A Bug's Life

''A Bug's Life'' (stylized in all lowercase) is a 1998 American animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter from a screenplay written by Andrew Stanton, Donald McEnery, and Bob Shaw, and a story conceived by Lasseter, Stanton, and Joe Ranft. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Hayden Panettiere. In the film, a misfit ant named Flik looks for "tough warriors" to save his ant colony from a protection racket run by a gang of grasshoppers. However, the "warriors" he brings back are a troupe of Circus Bugs. The film's plot was initially inspired by Aesop's fable ''The Ant and the Grasshopper''.

Production on ''A Bug's Life'' began shortly after the release of ''Toy Story'' in 1995. The ants in the film were redesigned to be more appealing, and Pixar's animation unit employed technical innovations in computer animation. Randy Newman composed the music for the film. During production, a controversial public feud erupted between Steve Jobs and Lasseter of Pixar and DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg due to the parallel production of his similar film ''Antz'', which was released the month prior.

''A Bug's Life'' premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on November 14, 1998, and was released in the United States on November 25. It received positive reviews for its animation, story, humor, and voice acting. It became a commercial success, having grossed $363 million at the box office. It was the first film to be digitally transferred frame-by-frame and released on DVD, and has been released multiple times on home video.

Plot

A colony of ants, led by the elderly Queen and her daughter Princess Atta, lives in the middle of a seasonally dry creekbed on a small hill known as "Ant Island". Every summer, they are forced to give food to a gang of grasshoppers, led by Hopper.

One day, Flik, a courageous but clumsy inventor ant, inadvertently destroys the food offering with his grain harvester. Hopper discovers this, and demands twice as much food as compensation. When Flik earnestly suggests the ants enlist the help of bigger bugs to fight the grasshoppers, Atta sees it as a way to get rid of Flik and sends him off.

Flik travels to "the city", a heap of trash under a trailer. Flik mistakes a troupe of jobless Circus Bugs for the warrior bugs he seeks. The bugs, in turn, mistake Flik for a talent agent, and agree to travel with him back to Ant Island. During a welcome ceremony after their arrival, the Circus Bugs and Flik discover their mutual misunderstandings. The Circus Bugs attempt to leave, but are pursued by a nearby bird; while fleeing, they rescue Atta's younger sister Dot from the bird, gaining the ants' respect. At Flik's request, the Circus Bugs continue the ruse of being "warriors", thus enabling them to continue enjoying the ants' hospitality. Learning that Hopper fears birds inspires Flik to build a crewed ornithopter disguised as a bird to scare away the grasshoppers. Meanwhile, Hopper reminds his gang of the ants' superior numbers, warning them the ants will rebel if not kept in line.

The ants finish constructing the fake bird. During the subsequent celebration, the Circus Bugs' old supervisor, P.T. Flea, arrives, seeking to rehire them and blowing their cover; the ants exile Flik and the Circus Bugs, and desperately try gathering food for a new offering. Hopper returns, sees the mediocre offering, and takes over the island. He then demands the ants' own winter food supply, planning to execute the Queen afterward. Overhearing the plan, Dot persuades Flik and the Circus Bugs to return to Ant Island.

After the Circus Bugs distract the grasshoppers long enough to rescue the Queen, Flik deploys the bird. It initially fools the grasshoppers, but P.T., who is also fooled, sets the bird on fire. Realizing the deception, Hopper has Flik publicly beaten and proclaims the ants are lowly life forms who live only to serve the grasshoppers. Flik asserts Hopper actually fears the colony, because he has always known what they are capable of. This inspires the ants and the Circus Bugs to fight back against the grasshoppers, driving all but Hopper and his brother Molt away.

The ants shove Hopper into the circus cannon to shoot him off of the island, but rain suddenly begins to fall. In the ensuing chaos, Hopper frees himself from the cannon and abducts Flik. The Circus Bugs and Atta pursue, with the latter catching up to Hopper and rescuing Flik, who lures Hopper to the real bird's nest. Believing the bird is another fake, Hopper taunts it, until it grabs him and feeds him to its chicks.

With the anthill now at peace, Flik improves his inventions to help gather food for the ants. Flik and Atta become a couple, and proceed to send Hopper's affable brother Molt and a few ants to help P.T. and the Circus Bugs on their new tour. Atta and Dot become the new Queen and Princess. The ants celebrate their victory and congratulate Flik as a hero. They then bid a fond farewell to the circus troupe.

Voice cast

Production

Development

During the summer of 1994, Pixar's story department began turning their thoughts to their next film.Price, p. 157 The storyline for ''A Bug's Life'' originated from a lunchtime conversation between John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft, the studio's head story team; other films such as '' Monsters, Inc.'', ''Finding Nemo'' and ''WALL-E'' were also conceived at this lunch.Price, p. 158 Lasseter and his story team had already been drawn to the idea of insects serving as characters. Like toys, insects were within the reach of computer animation back then, due to their relatively simple surfaces. Stanton and Ranft wondered whether they could find a starting point in Aesop's fable ''The Ant and the Grasshopper''. Walt Disney had produced his own version with a cheerier ending decades earlier in the 1934 short film '' The Grasshopper and the Ants''. In addition, Walt Disney Feature Animation had considered producing a film in the late-1980s entitled ''Army Ants'', that centered around a pacifist ant living in a militaristic colony, but this never fully materialized.

As Stanton and Ranft discussed the adaptation, they rattled off scenarios and storylines springing from their premise. Lasseter liked the idea and offered some suggestions. The concept simmered until early 1995, when the story team began work on the second film in earnest. During an early test screening for ''Toy Story'' in San Rafael in June 1995, they pitched the film to Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Eisner thought the idea was fine and they submitted a treatment to Disney in early July under the title ''Bugs''. Disney approved the treatment and gave notice on July 7 that it was exercising the option of a second film under the original 1991 agreement between Disney and Pixar.Price, p. 159 Lasseter assigned the co-director job to Stanton; both worked well together and had similar sensibilities. Lasseter had realized that working on a computer-animated feature as a sole director was dangerous while the production of ''Toy Story'' was in process. In addition, Lasseter believed that it would relieve stress and that the role would groom Stanton for having his own position as a lead director.Price, p. 160

Writing

In ''The Ant and the Grasshopper'', a grasshopper squanders the spring and summer months on singing while the ants put food away for the winter; when winter comes, the hungry grasshopper begs the ants for food, but the ants turn him away. Andrew Stanton and Joe Ranft hit on the notion that the grasshopper could just take the food.Pixar Animation Studios, official website, feature films, ''A Bugs Life'', The inspiration After Stanton had completed a draft of the script, he came to doubt one of the story's main pillars – that the Circus Bugs that had come to the colony to cheat the ants would instead stay and fight. He thought the Circus Bugs were unlikable characters as liars and that it was unrealistic for them to undergo a complete personality change. Also, no particularly good reason existed for Circus Bugs to stay with the ant colony during the second act.''A Bugs Life'', DVD Commentary Although the film was already far along, Stanton concluded that the story needed a different approach.

Stanton took one of the early circus bug characters, Red the red ant, and changed him into the character Flik. The Circus Bugs, no longer out to cheat the colony, would be embroiled in a comic misunderstanding as to why Flik was recruiting them. Lasseter agreed with this new approach, and comedy writers Donald McEnery and Bob Shaw spent a few months working on further polishing the script with Stanton.Price, p. 161 The characters "Tuck and Roll" were inspired by a drawing that Stanton did of two bugs fighting when he was in the second grade. Lasseter had come to envision the film as an epic in the tradition of David Lean's 1962 film '' Lawrence of Arabia''.

Casting

The voice cast was heavy with television sitcom stars of the time: Flik was voiced by Dave Foley (from ''NewsRadio''), Princess Atta was voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus (from ''Seinfeld''), Molt was voiced by Richard Kind (from '' Spin City''), Slim was voiced by David Hyde Pierce (from ''Frasier'') and Dim was voiced by Brad Garrett (from ''Everybody Loves Raymond''). Joe Ranft, member of Pixar's story team, played Heimlich the caterpillar at the suggestion of Lasseter's wife, Nancy, who had heard him playing the character on a scratch vocal track.

