A Bug’s Life-A Lice Life (1998)

Directed by: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton | 96 minutes | animation, comedy, adventure, family | Original voice cast: Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hayden Panettiere, Phyllis Diller, Richard Kind, David Hyde Pierce, Joe Ranft, Denis Leary, Jonathan Harris, Madeline Kahn, Bonnie Hunt, Michael McShane, John Ratzenberger, Brad Garrett Roddy McDowall, Edie McClurg, Alex Rocco, David Ossman, David L. Lander

After the animation studio Pixar treated the world to ‘Toy Story’, the first fully computer-generated full-length cartoon in 1995, people eagerly looked forward to the next project. Now that the news wore off and other studios started to venture into CGI films, Pixar had a reputation to uphold. At the time, no one could have guessed that the studio would still belong to the absolute top in animation land more than a decade later, with not a single miss to its name. In the fall of 1998 (the Netherlands followed a few months later) the moment came when Pixar could prove itself again, this time with ‘A Bug’s Life’, a film about the insect world. And that while competing studio Dreamworks came up with the ant film ‘Antz’ at the same time. Those were exciting times!

‘A Bug’s Life’ tells the story of an ant colony terrorized by a troop of locusts, led by the terrifying Hopper (voiced by Kevin Spacey). Each year, the ants have to give a large amount of food to the grasshoppers in exchange for protection. When the sacrifice literally and figuratively falls into the water due to an accident, the guilty ant Flik is sent out at his own request to get help. The colony is happy because Flik can’t deal any more damage and no one expects him to actually succeed in his mission. But then they don’t know Flik yet!

This clumsy ant, alone in the colony who thinks beyond what tradition dictates, manages to arrange a troop of insects that will provide protection from the locusts. However, there is some miscommunication. Flik thinks he’s dealing with a bunch of great warriors, when in fact the bugs belong to a traveling circus led by a flea. The circus performers, in turn, have the impression that they are being hired to put on a show and are shocked to Apelazarus when they find out that they have to take on a bunch of evil grasshoppers. Misunderstanding piles on misunderstanding as the threat of the locusts draws ever closer.

Just like in ‘Toy Story’, the viewer is presented with a colorful group of characters full of individual idiosyncrasies. Of course, the show is stolen by the circus performers, consisting of a macho ladybug (English: ‘ladybug’) that tries to deny its feminine side, a groggy caterpillar with a German accent called Heimlich, a cynical praying mantis and a stick insect provides the necessary slapstick. But the ant queen, the princess and the baby ants each have their own interesting contribution to the story. In the end they all get some wise life lessons about togetherness, believing in your own abilities and the importance of creativity. All this presented in the now well-known Pixar way, that is to say: without false sentiment.

Although the story is somewhat predictable, the design is breathtaking. There are beautiful action scenes in the film, which are further enhanced by the scale on which the world is presented. A simple rain shower turns into a blistering storm and a cute robin turns into a hair-raising monster. The threat posed by the locusts is also completely real, which makes you really feel for the poor ants. The story is full of visual and lyrical jokes that are fun for children and adults alike. This is a strong point compared to ‘Antz’, which with its references to pop culture mainly targets an older audience. While ‘A Bug’s Life’ isn’t by far the best Pixar film, it’s still well worth watching given the high standard of their productions!