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A Bug's Life

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A Bug's Life is Pixar's second feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It was released on November 25, 1998.


Story[]

The plot of A Bug's Life focuses on a misfit ant named Flik who recruits a group of circus bugs to help him rid his colony of evil grasshoppers.

Plot[]

The grasshoppers arrive once a season to extort food from the ants, supposedly in return for protection from "bigger bugs," but while working with an invention to pick grain more efficiently, an ant named Flik accidentally destroys the annual offering that the ants were collecting to appease the grasshoppers. In exchange for a temporary reprieve from the grasshoppers including their leader Hopper, the ants are given until the end of autumn to produce an offering of twice the usual amount. Later, while he is being admonished by the royal council of the colony, Flik proposes a plan to recruit "warrior bugs" to fight off the grasshoppers. When the council agrees to his proposal, Flik actually believes they have accepted the merits of his plan, whereas the council actually saw it as a convenient way of simply keeping Flik from wreaking any more havoc with their food-gathering activities.

Flik finds his way to the "city" (garbage under a trailer), where he mistakes a group of recently fired circus performers, whose act had collapsed into chaos, for the warrior bugs he's seeking. The bug troupe, meanwhile, mistakes Flik for a talent agent who wants to book their act, and agrees to travel with him back to Ant Island.

Both Flik and the circus troupe soon become aware of their respective mistakes. However, the rest of the ant colony had become convinced that these newcomers are indeed the warriors for which they had hoped when the circus bugs help Flik pull off a daring rescue of Dot (a young princess ant of the colony, who idolizes Flik) and a wounded Francis (a ladybird performer of the circus bug troupe) from a hungry gryphon.

Caught between the opportunity to turn around his fortunes within the colony, and the knowledge that the bug troupe are not who they appear to be, Flik advocates building a fake gryphon to scare away Hopper, the leader of the grasshoppers, who is deeply afraid of bug-eating gryphons.

Meanwhile at the grasshopper's home (under a sombrero in a desert), Molt, Hopper's brother is tricked by other grasshoppers into trying to talk Hopper out of returning to Ant Island since they have more than enough food to last and it will rain soon. Hopper in response shows his men exactly why they are returning by burying the three who questioned him with hundreds of seeds. Saying that the ants and seeds are alike, ants may be puny by themselves but they outnumber grasshoppers a hundred to one. They aren't returning because of food, they're returning to keep the ants from figuring out how powerful they really are.

The ants unite behind Flik's plan until the circus' ringmaster, P.T. Flea, arrives to retrieve his performers, thereby blowing Flik's cover. As punishment for deceiving the colony, Queen Atta (the older sister of Dot and soon-to-be queen of the colony) banishes Flik, who sadly joins the rest of the circus. Having wasted an enormous amount of time pursuing Flik's plan to stand up to the grasshoppers, the ants try desperately to gather enough food for a new offering, but due to the rapidly-approaching winter season, they can't find enough food to meet the quota. When the grasshoppers return and are angered by the meager offering, Dot overhears Hopper's plan to squish the queen after receiving the full offering, and convinces her friends to put Flik's bird plan back into action. She goes after Flik and convinces him and the circus bugs to return to help the colony.

Meanwhile, the Circus Bugs become a distraction to entertain the grasshoppers while they save the queen it nearly works, but when Hopper questions where the queen is, they all look up in horror as the fake gryphon (unknown to them, driven by Flik) swarms over them. However P.T. Flea confesses it for a real bird and inadvertently incinerates it, Hopper realizes that he has been tricked and takes out his anger on the primary instigator who then takes it out on the princess but Flik shouts out that that he had done this. After absorbing a beating from Hopper's rabid, feral grasshopper Thumper, Flik declares, in response to Hopper's claims of species superiority:

"You're wrong, Hopper. Ants are not meant to serve grasshoppers. I've seen these ants do great things, and year after year they somehow manage to pick enough food for themselves *and* you. So who's the weaker species? Ants don't need grasshoppers! It's you who need us! We're a lot stronger than you say we are...and you know it, don't you?"

