A Bug's Life (1998)

Genre

Adventure | Animation | Comedy

Director

John Lasseter

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hayden Panettiere, Phyllis Diller, Richard King, David Hyde Pierce, Denis Leary, Joe Ranft, Bonnie Hunt, Brad Garrett, Jonathan Harris, Madeline Kahn, Mike McShane, John Ratzenberger

Storyline

Every year, a bunch of grasshoppers come to an anthill and eat what the ants have fathered for them. This time though Flik (Dave Foley), a misfit ant, accidentally drops everything into the river, and when the grasshoppers come they ask for more food. As a result, Flik embarks on a journey to find warrior bugs to battle the grasshoppers and ends up bringing home a circus crew.

Opinion

After the success of "Toy Story", John Lasseter and Pixar decided to go from toys to bugs, and gave us "A Bug's Life", an awful film for some, a fun and amusing animated film for me (both as a kid and as an adult) and many others.

Like the most recent "Happy Feet", the story is about an outcast doing all he can to fit in while still trying to be unique, and although pretty simple, it is quite original and engages from the start. Also it's full of heart, and delivers several messages among which "strength in unity" stands out.

But the story isn't what makes the film enjoyable and fun, that role belongs to the characters. Although they are not the deepest characters in animation - they indeed are very simple -, they still are intriguing, you will probably end up caring for them, and some of them are so adorable you'll probably fall in love with them. I'm not talking about the ants though, those are pretty boring character. The warrior bugs, on the other hand, they are awesome. And the grasshoppers, the villains, are kinda cool too.

What makes the characters even better - other that the good voice work among which stands out Kevin Spacey as Hopper, the grasshoppers' leader, and Hayden Panettiere's Dot, a lovely, little ant - is the animation. It might be a bit dated now, but it's still excellent, and brings to life the characters with such lovely colours, and dazzling movements.

Bottom line, it might be a simple film with no particularly memorable characters, but as a whole, it's a lot of fun.

6 comments :

  1. I need to watch this movie again soon, it was one of my favourites as a kid!
    By the way, I've nominated you for a Sunshine Blogger Award :) https://oftenofftopic.wordpress.com/2017/02/05/move-over-la-la-land-i-have-2-award-nominations/

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    1. It was one of my favourites too! I also had a toy of Francis, the ladybug. And thanks for the award!

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  2. Mi sono innamorato della Pixar grazie a questo film.

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  3. I actually think this one is underrated. It's still one of my favorite Pixar films. I loved it when I was a kid, and I like watching it with my own kid now.

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    1. I thought I was the only one thinking it was underrated. So glad to see I'm not.

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