Art meets the Cartoon Again

Rating: 8/10 (19 November 1999)

A few times in the history of animated movies you could say that one was a brilliant work of art. Fantasia comes to mind as best fitting that description. With A Bug's Life, the computer animation often felt like a living painting. Sometimes it was stunning. Along with the beauty, this is a fun family film.
Pixar continues to capture a child's eye with this story. Things go from magical to silly very quickly. They have an excellent comic flair. This is best shown with the grasshopper bad guys. There are touching moments but always with a light touch.
A Bug's Life will always be compared to Antz because they came out the same year and seem to have similar stories. But look deeper and they are very different films. Antz is Woody Allen's show surrounded by mediocre, muddy looking animation. A Bug's Life looks better. Antz's dialogue is really at an adult level. While A Bug's life continues the long Disney family tradition but updated in the Pixar way.
I especially liked the circus act, Kevin Spacey as Hopper, the living scenery and the out takes at the end which are very clever. If animation appeals to you at all, see A Bug's Life.