Indeed, Hopper's worried expression leads Flik to realise that Hopper has always known how strong the ants are. However, Hopper's reaction to Flik's challenge in front of the whole ant colony make them collectively realize that they vastly outnumber the grasshoppers, and that they needn't endure their oppression any longer, and the battle for Ant Island ensues.

The ants rise up in a wave of fury and chase the grasshoppers out for good, not long after the spring rains appeared this gives Hopper a chance to make off with Flik in a plan to exact revenge upon him. Flik's friends, including Princess Atta, set off in pursuit, and thanks to some quick thinking by Flik, Hopper ends up being eaten by one of the real griffons finally putting he's reign of terror and insult on the ant colony to an end. By spring time the ants give thanks to the circus bugs and Flik is welcomed back as a member of the colony, and all the circus bugs join him in a celebration before departing from Ant Island.

In the second film a brand-new group named the ladybugs are on a mission to rob some food at grasshopper land contract an attitude ladybug named samdra but they called her Sam once they arrived they started hunting down some food the ladybugs lost all of them and sam got jealous. at the begaining flik and atta were married. Dot has a cousin named gale and then hopper came to tell flik and said sorry for bugging the ants. and then hopper tell flik that there is a new pack trying to steal are food and then flik brought back the circus bugs. Samdra arrived and introduce flik herself and then sam told flik that her and her army are coming to ant island to remove dot from this palace. Flik made a deal with hopper that they and their army can work together to stop samdra and her ladybugs. a few moments later samdra went along with her army by taking a boat after sam taking dot thumper bites sam. Samdra attempts to take flik and hopper instead the ladybug goon put them to sleep. Flik woke up in Sam's prison and they plan to escape they went back to ant island in the final battle samdra turned into a robot ant destroyed ant island flik and hopper use power to stop her by using a laser bean. After That Flik opened his eyes slowly that shows sparks falling, Sam went back to normal 2 mintues later Sam attempts to kill them by saying (GO BACK TO SHADOWS FOR WHAT YOU DID) but dot killed samdra with a laser gun before she did and then hopper slowly opened his eyes to flik that samdra was dead hopper ask who did that and then dot said i did you're welcome. in the flik, atta dot, and hopper become veterains and graduated for defeating the ladybugs.

Voice Cast[]

  • Dave Foley as Flik, the main protagonist. A misfit ant looking for warriors to save his colony from grasshoppers and Ladybugs.
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Princess Atta, the deuteragonist. The heir to the throne.
  • Hayden Panettiere as Princess Dot, the tritagonist. Princess Atta's little sister.
  • Sean Rizzo as Samdra/S.A.M.M.E.G, Second Villian, Leader of the ladybugs
  • Clair Crosby as Gale, Dots Cousin
  • Kevin Spacey as Hopper a Grasshopper friend
  • Art Parkison as Rick, Flik's Brother
  • Zack Collison as Ladybug Captain
  • Phylis Diller as the Queen, mother of atta & dot
  • David Cross as Molt, Hopper's brother and a secondary antagonist.
  • David Hyde Pierce as Slim, a stick insect clown in P.T. Flea's circus.
  • Kerry Shale as Heimlich, a dim-witted caterpillar clown in P.T. Flea's circus who longs to be a butterfly.
  • Denis Leary as Francis, a bad-tempered male ladybird clown in P.T. Flea's circus, who is constantly mistaken for a girl.
  • Debbie Reynolds as Gypsy, a Gypsy moth and Manny's girlfriend in P.T. Flea's circus.
  • Michael McShane as Tuck And Roll, two Hungarian twin pillbugs and the "human cannonballs" in P.T. Flea's circus.
  • Bonnie Hunt as Rosie, a black widow spider in P.T. Flea's circus with a black ponytail.
  • John Heard as P.T. Flea, a flea and the boss of the circus troupe.
  • Geoffrey Bayldon as Manny, a praying mantis magician in P.T. Flea's circus.
  • Brad Garrett as Dim, a huge, gentle rhinoceros beetle and "foul beast" in P.T. Flea's circus.
  • Roddy McDowall as Mr. Soil, an ant and a thespian.
  • Alex Rocco as Thorny, a part of the Ant Council.
  • Edie McClurg as Dr. Flora, the ant doctor.
  • Jeremy Bulloch as Cockroach Bus
  • David Ossman as Cornelius, an elderly ant with a walking cane and Thorny's Helper.
  • Patrick Warburton as Bob
  • Danny Glover as Robin
  • Brian George as George
  • Catherine O'Hara as Fly mother
  • Jonathan Harris as Markus
  • Madeline Kahn as Maddie
  • Ashley Tisdale as Daisy, a leading member of the Blueberry Scouts.
  • B.J. Ward as Fly mother
  • Wally Wingert as Walter
  • David Ogden Stiers, Billy West and Jack Angel as The Fly Brothers, and Thud .
  • Frank Welker as The Gryphon and Thumper.
  • Sophia Kalem as Samdra's Minions 1
  • Christina Boldensteiner as Samdra's Minions 2

