After Pixar’s major success with the 1995 smash hit Toy Story, the studio returned to the drawing board to develop new ideas for future feature presentations. One of them was A Bug's Life. Directed by John Lasseter and Co-Directed by Andrew Stanton, this movie was the second fully animated feature from the Pixar company. Unfortunately, while the film was critically and commercially successful, it has been chiefly forgotten compared to Pixar’s most well-known films. It also didn’t help that Pixar’s Rival company, Dreamworks, released their own bug movie, Antz, which overshadowed some of A Bug’s Life’s popularity. It is a shame because, like most of Lasseter’s work, this movie is a straightforward passion project for him as he has been drawn to the idea of doing an animated film about bugs. While it's far from one of my absolute favorites, A Bug’s Life is a decent movie with many flaws and cliches. Yet, the passion for how the film is directed makes it worth at least a glance.
Flik (David Foley) is an ant and inventor on Ant Island. His quirky personality and wacky inventions don't sit well with the other ants, especially the queen and her daughter, Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). One day, while collecting food for the grasshoppers, one of Flick's inventions goes haywire and knocks over the whole food supply, which leaves the grasshopper’s leader, Hopper (Kevin Spacey) furious at the queen and the queen and Princess Atta furious at Flick’s mishap. Feeling the grasshoppers have pushed the ants far too many times, Flick sets out to find bigger bugs to come and fight the grasshoppers to scare them away. Flick happens to come across a group of bigger bugs and mistakes them for warriors when they are actually circus bugs. Will Flick convince the circus bugs to pretend to be warriors long enough before the other ants figure out?
The Story is not the most original narrative Pixar has created. Surprisingly, this is the first time Pixar actually based their narrative on an outside source as they do a riff on the fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper. The biggest problem is that it uses familiar tropes such as the “Liar Revealed” to drive the narrative forward. I always believe that execution is more critical than just pointing out things that have already been done in other films. Still, it does nothing different to make the storyline feel fresh or exciting as it relies too heavily on familiar tropes to the point that it loses that spark of freshness. It is a shame because some of the stories they came up with in their first draft were more intriguing than the final product. Most of the tone tries to take a somewhat juvenile approach. It’s not to say the whole movie is like that. Still, the over-the-top comedy and somewhat mean-spiritedness of the ants in the colony make the film feel unbalanced and lack some of the charm and wit that made Toy Story successful. I have to give credit, though, because sometimes there is a cute joke or character interaction occasionally. I also give full credit that the third act of the movie and the entirely created fake bloopers at the end are genius and can stand tall with some of the best moments in any Pixar classic. I want to love this story as much as any of the stories that Pixar would release shortly after this one. While there are many other things to admire, I don’t think the storytelling is as strong as it could have been.
The Characters help bring some life into a rather cliched story, and thankfully, their vocal performances really come through. This movie has some stellar voices from David Foley, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brad Garret, and even Denis Leary. The Main Character Flik, played by David Foley, can be a little bit much in how loud and over the top he can sometimes in his panicked state, but once he becomes a bit calmer, he can really pull off being so charming and likable that it becomes easy to latch onto his dilemmas. Princess Atta, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, can be stern but also relatable, and her romantic relationship with Flik further into the movie is decently charming. Dot, played by a very young Hayden Panettiere, is adorable as she sometimes becomes a vital part of the story and has a cute relationship with Flik. The circus bugs are all different species and are played by the likes of Joe Ranft, Brad Garret, Denis Leary, Bonnie Hunt, and more. They bring a great deal of wackiness and comedy but also have small character growths that pay off near the end of the narrative. The movie’s best character is the primary villain, Hopper, played by Kevin Spacey. Spacey’s performance is the main reason for watching this movie. He is an easy villain to love and hate, and his threatening stature and actions make him a baddie who can stand tall against the best Pixar Villians. Even if the story may not be the best in Pixar’s catalog, the characters and their voices help immensely, and each is enjoyable in its own unique way.
The Animation can arguably be a step up from Toy Story. Pixar’s attention to detail never fails to impress me. Although it's true that by today's standards it may look cheap given the restraints of the technology at the time, I can't deny all the effort Pixar gave to make the best looking movie they possibly could. Each bug has really appealing designs. I like how they made each ant character look different to tell everyone apart. This is also the first time Pixar included a crowd of different-looking characters. In this case, there are plenty of scenes with ants all doing specific actions in a group that were programmed into the computer to follow or mimic particular actions of other ants. How they managed to animate a crowd of ants in many shots at the time is impressive for computer animation. The other bug designs are great, and the circus bugs, such as Hemlic or Francis, are instantly just on looks alone. The size and scope are what I think work the most the most. Since the movie focuses on bugs, everyday things like rain, birds, grass, and other small human objects appear much more extensive to our characters. Little details like the reflections on the leaf petals give an element of realism to the computer-generated world. Pixar did their research as usual, creating a familiar world that is shown from a bug's eye view.
The Music is surprisingly epic and does a great job of capturing every scene's emotion. Randy Newman returns after his score from “Toy Story,” I can tell he’s had a lot of fun making the music because it’s another aspect of the movie that makes the film work. The soundtrack's central theme is probably one of my favorite things in the film, and it helps create a sense of an epic adventure. Newman did not need to go this hard, but I’m glad he did because even if A Bug’s Life is not one of my favorite Pixar movies, I can’t deny how great this soundtrack is.
Ironically, I believe Pixar’s most underrated movie is their most overrated. Now, that does not mean I think it's an awful film in any way or form. The story is a mixed bag, but the colorful characters, impressive animation for the time, and Randy Newman’s Killer Soundtrack make this movie fun enough to experience. This movie has a dedicated fan base of people who love this movie just as much as the other well-known Pixar films. I think other lesser-known Pixar movies deserve more of a following than this. Still, A Bug’s Life is a film that I don’t mind putting on every now and then, even when there are some storytelling elements I can’t necessarily get behind. It’s not my favorite, but it is a decent enough film that offers a flawed but fun story with many pros and cons.
(Final Grade: B-)