Antz

***Antz*** is a 1998 American computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson (in their feature directorial debuts) from a screenplay by Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz, and Paul Weitz. The film features the voices of Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Christopher Walken, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Danny Glover and Gene Hackman. Some of the main characters share facial similarities with the actors who voice them.

The film premiered on September 19, 1998, at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was released theatrically in the United States on October 2, 1998, by DreamWorks Pictures.

## Plot

Z the worker ant (Woody Allen) strives to reconcile his own individuality with the communal work-ethic of the ant colony. He falls in love with ant-Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), Z strives to make social inroads, and then must save the ant colony from the treacherous scheming of the evil General Mandible (Gene Hackman) that threaten to wipe out the entire worker population.

## Why Every Ant Has It's Day

1. It started the legacy of DreamWorks animation, and DEFINITELY On a high note.
2. Speaking of that, For DreamWorks' first animation film, the computer animation is amazingly well done, especially for 1998 and PDI standards.
3. It is the third computer-animated theatrical movie (after *Toy Story* and *Cassiopeia*) and started the legacy of DreamWorks Animation.
4. Tons of likable and fun characters, such as Z, Princess Bala, Corporal Weaver and Azteca.
5. Although it is similar to *A Bug's Life*, they barely have anything in common, since the story is different, making both movies well-executive.
6. The use of adult humor were very clever.
7. General Mandible is very great and entertaining villain, who is the sarcastic, unscrupulous, and arrogant general officer of the ant military. He is also the fiancé of Princess Bala.
8. The movie has the nice dark tone in it, since it contains surprising dark moments.
9. Some good characters development.
10. Impressive voice acting from an all star cast. Woody Allen (Z), Gene Hackman (General Mandible), Sharon Stone (Princess Bala), Sylvester Stallone (Corporal Weaver), Jennifer Lopez (Azteca), Christopher Walken (Colonel Cutter) and Dan Aykroyd (Chip the Wasp) are the prime example.
11. Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell provide an amazing score, by the debut of DreamWorks Animation.

## Bad Qualities

1. While very clever, the adult humor and dialogues may not be suitable for target audiences, which feels rather inappropriate, even though it is very funny and well handled.
2. Some bad product placement, such as Mountain Dew.
3. The animation, while amazingly well-done as mentioned above, hasn't age well for today standards, especially when compared to other DreamWorks movies.
4. The premise of the film is somewhat similar to A Bug's Life.

## Reception

*Antz* received positive reviews, with praising the voice cast, animation, humor, and its appeal towards adults. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 93 reviews and an average rating of 7.61/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Featuring a stellar voice cast, technically dazzling animation, and loads of good humor, *Antz* should delight both children and adults.". Metacritic gave the film a score of 72 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert, who give it 3.4/4, praised the film, saying that it is "sharp and funny". The variety of themes, interesting visuals, and voice acting were each aspects of the film that were praised. Ebert's partner, Gene Siskel, greatly enjoyed the film and preferred it over *A Bug's Life*. Siskel later ranked it No. 7 on his picks of the Best Films of 1998.

## Trivia

* Initially, Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted Hans Zimmer to compose the music, but he was too busy with The Prince of Egypt among other projects. Instead, Zimmer suggested two composers from his studio — either Harry Gregson-Williams or John Powell — both of whom had already collaborated on Egypt.
* On December 23, 1997, a teaser trailer for Antz, depicting the opening scene with Z in an ant psychiatrist office, first played in theaters in front of select prints of As Good as It Gets. Anticipation was generally high with adult moviegoers rather than families and children.