A BUG’S LIFE (Theatrical Release USA 1998)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.9|5.0 Starsììì

A Bug’s Life—one of the better animated films, although not as good as Toy Story—has a straight forward story line, the voicing is very good, and the script is well presented. It’s completely presentable for the child audience and has outstanding graphics.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

The ant, Flik (voice of Dave Foley), invents things that could potentially better his ant colony; but, unfortunately, is poorly equipped to do little else. When grasshoppers start to swarm, the ants are required to have a pile of food gathered as a type of tax to prevent the grasshoppers from harming the colony.  When the lead grasshopper, Hopper (voice of Kevin Spacey), comes for the ‘tax’, the ant, Flik, clumsily causes all the gathered food to spill from the offering spot and all food rolls into the pond at the bottom of a hill. Hopper orders the ants to replace the food within an impossible time frame and Flik goes to find help to save the ant colony.

Additional Thanks

Really Good Work for Directors John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton. Thank you to Producers Darla K. Anderson and Kevin Reher for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Atta (voice of Julia Louis-Dreyfuss), Dot (voice of Hayden Panettierre), Queen (voice of Phyllis Diller), Molt (voice of Richard Kind), Slim (voice of David Hyde Pierce), Heimlich (voice of Joe Ranft), Francis (voice of Denis Leary), Manny (voice of Jonathan Harris), and Gypsy Moth (voice of Madeline Kahn).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Maybe. It is a great kid’s movie; but, depends on the adult whether they will find it a good adult/child share film.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers