"Shoo fly, don't bother me."

Rating: 8/10 (19 May 2018)

It all started with one of Aesop's famous fables, and then in 1934, Disney produced a classic Silly Symphony titled "The Grasshopper and the Ants". It tells the story of a single lazy grasshopper who fiddles his summer away living for the moment while his neighbor ants work tirelessly, squirreling away massive amounts of food for the winter months. When the cold finally arrives, the starving grasshopper is reminded of his laziness and lack of preparation by the ant queen, who allows him to stay with the colony if he plays his fiddle, in a sense, working for the food and warmth he'll be provided.
Disney ups the ante in "A Bug's Life" by pitting a grasshopper warlord and his followers against a huge colony of ants by demanding that they provide food for them on a regular basis. Noting that the ants far outnumber the grasshoppers in quantity, little Flik (voiced by Dave Foley) embarks on a series of initiatives to free the ants from domination by Hopper (Kevin Spacey) and his mean crew. I've read other viewer comparisons of the movie to Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven, and that might work except in one respect. When push came to shove, it was Flik and his own ingenuity that helped win the day for Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and the colony. With more than a little help from the voiceless, colorful bird that made bird food out of Hopper.
I always get a kick out of the ingenuity and cleverness that goes into these animated features and this one provided it in spades. Very colorful and well drawn, the insect characters are unique and fun, especially the 'warrior' bunch from the circus. If you liked this, you owe it to yourself to look up the original Disney Silly Symphony, as the restored version is glorious with outstanding color and first rate animation. You can't go wrong with either one.