A Bug's Life (1998)

Directors:

John Lasseter
Andrew Stanton (co-director)

Writers:

John Lasseter (story) &
Andrew Stanton (story) ...

Release Date:

25 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Animation | Comedy | Adventure

Tagline:

An epic of miniature proportions.

Plot:

A misfit ant, looking for warriors to save his colony from grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troup.

Plot Keywords:

Ant | Grasshopper | Bug | Circus | Misfit

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 11 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Dave Foley	...	Flik (voice)
Kevin Spacey	...	Hopper (voice)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Atta (voice)
Hayden Panettiere	...	Dot (voice)
Phyllis Diller	...	Queen (voice)
Richard Kind	...	Molt (voice)
David Hyde Pierce	...	Slim (voice)
Joe Ranft	...	Heimlich (voice)
Denis Leary	...	Francis (voice)
Jonathan Harris	...	Manny (voice)
Madeline Kahn	...	Gypsy Moth (voice)
Bonnie Hunt	...	Rosie (voice)
Michael McShane	...	Tuck / Roll (voice)
John Ratzenberger	...	P.T. Flea (voice)
Brad Garrett	...	Dim (voice)

Also Known As:

Bugs (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Brazil:Livre | Portugal:M/4 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Belgium:KT | Canada:G (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Finland:K-8/5 | France:U | Germany:o.Al. (w) | Hong Kong:I | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:G | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | South Korea:All | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:U | USA:G (certificate #36295)

Company:

Pixar Animation Studios

Trivia:

The boxes in P.T. Flea's circus train have the name "J. Grant" on them. 'Joe Grant' wrote Dumbo (1941).

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Before the "royal huddle" decides to send Flick away, if you look closely at Princess Atta's mouth when she says "He can't mess anything up" you'll notice that the word "screw" is what was animated as opposed to the word "mess".

Quotes:

Flik: [has just realized the "warrior bugs" are from the circus] Your Highness! The warriors have called a secret meeting to make plans for circus, uh, *circumventing* the oncoming horde, so they can trapeze - *trap* them with ease!
Princess Atta: Well, shouldn't I come, too?
Flik: No! Ha ha ha! Sorry. No, no, see it's classified in the DMZ, gotta go ASAP, you know, strictly BYOB. Bye!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Your Friend the Rat (2007) (V)

Wow.

There is great detail in A Bug's Life. Everything is covered. The film looks great and the animation is sometimes jaw-dropping. The film isn't too terribly orignal, it's basically a modern take on Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, only with bugs. I enjoyed the character interaction however and the bad guys in this film actually seemed bad. It seems that Disney usually makes their bad guys carbon copy cut-outs. The grasshoppers are menacing and Hopper, the lead bad guy, was a brillant creation. Check this one out.