Additional voices[]

Additional Voices provided by Carlos Alazraqui, Bob Bergen, Kimberly Brown, Anthony Burch, Jennifer Darling, Rachel Davey, Paul Eiding, Jessica Evans, Bill Farmer, Sam Gifaldi, Brad Hall, Jess Harnell, Brenden Hickey, Kate Hodges, Denise Johnson, Sherry Lynn, Mickie McGowan, Courtland Mead, Christine Milian, Kelsey Mulrooney, Ryan O'Donohue, Jeff Pidgeon, Phil Proctor, Jordy Ranft, Rebecca Schneider, Franchesca Smith, Hannah Swanson, Russi Taylor, Travis Tedford, Lee Unkrich, and Jordan Warkol.


Danske Stemmer[]

Additional Voices[]

  • Thomas Mørk
  • Peter Røschke
  • Henrik Jandorf
  • Peter Holst-Bech
  • Donald Andersen
  • Lars Thiesgaard
  • Charlotte Amalie Kirkegård Kehlet
  • Marie Norup Roupe
  • Annevig Schelde Ebbe
  • Victor Ray Salomonsen Ronander
  • Lukas Forchhammer
  • Julius Mygind
  • Amalie Dollerup
  • Julian T. Kellermann
  • Daniel B. Kellermann
  • Foreningen Impro-Musical

Sang[]

”Du skal bruge dit liv” sunget af: Otto Brandenburg

Dansk Mix: Morten Holm-Nielsen/Medieværket

Sangetekster: Mikael Roupe

Release[]

A Bug's Life was shot in a widescreen format called CinemaScope (which is either 02.35:01 or 02.40:01), and then became the first digital-to-digital DVD reframed (01.33:01) video release. This movie was released on November 26, 1998 in the United States and February 5, 1999 in the United Kingdom.

Trivia[]

  • This is the first Pixar film to be produced in a 02.35:01 widescreen aspect ratio; all of that company's previous films were produced in 01.85:01.
  • This was the first computer-animated feature film to be presented in a scope ratio of 02.35:01.
  • First Pixar film not to have humans.
  • This is Pixar's second feature film.
  • This is the first Pixar film to not become a franchise.
  • This is the first Pixar film to be produced in anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio (02.35:01); all of that company's previous films were produced in 01.85:01/01.78:01, followed by The Incredibles (02.40:01).
  • This is the first Pixar film to feature no humans, followed by Cars.
  • It is also the only Pixar film so far rather than the Cars series to feature no humans.
  • This is the only Pixar film to actually retain its widescreen viewing format in its Blu-ray release.
  • This is the first Pixar film to receive a widescreen home release. Unlike most widescreen viewings, which cut off huge portions of the image to make it fit on a smaller screen, A Bug's Life actually has many scenes in the film completely reanimated (such as minor tweaking of certain characters, props, and even entire scenes) so that its quality remains true to the widescreen release even on a smaller television screen. The process would continue until 2006 film Cars (which is usually Open Season). It should also be noted that the widescreen version is exclusive only to the United States original home releases, all of the international versions contain only the widescreen version.
  • This is the first Pixar film to both use the "normal" customized Walt Disney Pictures logo up until 2007 film Ratatouille and to have the Pixar logo appear at the very beginning.
  • This is the first Pixar film to have outtakes.
  • The scene where Flik shrieks when he sees Circus Bugs leaving has become a popular internet meme.
  • The Pizza Planet Truck From Toy Story (1995) that appears in every Pixar film, (except The Incredibles (2004)) is visible around twenty-five minutes in, just after the circus scene as the camera tilts up.
  • This is the first Pixar film to have "The End" word, followed by Finding Nemo with the loving memory of Glenn McQueen (1960 - 2002).
  • The ant's tree is used again in other Pixar movies. For example, in Toy Story 2, it is the tree in Jessie's flashback and in Up (which is usually Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs), it is the tree Carl Fredricksen and Ellie go to.
  • Since Molt is now the part of the circus members and Atta is now the queen of colony of the Ant Island.
  • A Bug's Life has a spinoff show for the Circus Bugs called The Circus of A Bug's Life.

Cultural references[]

  • Metropolis (1927)
    Where the "Bug City In A Metropolis Is Tower Of Babel".
  • The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938)
    Francis dresses up as Robin Hood and Heimlich dresses up as Little John.
  • Dumbo (1941)
    The brand name on the animal cracker box that P.T. Flea uses as a circus wagon is "Casey Junior", the name of the locomotive which pulls the circus train
  • Bambi (1942)
    Hopper's "pet" wild grasshopper is named Thumper.
  • Seven Samurai (1954)
    An ant colony (village) is under attack by grasshoppers (bandits) demanding food. This goes on until the village decides to hire a circus act (samurai) to defend the village. However, the circus act is nine members.
  • The Magnificent Seven (1960)
    The villain Hopper banishes Flik and the other bugs from the anthill in a similar fashion to Calvera driving the Seven away from the village.
  • Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
    Heimlich says "Bye Bye Birdie" to the giant bird.
  • Lost In Space (1965) (Television Series)
    At one point Manny (Jonathan Harris) cries out "the pain! the pain!", which was a Dr. Smith expression from "Lost in Space".
  • The Graduate (1967)
    Where The Thorny And Cornelius Of Slim In The Walking Stickman.
  • A Clockwork Orange (1971)
    Director John Lasseter mentioned that the character of Dim (voiced by Brad Garrett) was based on the big brutish yet not so smart character (who had the same name) in A Clockwork Orange.
  • The Thing (1982)
    Heimlich and Slim it's a "The Giant Bird Attacks" as Alien, Thumper's Roar scares is Norris Thing in "Princess Dot's Rescue".
  • Brazil (1985)
    Welcome to The Flik Machine in "The City Of The Bugs".
  • Dot And Keeto (1986)
    The bird chase is similar when dot was once chased by a crow, but the bugs escape the bird back to ant island in the knick of time.
  • Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989)
    The raindrops fall the same way (they drop like bombs).
  • The Last Of The Mohicans (1992)
    Where The Ant Of Colony in the grasshopper in bandits of the village.
  • The Lion King (1994)
    Hopper: "It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, princess. One Of Those Circle Of Life kind of things."
  • Toy Story (1995)
    The Pizza Planet truck appears near the trailer with the deadly bug light.
  • Microcosmos (1996)
    initial sequence; bird sequence; rain sequence
  • Lost In Space (1998)
    Manny (Jonathan Harris) wears Dr. Smith's sweater from Lost In Space

Sequel[]

Transcript[]

  • See Here!

Video Reframing[]

Widescreen (02.35:01/02.40:01) And Full Frame (1.33:1)

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