A Bug's Life
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| A Bug's Life | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Lasseter Andrew Stanton (co-director) |
| Screenplay by | Andrew Stanton Donald McEnery Bob Shaw |
| Story by | John Lasseter Andrew Stanton Joe Ranft |
| Produced by | Darla K. Anderson Kevin Reher |
| Starring | Dave Foley Kevin Spacey Julia Louis-Dreyfus Hayden Panettiere |
| Cinematography | Sharon Calahan |
| Edited by | Lee Unkrich |
| Music by | Randy Newman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | Template:Film US |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60 million |
| Box office | $363,398,565 |
A Bug's Life is a 1998 American CGI animated film produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on November 25, 1998. A Bug's Life was the second Disney·Pixar feature film after Toy Story, and the third American computer-animated film after Toy Story and DreamWorks' Antz. Based on Akira Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai, and Aesop's fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper", it tells the tale of an oddball individualist inventor ant named Flik who hires what he thinks are "warrior bugs" – actually circus performers – to fight off a small band of grasshoppers who have made the ant colony their servants. The film was directed by John Lasseter, and was co-directed by Andrew Stanton.
Plot
Flik is an oddball, individualist and would-be inventor in a colony of ants that is oppressed by a gang of marauding grasshoppers, who arrive every season demanding food from the ants. Flik is always unappreciated due to his inventions causing trouble. While testing his new invention, a harvester to pick fruit more efficiently, Flik accidentally knocks the offering that the ants were putting together to appease the grasshoppers into a stream. Given a temporary reprieve by the grasshoppers, the ants agree to Flik's plan to recruit "warrior bugs" to fight off the grasshoppers - Flik actually believes the plan, while the other ants see it as a fool's errand to get rid of Flik.
Flik finds his way to the "big city" (a garbage dump), where he mistakes a group of circus bugs, whose act collapses into chaos, for the warrior bugs he's seeking. The bugs, meanwhile, mistake Flik for a talent agent, and agree to travel with him back to Ant Island.
The bugs earn the ants' respect after they save the Queen's daughter, Dot, from a bird. A bird attack inspires Flik into making a plan to build a fake bird to scare away Hopper, leader of the grasshoppers, who is deeply afraid of bug-eating birds. Eventually, the circus ringmaster, P.T. Flea, arrives searching for the circus bugs. Angered at Flik's deception, the ants exile him.
The ants desperately try to pull together enough food for a new offering to the grasshoppers, but are unable to do so. Dot, upon overhearing Hopper's plan to kill the queen after the offering, leaves the colony in search of Flik and convinces him to return and put his original plans to action to save the queen. The plan nearly works, but P.T. Flea mistakes the model for a actual bird and sets it on fire, causing Hopper to realized that he has been tricked. He orders one of his grasshoppers to attack Flik, whom he then proceeds to finish himself. Before he can do so, Princess Atta steps in and defends Flik, prompting the rest of the colony to stand up to the grasshoppers and fight them out of the colony. In the chaos, Hopper viciously pursues Flik, who leads him to an actual bird's nest, where he is ultimately eaten by baby chicks. Flik is welcomed back to the colony, and the circus bugs join him in a celebration. Princess Atta kisses Flik and is given her mother's, The Queen's, crown, making Princess Atta the Queen.
Cast
- Dave Foley as Flik: An ant who wants to make a difference for his colony.
- Kevin Spacey as Hopper: The leader of the grasshoppers.
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Princess Atta: The eldest daughter and heir of The Queen, Dot's older sister and Flik's love interest.
- Hayden Panettiere as Dot: The Queen's youngest daughter, Atta's younger sister and one of Flik's friends.
- Phyllis Diller as The Queen: Atta and Dot's mother and the leader of the ants.
- Richard Kind as Molt: Hopper's younger brother.
- David Hyde Pierce as Slim: A Walking Stick who is part of P.T. Flea's circus troupe.
- Joe Ranft as Heimlich: A Caterpillar who is part of P.T. Flea's circus troupe.
- Denis Leary as Francis: A Ladybug who is part of P.T. Flea's circus troupe.
- Jonathan Harris as Manny: A Praying Mantis who is part of P.T. Flea's circus troupe.
- Madeline Kahn as Gypsy: Manny's wife.
- Bonnie Hunt as Rosie: A Black Widow Spider who acts like a mother figure to Dim and the younger ants in the colony.
- Mike McShane as Tuck and Roll: Two Woodlice who are part of P.T. Flea's circus troupe.
- John Ratzenberger as P.T. Flea: A Flea who is the boss of the circus troupe.
- Brad Garrett as Dim: A Rhinoceros Beetle who acts like a son to Rosie.
- Roddy McDowall as Mr Soil: A head ant in the colony and a thespian.
- Edie McClurg as Dr. Flora: The doctor of the ant colony.
- Alex Rocco as Thorny: A member of the Council of Ants.
- David Ossman as Cornelius: An elderly ant.
