A fun insect adventure from Pixar

Rating: 8/10 (15 October 2012)

Every summer the ants must harvest grain for the coming winter; not just for themselves but for the bullying grasshoppers who demand half the harvest. One of the ants, an inventor named Flik, tries to find ways to make the harvest easier but the other ants aren't impressed; they prefer the old ways. When the grasshoppers come all the ants flee onto their anthill but as Flik adds his contribution to the pile he knocks it over and it is all lost. Hopper, the leader of the grasshoppers tells the ants that they must provide twice the normal amount of grain before the end of summer or they will take all the ants food and let them starve. Flik offers to go into town to get some warrior insects to fight off the grasshoppers when they return; his offer is accepted... not because he is expected to succeed but because it will get him out of the way. The only ant that has any faith in Flik is Princess Dot, but she is just a child. In town Flik meets a group of unsuccessful circus insects and mistakes them for warriors. He returns home a hero, but when is becomes apparent that they aren't warriors the colony appears to be doomed.
This isn't one of Pixar's best films but it is still a lot of fun; the story is simple enough for young children to enjoy without being so simple that older viewers will get bored. Most of the character designs are great; I particularly liked the grasshoppers and the various circus insects. The only character design that I though was poor was the bird which is strange as it was probably the creature that looked closest to its real counterpart; perhaps that was the problem... it had no 'character' it was just a dangerous creature whereas everything else was anthropomorphised. The voice cast, which includes Kevin Spacey and a young Hayden Panettiere, do a fine job; I never though they sounded too 'cartoony'. Being rated 'U' there is little to offend here although some parents might find one or two of the gags involving the male ladybird a bit crude and there are some mildly scary moments that could possibly upset younger children.