshoppers, and then causing the leader, Hopper, to double the offering that has to be completed by the end of autumn. After reprimandment by the royal council, he suggests recruiting 'bigger bugs' to help fight the grasshoppers away. He goes to the city (rubbish under a caravan) and mistakes the recently fired circus troupe for warriors when some of them do an act based on
Robin Hood. Soon, he finds out his mistake, and even sooner, when the circus troupe's leader comes looking for them, his mistake is discovered and Flik is banished. The youngest princess, Dot, comes looking for him and the circus troupe, and says that Hopper will kill her mother, the Queen, when they have finished eating. Flik returns and stands up to Hopper, revealing his plot to kill the Queen. He then tricks Hopper to a bird's nest, where Hopper is eaten.
Hopper
Hopper is a feared grasshopper who is blind in one eye due to a scratch all the way down. He leads his gang of grasshoppers and keeps full control over the ants. When he is dissatisfied with the offering the ants give him after a second chance, he plots to kill the Queen. Flik and the circus troupe rescue the Queen with the help of the fake bird that they made earlier in the season. Hopper has a fear of birds, but soon discovers the bird is fake and attempts to kill Flik when he realises it was his idea. The ants stand up to him and bombard him. Hopper is trapped in a circus cannon, at the time when it starts to rain. He is shot out of the cannon at Flik and flies away with him. Flik tricks him to a bird's nest, where he is eaten.
Dot
Dot is the youngest princess ant of the royal family. She idolises Flik and hates being small. She also struggles to fly at the beginning of the film, because of her small size. She helps and convinces Flik a number of times during the film. Dot fears the demented grasshopper Thumper, who Hopper uses as a punishment.
Princess Atta
Princess Atta is the older princess ant of the royal family and heir to the throne. She is nervous about her new responsibilities when her mother, the Queen, gives up her crown, and also fears what the rest of the colony think about her. During the film, it is shown that she has a small crush on Flik, whereas at the beginning of the film, she does not show much appreciation for him at all. The Queen eventually gives up her crown at the end of the film, and Atta is made Queen. Atta gives up her own crown to her younger sister Dot.
The Queen
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 also admonishes her younger daughter, Dot, for trying to fly before her time. She has a pet aphid called Aphy, who she adores. She is also shown to have a possible romantic relationship with another elder ant, Cornelius.
Molt
Molt is Hopper's brother and self-proclaimed Vice President of the grasshopper gang. He is named 'Molt' through his skin's tendency to peel off. He is a loudmouth and Hopper despises him. Hopper also says that he promised their mother on her deathbed that he would not kill Molt. At the end, Molt joins P.T. Flea's circus troupe, under the new name of Tiny.
Slim
Slim is a 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, with such castings such as a broom, a pole, a stick and a splinter. He is shown to be best friends with Heimlich and Francis, and often treats other bugs with more respect in contrast to Francis' aggressive nature. Unlike most stick insects, Slim does not have wings and cannot fly. Because of this, Francis usually carries him for transport.
Heimlich
Heimlich is a green caterpillar with a German accent and a clown in P.T. Flea's circus troupe. He is gluttonous and always seems to be eating. Even during a performance, he offered to help finish one of the audience's 'candy cone'. The fly refused, but then it turned out that he got the candy cone anyway. He then later calls the flies 'Poo Poo Heads', when Francis is arguing with them. At the beginning of the film, he says that he dreams of being a beautiful butterfly. At the end of the film, he sprouts a pair of tiny wings, but really is still a caterpillar. Whilst a caterpillar, Heimlich was carried by the rhinoceros beetle, Dim, for transport.
Francis
Francis is an aggressive ladybug and a clown in P.T. Flea's circus troupe. Francis is fed up of constantly being mistaken for a girl and even attempts to fight a couple of audience members during a performance. Slim broke the argument by telling the fly that it was no way to speak to a lady. Francis' aggressive nature makes others cry, particularly maggots, and later, little ants, when he becomes 'den-mother' to the blueberry troops. Apparently, he was a natural mother. Francis seems to have a strong friendship with Slim and Heimlich. While transporting over long distances, Francis has to carry Slim, who, despite being a stick insect, does not have wings and cannot fly.