For Hopper, the film's villain, Lasseter's top choice was Robert De Niro, who repeatedly turned the part down, as did a succession of other actors. Kevin Spacey met John Lasseter at the 1995 Academy Awards and Lasseter asked Spacey if he would be interested in doing the voice of Hopper. Spacey was delighted and signed on immediately.

''A Bug's Life'' was the final film appearance of actor Roddy McDowall, who played Mr. Soil, dying shortly before the film's theatrical release.

Art design and animation

It was more difficult for animators during the production of ''A Bug's Life'' than that of ''Toy Story'', as Pixar's computers ran sluggishly due to the complexity of the character models. Lasseter and Stanton had two supervising animators, Rich Quade and Glenn McQueen, to assist with directing and reviewing the animation. The first sequence to be animated and rendered was the circus sequence that culminated with P.T. Flea's "Flaming Wall of Death". Lasseter placed this scene first in the pipeline because he believed it was "less likely to change". After Lasseter thought it would be useful to look at a view of the world from an insect's perspective, two technicians obliged by creating a miniature video camera on Lego wheels, dubbed the "Bugcam".''A Bugs Life'', DVD Behind the Scenes Fastened to the end of a stick, the Bugcam could roll through grass and other terrain and send back an insect's-eye outlook. Lasseter was intrigued by the way grass, leaves and flower petals formed a translucent canopy, as if the insects were living under a stained-glass ceiling. The team also later sought inspiration from '' Microcosmos'' (1996), a French documentary on love and violence in the insect world.

The transition from treatment to storyboards took on an extra layer of complexity due to the profusion of storylines. While ''Toy Story'' focused heavily on Woody and Buzz Lightyear, with the other toys serving mostly as sidekicks, ''A Bug's Life'' required in-depth storytelling for several major groups of characters. Character design also presented a new challenge, in that the designers had to make ants appear likable. Although the animators and the art department studied insects more closely, natural realism would give way to the film's larger needs.Price, p. 162 The team took out mandibles and designed the ants to stand upright, replacing their normal six legs with two arms and two legs. The grasshoppers, in contrast, received a pair of extra appendages to appear less attractive. The story's scale also required software engineers to accommodate new demands. Among these was the need to handle shots with crowds of ants. The film would include more than 400 such shots in the ant colony, some with as many as 800. It was impractical for animators to control them individually, but neither could the ants remain static for even a moment without appearing lifeless, or move identically. Bill Reeves, one of the film's two supervising technical directors, dealt with the quandary by leading the development of software for autonomous ants. The animators would only animate four or five groups of about eight individual "universal ants". Each one of these "universal ants" would later be randomly distributed throughout the digital set. The program also allowed each ant to be automatically modified in subtle ways (e.g. different color of eye or skin, different heights, different weights, etc.). This ensured that no two ants were the same. It was partly based on Reeves's invention of particle systems a decade and a half earlier, which had let animators use masses of self-guided particles to create effects like swirling dust and snow.Price, p. 163

The animators also employed subsurface scattering—developed by Pixar co-founder Edwin Catmull during his graduate student days at the University of Utah in the 1970s—to render surfaces in a more lifelike way. This would be the first time that subsurface scattering would be used in a Pixar film, and a small team at Pixar worked out the practical problems that kept it from working in animation. Catmull asked for a short film to test and showcase subsurface scattering and the result, '' Geri's Game'' (1997), was attached alongside ''A Bug's Life'' in its theatrical release.Price, p. 173

Feud between Pixar and DreamWorks

During the production of ''A Bug's Life'', a public feud erupted between DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Pixar's Steve Jobs and John Lasseter. Katzenberg, former chairman of Disney's film division, had left the company in a feud with CEO Michael Eisner. In response, he formed DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen and planned to rival Disney in animation. After DreamWorks' acquisition of Pacific Data Images (PDI)—long Pixar's contemporary in computer animation—Lasseter and others at Pixar were dismayed to learn from the trade papers that PDI's first project at DreamWorks would be another ant film, to be called ''Antz''.Price, p. 170 By this time, Pixar's project was well known within the animation community.Price, p. 171 Both ''Antz'' and ''A Bug's Life'' center on a young male ant, a drone with oddball tendencies that struggles to win a princess's hand by saving their society. Whereas ''A Bug's Life'' relied chiefly on visual gags, ''Antz'' was more verbal and revolved more around satire. The script of ''Antz'' was also heavy with adult references, whereas Pixar's film was more accessible to children.

Lasseter and Jobs believed that the idea was stolen by Katzenberg. Katzenberg had stayed in touch with Lasseter after the acrimonious Disney split, often calling to check up. In October 1995, when Lasseter was overseeing postproduction work on ''Toy Story'' at the Universal lot's Technicolor facility in Universal City, where DreamWorks was also located, he called Katzenberg and dropped by with Stanton. When Katzenberg asked what they were doing next, Lasseter described what would become ''A Bug's Life'' in detail. Lasseter respected Katzenberg's judgment and felt comfortable using him as a sounding board for creative ideas.Price, p. 169 Lasseter had high hopes for ''Toy Story'', and he was telling friends throughout the tight-knit computer-animation business to get cracking on their own films. He told various friends, "If this hits, it's going to be like space movies after ''Star Wars''" for computer animation companies. Lasseter later recalled, "I should have been wary. Jeffrey kept asking questions about when it would be released."

When the trades indicated production on ''Antz'', Lasseter, feeling betrayed, called Katzenberg and asked him if it was true, who in turn asked him where he had heard the rumor. Lasseter asked again, and Katzenberg admitted it was true. Lasseter raised his voice and would not believe Katzenberg's story that a development director had pitched him the idea long ago. Katzenberg claimed ''Antz'' came from a 1991 story pitch by Tim Johnson that was related to Katzenberg in October 1994. Another source gives Nina Jacobson, one of Katzenberg's executives, as the person responsible for the ''Antz'' pitch. Lasseter, who normally did not use profane language, cursed at Katzenberg and hung up the phone. Lasseter recalled that Katzenberg began explaining that Disney was "out to get him" and Lasseter felt that he was cannon fodder in Katzenberg's fight with Disney. For his part, Katzenberg believed he was the victim of a conspiracy: Eisner had decided not to pay him his contract-required bonus, convincing Disney's board not to give him anything. Katzenberg was further angered by the fact that Eisner scheduled ''Bugs'' to open the same week as ''The Prince of Egypt'', which was then intended to be DreamWorks' first animated release. Lasseter relayed the news to Pixar employees but kept morale high. Privately, Lasseter told other Pixar executives that he and Stanton felt let down by Katzenberg.

Katzenberg moved the opening of ''Antz'' from spring 1999 to October 1998 to compete with Pixar's release. David Price writes in his 2008 book ''The Pixar Touch'' that a rumor, "never confirmed", was that Katzenberg had given PDI "rich financial incentives to induce them to whatever it would take to have ''Antz'' ready first, despite Pixar's head start". Jobs was furious and called Katzenberg and began yelling. Katzenberg made an offer: He would delay production of ''Antz'' if Jobs and Disney would move ''A Bug's Life'' so that it did not compete with ''The Prince of Egypt''. Jobs believed it "a blatant extortion attempt" and would not go for it, explaining that there was nothing he could do to convince Disney to change the date. Katzenberg responded that Jobs himself had taught him how to conduct similar business long ago, explaining that Jobs had come to Pixar's rescue by making the deal for ''Toy Story'', as Pixar was near bankruptcy at that time. Katzenberg said, "I was the one guy there for you back then, and now you're allowing them to use you to screw me." He suggested that if Jobs wanted to, he could slow down production on ''A Bug's Life'' without telling Disney. If he did, Katzenberg said, he would put ''Antz'' on hold. Lasseter also claimed Katzenberg had phoned him with the proposition, but Katzenberg denied these charges later.Price, p. 172