Production
In 1988 Disney had considered producing a film entitled "Army Ants", that centered around a pacifist ant living in a militaristic colony. however the idea never fully materialized.[1]
In 1994, while working on Toy Story, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Joe Ranft attended a lunch to discuss future projects. They talked about doing Aesop's fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper", but with a twist. They eventually decided that instead of having the Grasshopper beg for food, it would demand it.[2] The Japanese film Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa influenced the story. In early versions Flik was an ant named Red and was part of P.T's Circus. However this created several story problems and he was changed to the ant sent to hire the warrior bugs.[3] The characters of "Tuck and Roll" were inspired by drawing that Andrew Stanton did of two bugs fighting when he was in Second Grade.[2]
Kevin Spacey met John Lasseter at the 1995 Academy Awards (Spacey being there for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Usual Suspects and Lasseter being there for Academy Special Achievement Award for Toy Story). When Lasseter asked Spacey if he would be interested in doing the voice of Hopper, Spacey was delighted.[3]
For research, Pixar ordered a tiny camera, put Lego wheels on it, attached it to a stick and named it the "Bug-Cam". The "Bug-Cam" was then wheeled out onto the garden of Pixar in order to see what small objects looked like from a bugs point of view. The artists were amazed by the translucency of the world. Lasseter claimed "It was like living in a world of stained glass windows." The animators also studied the movement of insects to apply to the characters.[4]
The technical artists created crowd simulation, allowing the film makers to create over 430 shots with over 800 characters in the frame without having to animate every single ant. The animators would only animate 4–5 groups of approximately 8 individual universal ants. Each one of these universal ants would later be randomly distributed through out the digital set. The program also allowed each ant to be automatically modified in subtle ways (e.g. different eye color, different skin color, different heights, different weights etc.). This made sure that no two ants were the same.[4]
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. Pixar head John Lasseter said he felt "betrayed" when he learned Antz was scheduled for release before A Bug's Life.[1] 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.[1]
The release date of Antz was moved up from March 1999 to October 1998 in response to Pixar's refusal.[5] Even though A Bug's Life was the first to be pitched, Antz was finished and released first.[5] A Bug's Life, however, was more profitable.
Music
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
A Bug's Life: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the original soundtrack album to A Bug's Life, produced by Walt Disney Records. The first track of the album is song called "The Time of Your Life" written and performed by Newman, while all the other tracks are orchestral cues. The album has gone off the market but is available for purchase on iTunes.
The score won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for Motion Picture or Television
All tracks are written by Randy Newman
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Time of Your Life" (performed by Newman) | 3:16 |
| 2. | "The Flik Machine" | 2:54 |
| 3. | "Seed to Tree" | 1:01 |
| 4. | "Red Alert" | 1:49 |
| 5. | "Hopper and his Gang" | 3:21 |
| 6. | "Flik Leaves" | 2:37 |
| 7. | "Circus Bugs" | 1:27 |
| 8. | "The City" | 2:35 |
| 9. | "Robin Hood" | 0:59 |
| 10. | "Return to Colony" | 1:33 |
| 11. | "Flik's Return" | 1:24 |
| 12. | "Loser" | 2:43 |
| 13. | "Dot's Rescue" | 4:00 |
| 14. | "Atta" | 1:08 |
| 15. | "Don't Come Back" | 1:07 |
| 16. | "Grasshoppers' Return" | 3:01 |
| 17. | "The Bird Flies" | 2:38 |
| 18. | "Ants Fight Back" | 2:14 |
| 19. | "Victory" | 2:33 |
| 20. | "A Bug's Life Suite" | 5:12 |
Reception
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Critical
The film received positive reviews and critical acclaim upon release. 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."[6] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 77 based on 23 reviews."[7]
Box office
A Bug's Life grossed approximately $33,258,052 on its opening weekend, easily ranking it #1 for that weekend. The film managed to retain its #1 spot for up to three weeks. The film also 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.
Awards
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute nominated A Bug's Life for its Top 10 Animated Films list.[8]
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, different characters (Flik, Dot, Francis, Hopper, and Heimlich) were on one (by themselves) cover of the video cover, considered a collectible in many cases. [citation needed]
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 2.40:1. 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 corpse or "blow" their dialog. 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.
On May 27, 2003, another DVD was released as a 2-disc Collector's Edition. This DVD is fully remastered and has substantial bonus features about the film, and is the current DVD release today. On May 19, 2009, a Blu-ray version was released. These versions included a DisneyFile Digital Copy.
Media and merchandise
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.
Video game
Theme park attractions
A Bug's Land is a section of Disney's California Adventure is entirely dedicated to A Bug's Life. One of the main attractions is the 3D show It's Tough to Be a Bug! which is also in Disney's Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. The Disney California Adventure attraction, World of Color features a segment focused on A Bug's Life.
Studio
- A Bugs Life on Virtual Studio in April 10, 1997 – December 3, 1998
References
- ^ a b c "Antz vs. Bugs". Business Week. November 23, 1998.
- ^ a b Pixar Animation Studios, official website, feature films, A Bugs Life, The inspiration
- ^ a b A Bugs Life, DVD Commentary
- ^ a b A Bugs Life, DVD Behind the Scenes
- ^ a b "Of Ants, Bugs, and Rug Rats: The Story of Dueling Bug Movies". AP. October 2, 1998.
- ^ A Bug's Life Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
- ^ A Bug's Life Reviews, Ratings, and more at Metacritic. Metacritc. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
- ^ AFI's 10 Top 10 Ballot
External links
- Information at Pixar's site
- A Bug's Life at IMDb
- Template:Bcdb title
- Template:Allmovie title
- A Bug's Life at Rotten Tomatoes
- A Bug's Life at Metacritic
- A Bug's Life at Box Office Mojo
