A Bug's Life 1998 CGI Film Starring Kevin Spacey
A Peaceful Ant Colony is Threatened by a Gang of Grasshoppers
Sep 29, 2009
A peaceful colony of ants is forced to give up the majority of its food to a group of grasshoppers every summer. Unfortunately an accident results in the loss of the food and whilst the colony struggles with what to do, one ant decides to recruit warrior bugs to defend the colony.
A Bug's Life's Plot and Characters
At the beginning of every summer a colony of ants has to collect food for a group of grasshoppers who run a kind of protection racket. A well meaning ant named Flik (voiced by Dave Foley), whose inventions generally do more harm than good, accidentally loses all of the food the ants have gathered for the grasshoppers. Hopper (Kevin Spacey) and his gang invade the colony threatening the ants unless they double the order of food by the end of the summer when the grasshoppers return.
Flik volunteers to head off to the city in order to find warrior bugs to fight the grasshoppers for the colony. Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) allows him to go, but only so that he will be out of the way whilst the colony gives in to Hopper’s demands.
Meanwhile a group of circus performers are fired after they accidentally set their boss P.T. Flea (John Ratzenberger) on fire during an act. The group, which includes a stick insect named Slim (David Hyde Pierce), a praying mantis named Manny (Jonathan Harris) and two pill bugs named Tuck and Roll (Michael McShane) who cannot speak English all, heads to a bar to drown their sorrows when they get into a fight with some flies.
Flik mistakenly thinks that they are warriors and they mistake him for a talent scout. They return to the colony where both Flik and the circus bugs realise that they are not who the other thought.
Delightful Animation
A Bug’s Life was the second of Pixar’s collaborations with Disney and is one funniest films that Pixar has ever made. There are so many funny moments. As Flik leaves the colony he tells the ants that he will bring back bugs to save them, and as he walks away the colony cheers. Flik believes that they are cheering him on, when they are actually cheering because he is leaving the colony. Molt (voiced by Richard Kind), Hopper’s idiotic brother, also provides a lot of A Bug’s Life’s comedy.
The story line is similar to the Three Amigos in which a trio of actors are hired to defend a town who believe that they are only giving a performance. However, it does not matter as the idea of ants fighting grasshoppers is so charming that audiences both young and old cannot fail to be enchanted.
The cast is made up of some familiar voices. The two most recognisable are Kevin Spacey and David Hyde Pierce. Pixar main rivals at DreamWorks Animation tend to focus on getting A-list celebrities to voice their animations. Whereas Pixar is more concerned with the story and creating a colourful world that will delight their audience.
A Bug’s Life is effortlessly charming and the characters all have distinct personalities. The film also does not fall into the trap of trying to make the insects live in a human-like world where the characters are insects instead of people.
DreamWorks had a crack at bug films with Antz but A Bug’s Life is so much funnier and the world far more colourful. The film also includes a series of outtakes that run over the credits which are extremely funny. Woody from Toy Story even makes an appearance behind the scenes.
Pixar’s A Bug’s Life is a prime example of a delightful film that will appeal to younger audiences. Only adults with insides like ice will fail to be entertained by this feel good story about the little guys triumphing over the bullies.
10/10
A Bug's Life is one of Pixar's best films and is a simple joy to watch.