As the release dates for both films approached, Disney executives concluded that Pixar should keep silent on the DreamWorks battle. Lasseter publicly dismissed ''Antz'' as a "schlock version" of ''A Bug's Life''. Lasseter, who claimed to have never seen ''Antz'', told others that if DreamWorks and PDI had made the film about anything other than insects, he would have closed Pixar for the day so the entire company could go see it.Price, p. 174 Jobs and Katzenberg would not back down and the rivaling ant films provoked a press frenzy. "The bad guys rarely win," Jobs told the ''Los Angeles Times''. In response, DreamWorks' head of marketing Terry Press stated, "Steve Jobs should take a pill." Despite the successful box office performances of both films, tensions would remain high between Jobs and Katzenberg for many years. According to Jobs, Katzenberg came to Jobs after the success of ''Shrek'' (2001) and insisted he had never heard the pitch for ''A Bug's Life'', reasoning that his settlement with Disney would have given him a share of the profits if that were so. Although the contention left all parties estranged, Pixar and PDI employees kept up the old friendships that had arisen from spending a long time together in computer animation.

Music

The film's score was composed and conducted by Randy Newman. Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack on October 27, 1998. The album's first track is a song called "The Time of Your Life" written and performed by Newman, while all the other 19 tracks are orchestral cues. Although the album was out of print physically in the United States during the 2000s, in June 2018 Universal Music Japan announced that a re-mastered edition would be released on October 3, 2018, along with other soundtrack albums from the Walt Disney Records pre-2018 catalogue. The album is also available for purchase on iTunes. The time duration is 47 minutes and 32 seconds.

Release

A few days before the world premiere, the film was screened at Camp David as the movie theater in the White House was under renovation.''A Bug's Life'' crew roundtable. ''A Bug's Life'' Blu Ray disc special A day after the screening, the crew visited the Oval Office in the White House.

The film's world premiere was on November 14, 1998, at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. It opened at the El Capitan on November 20, 1998 before opening nationwide on November 25.

A teaser trailer for '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' was attached to the screenings of ''A Bug's Life''. As with other films such as ''Meet Joe Black'', '' The Siege'' and '' The Waterboy'', moviegoers bought tickets for the sole purpose of seeing the trailer and leaving before the film started. Within a few weeks into the film's theatrical release, new outtakes were added to the theatrical prints. Because the film is animated, no actual outtakes exist; they are animated specifically for the outtakes sequence.

Home media

''A Bug's Life'' was the first home video release to be entirely created using a digital transfer. Every frame of animation was converted from the film's computer data, as opposed to the standard analog film-to-videotape transfer process. This allowed for the film's DVD release to retain its original 2.35:1 widescreen format. The DVD was released on April 20, 1999, alongside a VHS release which was presented in a standard 1.33:1 " fullscreen" format. The film's fullscreen transfer was performed by entirely "reframing" the film shot by shot; more than half of the film's footage was modified by Pixar animators to fit within the film's aspect ratio. Several characters and objects were moved closer together to avoid being cut out of frame. The film's VHS release was the best-selling VHS in the United Kingdom, with 1.76 million units sold by the end of the year. On August 1, 2000, these editions were re-released on VHS and DVD under the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection banner.

On May 27, 2003, a 2-disc Collector's Edition DVD was released. This THX-certified DVD release once again gives the option of viewing the film in Widescreen or Full Frame. The second disc features numerous bonus features, such as a set-top game and a ''Finding Nemo'' featurette.

On May 19, 2009, the film was released on Blu-ray, and then on 4K Blu-ray on March 3, 2020.

Reception

Box office

''A Bug's Life'' grossed $371,940 at the El Capitan in its first five days before expanding nationwide. The film grossed a record $45.7 million during the five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend, including $33.3 million for the three-day weekend, ranking first at the box office, beating out '' Babe: Pig in the City'' and '' The Rugrats Movie''. Its five-day Thanksgiving opening gross surpassed the previous record holder held by '' 101 Dalmatians''. This record was surpassed by ''Toy Story 2'' the following year. With a total gross of $12.5 million, ''A Bug's Life'' achieved the second-highest first two-day Thanksgiving gross, behind ''Back to the Future Part II''. It managed to retain the top position in its second weekend, making $17.1 million and outgrossing '' Psycho''. During its third weekend, the film's number one spot was taken by '' Star Trek: Insurrection'', but it still overperformed '' Jack Frost'' while earning $11.1 million.

In its first international weekend, the film grossed $3.2 million from 5 countries, setting record openings for an animated film in Australia ($1.6 million) and Thailand ($400,000), with the latter surpassing ''Mulan''. Furthermore, it made $2 million during its opening weekend in Mexico, which was the country's second-highest at the time, after ''Godzilla''.

By late December 1998, ''A Bug's Life'' had earned over $100 million. Altogether, several in-year 1998 films combined with ''Titanic'' pulled $7 billion in North America, propelling the film industry to a record year at the box office.

In February 1999, the film also had a record opening for an animated film in the United Kingdom with an opening weekend gross of £4.2 million ($6.9 million), surpassing ''Toy Story''. Upon opening, it beat '' Shakespeare in Love'' and '' Stepmom'' to reach the number one spot. The film would remain so for five weeks until it was overtaken by '' Patch Adams'' in its sixth weekend. It also made $556,000 in the Philippines, which was the country's second-highest for an animated film, behind ''The Lion King''. In Japan, the film ended ''Armageddon''s 13-week-long run in the number one spot, earning $1.7 million.

At the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed $162.8 million in the United States and Canada and $200.4 million in foreign countries, pushing its worldwide gross to $363.3 million, surpassing the competition from DreamWorks Animation's ''Antz'', which earned $171.8 million worldwide.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of based on reviews and an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "''A Bug's Life'' is a rousing adventure that blends animated thrills with witty dialogue and memorable characters – and another smashing early success for Pixar." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, gave the film a score of 77 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Todd McCarthy of '' Variety'' wrote, "Lasseter and Pixar broke new technical and aesthetic ground in the animation field with ''Toy Story'', and here they surpass it in both scope and complexity of movement while telling a story that overlaps ''Antz'' in numerous ways." James Berardinelli of '' ReelViews'' gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying "''A Bug's Life'', like ''Toy Story'', develops protagonists we can root for, and places them in the midst of a fast-moving, energetic adventure." Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' gave the film three and a half stars out of four, writing "Will ''A Bug's Life'' suffer by coming out so soon after ''Antz''? Not any more than one thriller hurts the chances for the next one. ''Antz'' may even help business for ''A Bug's Life'' by demonstrating how many dramatic and comedic possibilities can be found in an anthill." Kenneth Turan of the ''Los Angeles Times'' gave the film four out of five stars, writing "What ''A Bug's Life'' demonstrates is that when it comes to bugs, the most fun ones to hang out with hang exclusively with the gang at Pixar." Peter Stack of the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' gave the film four out of four stars, stating "''A Bug's Life'' is one of the great movies – a triumph of storytelling and character development, and a whole new ballgame for computer animation. Pixar Animation Studios has raised the genre to an astonishing new level".

Richard Corliss of ''Time'' magazine wrote, "The plot matures handsomely; the characters neatly converge and combust; the gags pay off with emotional resonance." Owen Gleiberman of ''Entertainment Weekly'' gave the film a B, saying "''A Bug's Life'' may be the single most amazing film I've ever seen that I couldn't fall in love with." Paul Clinton of ''CNN'' wrote, "''A Bug's Life'' is a perfect movie for the holidays. It contains a great upbeat message ... it's wonderful to look at ... it's wildly inventive ... and it's entertaining for both adults and kids." Michael Wilmington of the ''Chicago Tribune'' gave the film three and a half stars out of four, and compared the movie to "Akira Kurosawa's '' Seven Samurai'' (with a little of another art-film legend, Federico Fellini, tossed in)," where "As in ''Samurai'', the colony here is plagued every year by the arrival of bandits." On the contrary, Stephen Hunter of ''The Washington Post'' wrote, "Clever as it is, the film lacks charm. One problem: too many bugs. Second, bigger world for two purposes: to feed birds and to irk humans."

