Lucas is a little kid who takes out his aggressions on the ant bed in his front yard. Well, the ants get fed up with being put upon and shrink him down to size to learn some lessons about being an ant.
The Ant Bully wears its heart on its sleeve (well, if ants had sleeves that is).
Lucas (Zach Taylor) is being picked given a wedgie by the neighborhood bully because as the bully puts it “I’m bigger than you.” Lucas is very frustrated by his lack of gumption to face his problem with the bully. He takes out his frustrations on the large ant pile in his front yard. His parents (Cheri Oteri and Larry Miller) go out of town and leave him with his sister Tiffany (Allison Mack) and Grandmother (Lily Tomlin).
Lucas - the destroyer of ant colonies
Devious exterminator Stan Beals (Paul Giamatti) of Beals-a-Bug (get it?) sees an opportunity to make some change and tricks Lucas into signing a contract to clear the yard of pests. Unbeknownst to the human world, ants (well, these cartoon ants) are much like us and have a society all their own and they even speak English. Well, they’re also tired of taking Lucas’ crap. So their wizard Zoc (Nicholas Cage) concocts a magic potion that will shrink him down to size, literally.
Zoc and company sneak into Lucas’ bedroom and drop the potion in his ears and he wakes up ant sized. He’s then seized by the ants and taken to the colony. The Queen (Meryl Streep) decrees that Lucas should live for a week in the colony to learn to be an ant. The hive would’ve much rather eaten “The Destroyer” (as they call Lucas) but the kind Hova (Julia Roberts) takes Lucas under her wing (thorax?).
She takes him to be trained in the ways of foraging by Kreela (Regina King) and they meet the scout ant Fugax (Bruce Campbell). Lucas begins to finally fit in with his new pals, but then he remembers the contract with Beals. Can he stop the devilish exterminator (he really enjoys his job) and save the colony?
The Ant Bully wears its heart on its sleeve (well, if ants had sleeves that is). The moral of the story is pretty obvious – we gotta all learn to get along and you just need to get to know your inner ant strength. It really tells a story that quite a few animated tales tell – the hero learns to believe in themselves.
Zoc finds the last ingrediant for his potion to bring Lucas down to size
That being said, the Ant Bully really doesn’t cover any new ground (though it is based on the children’s book by John Nickle) but it is an entertaining romp. The voice talent roster is pretty impressive though. Bruce Campbell stands out, but then again doesn’t he always. Regina King is good as an ant with attitude.
Meryl Streep is more of a cameo. Nicholas Cage and Julia Roberts provide star power as well as some good work as their characters. Paul Giamatti also proves himself a vocal character actor as well as a…um character actor. The kids enjoyed it and I had a good time with it, although it was pretty obvious how it was all going to turn out.
Ant Bully is presented in anamorphic widesceen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. A separate fullscreen version is also available. Special features include the 16 minute “It Takes a Colony.” It’s a making of featurette that has interviews with director John A. Davis, lead storyboard artist Tom Morgan, head of environmental modeling Todd Fechter, head of character modeling Tom Jordan, head of character rigging Michael Comet, layout artist Chris Sherrod, character animator/concept artist Sarah Mensinga, head of lighting Ian Megibben, and features the vocal cast in action (Campbell, Tomlin, Taylor, Oteri, and Miller).
There are also 7 animated shorts that can be watched separately or you can play all (about 8 minutes worth). For hours of fun, there’s a one minute reel of a virtual ant farm that keeps repeating itself. Next is 11 minutes of additional scenes (mostly in unfinished form with different vocalizations). Finally, there’s the theatrical trailer.
Hova much teach Lucas ant's ways, as Fugax looks on
Ant Bully was a fun evening of viewing with the kids, but the story is one that you’ve seen before. However, it did entertain and sports some nice vocal talent. It is worth checking out. You may never squish another ant on the countertop again, they’re people too.
The Ant Bully is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a March 5th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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