Pixar's Worst, But One of Animation's Finest in Recent Years...

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 2003)

"Toy Story" was rooted in the fundamentals of childhood memories. All of us as children just KNEW our toys were alive. That they could talk. In turn, we played with them as if they were real. But soon it hit us that they were just pieces of plastic with limbs, and tossed them out. That's what "Toy Story" did--it reinvented not only animation, but imagination; it was not only a children's film, but an adult's film, as well. It brought back fond memories of all of our childhood fantasies.
But what "A Bug's Life" does is simply toss together a few characters and have them bounce jokes off each other. This film, by itself, is excellent, but when compared to something smart, intelligent and witty, such as, say, Pixar's "Toy Story," it looks like pure commercialism; Pixar's only downfall.
A small ant named Flick (voiced by Dave Foley) is a real mess; a klutz, so to speak. He and his colony of ants, presided over by a new Queen Ant, are harvesting food for the naughty Evil Grasshoppers who come every year to gather food from the ant's hard work. But because of Flick the harvest is lost, and when the grasshoppers show up they are mad. Hopper, the lead grasshopper (Kevin Spacey) is pretty "flicked" off, and demands more hard work and labor. Everyone is mad at Flick...until he hires circus talents to fight off the grasshoppers, and tells the ants they are fierce warriors. Restoring their confidence to fight, the ants set up a series of attacks for when the grasshoppers arrive, until they find out the truth behind Flick's lie(s).
"A Bug's Life," like "Toy Story" and "Monsters, Inc.," is a fairly simple idea. But, unlike the other Pixar films, it is missing a vital element: identification with the audience. In "Toy Story" we identified with the story; we were all kids once and had toys. The story just worked because it played with that.
In "Monsters, Inc.," the idea of monsters was played upon. All children at one time or another were scared of monsters under the bed, and by presenting us the monster's side of the story, "Monsters, Inc.," could be enjoyed by both children and adults.
And then there's "A Bug's Life." No identification here. How many of us have been bugs before? Exactly. Maybe on a more emotional level we can identify with Flick the Ant, but on a visible basis, we simply cannot. There really is no fun in the storyline.
The story/film is above-average in terms of regular animated motion pictures, but in terms of Pixar films, it is simply a film best to be forgotten in Pixar's otherwise strong resume. Let's all hope that "Finding Nemo," Pixar's upcoming summer film, is better than the ads lead to believe, because if I have it correct, I predict another "A Bug's Life" for Pixar next year.
3.5/5 stars -