More memorable than 'Antz' but not quite as good as 'Toy Story'

Rating: 9/10 (6 July 2014)

I first saw this film when my aunt purchased it whilst visiting her. The first part I remember laughing at very hard was P.T. Flea telling his troupe of circus bugs they were fired after a fire at the circus. I've re-visited this film a few more times since my first viewing and whilst watching it on Amazon Prime Instant Video this morning, I laughed at it more than I have done for ages. I know how easy it is for people to compare this to 'Antz' but I find this more memorable than 'Antz' if not quite as entertaining as the 'Toy Story' franchise.
The animation is just as good as that in the first 'Toy Story' film with the ants looking more colourful if more cartoonish than those in 'Antz,' the grasshoppers looking more realistic, luscious natural backgrounds and a creative use of junk to make it look like a city. The water droplets were also well-made. It wasn't until today's viewing that I noticed this film was loosely based on Aesop's fable 'The Ant and the Grasshopper' and the story is pretty straightforward in terms of Flik searching for more bugs to help the colony gather more food for the grasshoppers after he accidentally knocks the first batch into the stream. Other parts I found funny were Harry getting zapped by the bug light and one glow-ant telling the other to turn his butt off. The dialogue is memorable for the most part with some funny and clever lines. I liked the use of "Bug-eat-bug world" as opposed to "Dog-eat-dog world" as well as a mosquito ordering an O-positive Bloody Mary at the bar. While there were only two songs used in the entire film, I liked Randy Newman's closing credits song but the most memorable piece of incidental music was unfortunately the most repetitive since it was used about four times throughout the film to accompany scenes such as Flik setting out to find more bugs, Flik returning with the circus bugs and the ending. The voice acting is very good. Dave Foley, although lesser known, gave Flik his touch of ambition and determination; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, also lesser known, gave Princess Atta heart; Kevin Spacey was menacing as Hopper; and Hayden Panettiere, who later went on to play Channing in 'Racing Stripes' and cheerleader Claire in television series 'Heroes,' was cute as Dot. I also liked the late Joe Ranft's German accent for Heimlich and John Ratzenberger was virtually unrecognisable as P.T. Flea but did a good job voicing him nonetheless.
Overall, this didn't entertain me quite as much as the 'Toy Story' franchise did but it is better than its accompanying short film 'Geri's Game' and 'Antz.' 9/10.