Put down the Raid, these bugs are friendly. Pixar scores again with this tale of one ant’s quest to save his colony and become well liked. A great roster of voices only adds to the wonderful film that the whole colony, hive, or ant bed can enjoy.
The ant colony is abuzz with activity. Every season a militant group of grasshoppers, led by Hopper (Kevin Spacey), demands a food tribute and they’re under the gun to get it ready by the time the group arrives. Flik (Dave Foley) is an inventor ant who wants to try out his mechanical harvester.
Unfortunately his inventions do more harm than good and he destroys the grasshopper’s pile of food just before they arrive. Hopper threatens the bed and says that they’ll be back at the end of the season to get a double portion of their tribute. The Queen’s (Phyllis Diller) youngest daughter Dot (Hayden Panettiere) caused Hopper to double the ration by standing up to him as she idolizes Flik.
Flik is tried by the ant council, including Mr. Soil (Roddy McDowall, in his final performance) and Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the older daughter of the Queen and heir to the throne, and he’s admonished for destroying the tribute. Flik suggests that he be allowed to recruit some warrior bugs to defend the ants. The council agrees but mainly to occupy Flik while they gather the double tribute. Flik goes to bug city to find some tough bugs and comes across the circus of P.T. Flea (John Ratzenberger, Pixar’s good luck vocal charm).
The troupe consists of the aggressive ladybug named Francis (Denis Leary), the caterpillar Heimlich (Joe Ranft), the walking stick Slim (David Hyde Pierce), praying Mantis Manny (Jonathan Harris), gypsy moth Gypsy (Madeline Kahn), black widow spider Rosie (Bonnie Hunt), rhinoceros beetle Dim (Brad Garrett), and twin pill bugs Tuck and Roll (both voiced by Michael McShane).
The troupe mistakes Flik for a talent scout and he mistakes them for warrior bugs. The troupe returns to the island in hopes of a show but find themselves given a heroes welcome in hopes that they’ll defeat Hopper and his band of grasshoppers.
Can Pixar make a bad film? Only time will tell but right now I’d say that the answer is a resounding no. Pixar scored big with Toy Story in 1995, so their second feature had high hopes attached and wonders if the company could score again. 1998 saw the completion of A Bug’s Life and I’d say that those expectations were met and perhaps exceeded.
Sometimes A Bug’s Life gets short shrift in the pantheon of Pixar films, but their list is so short and so full of fantastic films it’s a hard choice in trying to put them in any order. I’d say that A Bug’s Life has many reasons to recommend it. The story, as all of Pixar’s stories are, is timeless.
You have an underdog character that just wants to do the right thing but can’t seem to do anything right. He has to protect those that he loves and sets out on a journey to do so. His seemingly bad choices just turn out to be done with good intentions and actually save the day.
The voice cast is sterling. Dave Foley is excellent and the casting of the circus bugs is done to perfection. Frankly, I love everything about A Bug’s Life and it only shines brighter on Blu-ray. Disney and Pixar are a delightful combination and their Blu-ray special editions are nothing to sneeze at either. A Bug’s Life may be the second film, but it’s second to none in this release.
A Bug’s Life is presented in a stunning 1080p high definition transfer (2.35:1). Special features include a commentary from director/co-writer John Lasseter, co-writer Andrew Stanton, and editor Lee Unkrich. All special features are in high definition, unless otherwise noted. The Blu-ray arrives with some exclusive additions. The first is a 21 minute “Filmmaker’s Roundtable” in which Lasseter, Stanton, and producers Kevin Reher and Darla Anderson reflect on the film.
The other is the 10 minute “A Bug’s Life: The first Draft” in which Dave Foley narrates the original story for the film. The 8 minute “The Grasshopper and the Ants” is a 1934 Silly Symphonies that the filmmakers pulled much inspiration from with a 35 second introduction (standard def). The 5 minute “Geri’s Game” is the Oscar winning short film that accompanied the film in theaters. The Preproduction section contains over 30 minutes of the groundwork for the film, including storyboards and pitches.
The introductions for this material are in standard def and some of the material is in high def (and mostly come from the previous DVD release). The Behind-the-Scenes section is much the same mixture of definitions and has 29 minutes of featurettes on the casting, story progress, etc. The Design Galleries offer concept art, stills, character designs and much more. Next are 8 minutes of the outtakes that accompanied the film in theaters.
They proved so popular that more were shot and added to the film after the film played three weeks; both sets are included with an introduction (the intro is in standard def). "Publicity materials" contains trailers, a poster gallery, and character interviews. The disc is also BD-Live enhanced, so you can go online for more (if your player is compatible). Disc two is a digital copy of the film for your PC or portable device. The case also contains some free movie cash to see the company’s next film – Up.
Much was riding on A Bug’s Life and it came through like a trooper. If it had failed we would possibly have never seen Wall-E, Toy Story 2, etc. Luckily it proved that Pixar had the staying power that they’ve shown and the ideas for the classic films that they’ve produced. SuperGenius!
A Bug’s Life [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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