Manny
Manny is a praying mantis with an English accent and the magician of P.T. Flea's circus troupe. Manny is also Gypsy's husband. His magic act involves the 'Chinese Cabinet of Metamorphosis', which is really the packaging of a Chinese Takeaway. His magic act is not appreciated well by the flies in the usual audience, but the grasshoppers take it seriously. Manny is aggressive towards Flik at the beginning of the film, but grows to like him and in the end convinces him to go back to the colony and help save the Queen from being killed. During this rescue, Manny does his magic act and is almost strangled by Hopper when he refuses to give up the Queen's location.
Gypsy
Gypsy is a gypsy moth who has beautiful patterns on her wings on both sides. She is Manny's wife as well as his 'lovely assistant'. She is part of her husband's magic act. She gives the signal for Flik's fake bird plan to commence when the plan to rescue the Queen is in session. During this, Manny does his magic act, and Gypsy takes the place of the Queen as if to be a transformation in his Chinese Cabinet.
Rosie
Rosie is a black widow spider who has a mother-like nature. She is mostly like a mother to the rhinoceros beetle, Dim, and the younger ants of the colony. She has apparently had twelve husbands, one of which died, making her a Black Widow widow.
Tuck and Roll
Tuck and Roll are twin pill bugs who speak a language other than English. It is unknown what this language is, but it is presumed to be Russian, as they do a dance that is similar to a Russian dance. Tuck and Roll occasionally argue, but are usually the best of friends. They act as cannonballs in P.T. Flea's circus troupe. They also like the sound of the phrase "You're fired!", as they continously repeat it throughout the film.
Dim
Dim is a rhinoceros beetle who has a childlike nature. He is usually mothered by the black widow spider, Rosie. He is the largest insect of the circus troupe, and also the transport to Heimlick, Tuck, Roll and Rosie.
P.T. Flea
P.T. Flea is the ringmaster of the circus troupe, who is unwilling to give refunds after his show has lasted two minutes. His finale consists of an act called 'Flaming Death', in which he was almost incinerated. This caused him to fire his entire troupe, until a foot-long line of flies lined up outside the cirus tent wanting to see the 'Flaming Death' act again. He loves money.
Voice cast
Box office
''A Bug's Life'' made approximately $162 million in its U.S. theatrical run, easily covering its estimated production costs of
$45 million. The film also earned
£28,824,239 in its
United Kingdom theatrical run.
Video release
The
DVD of the film is 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.
As well, 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.
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 filmed in this ratio.
Trailers
One Pixar tradition is to create trailers for their films that do not contain footage from the released film. Trailers for this film include:
★ Flik and all the insects from the
circus troupe gather onto a leaf right before Heimlich bites the end of it off, causing them to fall.
Sequel?
It is unknown if Pixar will make a sequel, especially now that at least four of the primary voice actors (
Jonathan Harris,
Madeline Kahn,
Roddy McDowall, and
Joe Ranft) have passed away. Reference to a sequel was briefly made in the ''
Toy Story 2'' bloopers/outtakes, where Flik and Heimlich are perched on a leaf and Flik initiates an exchange of dialog between them: "Isn't it exciting Heimlich? Our first day of shooting! You know I can't believe you talked them into making ''A Bug's Life 2''." Heimlich then confesses, "Oh yeah I can hardly believe it also. There is just one itty baby thing I forgot to tell you." "Mhmm, what's that Heimlich?" "Well you see, it's a '2' movie, but uh, it's not ''A Bug's Life 2''." Then Flik says, "What? What, I don't understand! What is it then?" At that moment,
Buzz Lightyear appears and chops down the plants they were sitting on, revealing that Flik and Heimlich were actually sitting on a plant in a scene from ''Toy Story 2''.
[1]
Attached short film
Main articles: Geri's Game
Theatrical and video releases of this film include ''Geri's Game'', a Pixar short made in
1997, a year before this film was released.
See also
★ ''
Antz''
★
List of A Bug's Life characters
★
A Bug's Life (video game)
External links
★
Information at Pixar's site
★
★
★
★
★
References
1. Sequel
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