Accolades

''A Bug's Life'' won a number of awards and numerous nominations. The film won the inaugural Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film (tied with ''The Prince of Egypt'') as well as the award for Best Family Film. It also won the Satellite Award for Best Animated Film and the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition by Randy Newman. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and the BAFTA Award for Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects. In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated this film for its Top 10 Animation Films list.

Legacy

In the years since its release, ''A Bug's Life'' has been regarded by critics and fans to be a Pixar film that, in contrast to its successors, has become largely forgotten by audiences. While recognized as solidifying Pixar's success, the film has been seen as the studio's sophomore slump in the wake of the critically successful ''Toy Story'', and inhibited by being released directly before the equally revered ''Toy Story 2''. Pixar's feud with DreamWorks as a result of ''Antz'' has also been regarded as a factor in ''A Bug's Life''s legacy.

Critics have generally ranked ''A Bug's Life'' to be one of Pixar's weaker releases. While it has been seen as "charming", as well as an "ambitious" film with pioneering animation for its time, others have described it as "adequate", and appealing more to a younger demographic. Nonetheless, the film's characters, voice acting, and humor have received lasting praise.

Media and merchandise

Attached short film

The film's theatrical and video releases include ''Geri's Game'', an Academy Award winning Pixar short made in 1997, a year before this film was released.

Video game

A game, based on the film, was developed by Traveller's Tales and Tiertex Design Studios and released by Sony Computer Entertainment, Disney Interactive, THQ and Activision for various systems. The game's storyline was similar to the film's, with a few changes. However, unlike the film, the game received mixed reviews. Aggregating review website GameRankings gave the Nintendo 64 version 54.40%, the PlayStation version 51.90% and the Game Boy Color version 36.63%. GameSpot gave the PlayStation version a 2.7/10, concluding that it was "obvious that Disney was more interested in producing a $40 advertisement for its movie than in developing a playable game." IGN gave the Nintendo 64 version a 6.8/10, praising the presentation and sound by stating "It was upbeat, cheery look and feel very much like the movie of the same name with cheery, happy tunes and strong sound effects" but again criticized the gameplay by saying the controls were "sluggish with stuttering framerate and tired gameplay mechanics", while they gave the PlayStation version a 4/10, criticizing the gameplay as slow and awkward but praising the presentation as cinematic.

Other game appearances

Flik and Hopper appear in the mobile game '' Disney Heroes: Battle Mode''. Flik was added in Update 3.6. Hopper was added soon after.

In the city-building video game ''Disney Magic Kingdoms'', Flik, Atta, Dot, Hopper and Heimlich were added as playable characters, along with the attractions It’s Tough to be a Bug! and Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies, during a limited-time Event in 2024 with a storyline set sometime after Hopper was caught by the bird and before the Circus Bugs left Ant Island.

Theme park attractions

The Disney California Adventure nighttime show '' World of Color'' features a segment that includes Heimlich the Caterpillar from the film.

Former theme park attractions

From 1998 to 2025, Disney's Animal Kingdom included the 3D show ''It's Tough to Be a Bug!'', which featured Flik and Hopper from the film. The show also existed at Disney California Adventure from 2001 to 2018.

From 2002 to 2018, A Bug's Land was an area of Disney California Adventure that was inspired by the film.

See also

* Lists of animated feature films
* List of Pixar films
* List of computer-animated films
* List of Disney animated films based on fairy tales
* List of films featuring insects

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Official website
at Pixar
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1990s children's animated films
1990s English-language films
1998 American animated films
1998 children's films
1998 films
1998 comedy films
1998 computer-animated films
American children's animated adventure films
American children's animated comedy films
Animated films about ants
Animated films about insects
Animated films about talking animals
Animated films set on islands
Best Animated Feature Broadcast Film Critics Association Award winners
Disney controversies
Films directed by John Lasseter
Films involved in plagiarism controversies
Films produced by Darla K. Anderson
Films scored by Randy Newman
Films with screenplays by John Lasseter
Films with screenplays by Joe Ranft
Films with screenplays by Andrew Stanton
Pixar animated films
Films with screenplays by Donald McEnery
Films with screenplays by Bob Shaw
The Ant and the Grasshopper