For kids only--adults should rerent Toy Story

Rating: Null/10 (23 June 1999)

This cross between Lion King and The Three Amigos is pretty standard Disney fare. The ant colony suffers from exploitation by grasshoppers. The inventor-ant, the usual misfit/outsider, is sent to find macho bugs to fight the grasshoppers. Of course, it is expected that he will never return. What he finds instead is a group of circus bugs. Per the usual Disney formula, all the outsiders bring their unusual talents to win the day.
The animation was done by Pixar (of Toy Story fame). But this film doesn't make your eyes pop the way Toy Story Did. Partially the repetitiveness of the landscapes (lots of blades of grass) and the sameness of many of the characters (most of the ants and grasshoppers look the same) limit the potential for wild effects. Even the visit to the bug "city" does not have the intended effect. Instead of a lost country ant in a Manhattan-like urban landscape, we have an ant standing in front of a billboard.
Despite these shortcomings (in my mind) this will certainly please the kids. All the elements are there (but it's not a musical, thank God) and the story moves along at a good pace. The dangers are not overly scary, the circus bits are very funny, and there is some very creative use of the bug's eye perspective. For example, Flik (our hero) invents a telescope by putting a drop of water into a rolled up grass blade. Still, adults may want to get this on video and move to another room.