A Bug’s Life (1998)
Inspired by Aesop's fable The Ant and the Grasshopper.
A colony of ants, led by the elderly Queen and her daughter Princess Atta, live in the middle of a seasonally dry creek-bed on a small hill known as Ant Island. Every summer, they are forced to give food to a gang of grasshoppers, led by Hopper. One day, a courageous but clumsy inventor ant named Flik accidentally destroys the food offering with his grain harvester. Hopper discovers this, and demands twice as much food as compensation. When Flik earnestly suggests the ants enlist the help of bigger bugs to fight the grasshoppers, Atta sees it as a way to get rid of Flik and sends him off to look for these bigger bugs.
Flik travels to Bug City, a heap of trash under a trailer. Flik mistakes a troupe of jobless circus bugs for the warrior bugs he seeks. These circus bugs include: the stick bug Slim, Heimlich the German-accented caterpillar, the hot-tempered male ladybug Francis, an elderly praying mantis magician Manny and his moth wife Gypsy, the black widow spider Bonnie and her rhinoceros beetle Dim, and the twin pillbugs Tuck and Roll. The bugs, in turn, mistake Flik for a talent agent, and agree to travel with him back to Ant Island. During a welcome ceremony after their arrival, the Circus Bugs and Flik discover their mutual misunderstandings. The Circus Bugs attempt to leave, but are pursued by a nearby bird; while fleeing, they rescue Atta's younger sister Dot from the bird, gaining the ants' respect. At Flik's request, the Circus Bugs continue the ruse of being "warriors", thus enabling them to continue enjoying the ants' hospitality. Learning that Hopper fears birds, Flik is inspired to build a crewed ornithopter disguised as a bird to scare away the grasshoppers. Meanwhile at Hopper’s Hideout in an abandoned sombrero, Hopper reminds his gang of the ants' superior numbers, warning them the ants will rebel if not kept in line.
The ants finish constructing the fake bird. During the subsequent celebration, the Circus Bugs' old boss, P.T. Flea, arrives, seeking to rehire them for his “Flaming Death” act and blowing their cover; the ants exile Flik and the Circus Bugs, and desperately attempt to gather food for a new offering. Hopper returns, sees the mediocre offering, and takes over the island. He then demands the ants' own winter food supply, planning to execute the Queen afterward. Overhearing the plan, Dot persuades Flik and the Circus Bugs to return to Ant Island.
After the Circus Bugs distract the grasshoppers with a circus performance long enough to rescue the Queen, Flik deploys the bird. It initially fools the grasshoppers, but P.T., who is also fooled, sets the bird on fire. Realizing the deception, Hopper has Flik publicly beaten to teach the ants a lesson, proclaiming that the ants are lowly life forms who live solely to serve the grasshoppers. Flik asserts that Hopper actually fears the colony, because he has always known what they are capable of. This inspires the ants and the Circus Bugs to fight back against the grasshoppers, driving all but Hopper away.
The ants shove Hopper into the circus cannon to shoot him off of the island, but rain suddenly begins to fall. In the ensuing chaos, Hopper frees himself from the cannon and abducts Flik. The Circus Bugs and Atta pursue, with the latter catching up to Hopper and rescuing Flik, who lures Hopper to the real bird's nest. Believing the bird is another fake, Hopper taunts it, until it grabs him and feeds him to its chicks.
With the anthill now at peace, Flik improves his inventions to help gather food for the ants. Flik and Atta become a couple, and proceed to send Hopper's affable brother Molt and a few ants to help P.T. and the Circus Bugs on their new tour. Atta and Dot become the new Queen and Princess. The ants celebrate their victory and congratulate Flik as a hero. They then bid a fond farewell to the circus troupe ("The Time of Your Life”).
TRIVIA
Visual Style
Pixar created a miniature video camera on Lego wheels dubbed the “Bug Cam” which could roll through grass and other terrain and send back a view of the world—shots of flora and fauna—from an insect's perspective. They found that a single clover looked like an enormous tree. Cracked mud resembled the Grand Canyon. But most impressive was the translucency of the bug world. When the sun was out and an insect walked on a leaf, its shadow could be seen through the leaf from below. This stained-glass effect inspired the film's vibrant colors.
Technology
To achieve the scale of an ant colony, the animators would only animate four or five groups of about eight individual "universal ants". Each one of these "universal ants" would later be randomly distributed throughout the digital set. The program also allowed each ant to be automatically modified in subtle ways (e.g. different color of eye or skin, different heights, different weights, etc.). This ensured that no two ants were the same.
Deleted Scene(s)
A deleted scene reveals that the anthill’s history is inscribed on the roots of the tree and act as a museum.
Easter Egg(s)
P.T. Flea is a parody of P.T. Barnum, a famous American showman and cofounder of Barnum & Bailey Circus.
