The Unnamed Bird is the overreaching antagonist in the movie A Bug's Life.
She was portrayed as an antagonist, as she tried to eat Flik and the rest of the Circus Bugs as well as feeding Hopper to her newly hatched baby chicks (even though he deserves it for his actions).
Her chirps and roars were voiced by Frank Welker.
Appearance[]
The bird is seen to be a female American goldfinch. As the movie is in the bugs' perspective, the bird appears to be huge. However, she is most likely a small bird in a human's perspective.
Personality[]
As the bird is non-verbal, it's not shown what her true personality is. However, she does seem to care for her newly born chicks, as she feeds them Hopper. She can also get mad whenever someone insults her, as she gives out a large roar (which could be considered a small chirp to a human) when Hopper insults her, thinking she's another fake bird created by Flik. She also responds to this by feeding him to her offspring, showing that she can get a little sensitive.
Biography[]
Beginning Cameo[]
The bird is first seen at the very beginning of the movie, flying off somewhere in the reflection of a puddle.
The Encounter of the Circus Bugs[]
She is next seen toward the halfway point of the movie, when the Circus Bugs are about to leave Ant Island after learning that Flik was a fraud and was not a circus producer that was hiring them for their talent. As they're leaving, Flik notices one of the bird's feathers and three unhatched chicks inside of a nest. Flik then runs away as the bird lands behind the bugs. She chirps at the bugs, who become very scared. Soon, the rest of the bugs join Flik in running away as the bird chases them. Dot, who had accidentally fallen on a dandelion petal and was watching the bugs as she was floating away on the petal, jumps off the petal screaming when the bird is about to hit her. Francis notices Dot fall and leaves the troupe as he comes and tries to save her. When he catches her, Francis falls down with her weight down a small crevice as the bird lands on top of the crevice. This makes one of the rocks on the ground fall into the crevice and land on Francis' leg. Right afterward, another rock falls on his head, knocking him out. The bird roars (chirps in a human's perspective) at the two bugs inside of the crevice, as Dot tries to wake Francis up. The bird then tries to peck at the bugs, which hide underneath a small opening of ground. Heimlich and Slim then distract the bird by shouting that there is a "nice, tasty worm on a stick" to her. The bird then walks up to the two bugs as Atta watches in horror. As the bird walks to the distraction, Flik, Manny and Dim fly away with a net created by Rosie in Dim's hands to save Dot and Francis from the crevice. Meanwhile, Heimlich and Slim fall into another crevice as Heimlich gets stuck in the entrance. He then screams in terror as the bird comes up to him. As the bird is about to eat Heimlich, Gypsy flies in and opens her wings, which distracts the bird. With this distraction, Slim then helps Heimlich back into the crevice. Meanwhile, Francis, inside of the net, wakes up and cuts the net with his wings in surprise of the pain in his leg. This traps him, Tuck, and Roll with Flik holding onto Francis' antenna with Dot in his hands. With this much weight, Dim starts to descend down but tries to save himself. This creates a cycle of Dim flying down and up, much to Flik and Dot's horror. Soon enough, Dim flies high enough for the bird to notice, taking her attention off of Gypsy. The bird then walks up to the flying birds, much to their horror. Dim then flies up and goes in between small patches of thorned leaf stems, which the bird can not go through without hurting herself. So, she flies away in defeat, which the rest of the ants applaud. Offscreen, Gypsy flies to Heimlich and Slim and save them from their crevice.
The Fake Bird Plan[]
After that encounter, Atta admires Flik's bravery against the bird, as no bug would ever go near a bird, not even Hopper. This gives Flik the idea of creating a fake version of the bird to scare away the Grasshoppers. However, when the Grasshoppers actually show up, this plan fails, as P.T. Flea, who had gone to Ant Island to rehire the Circus Bugs, burns the fake with a match (he would use it for his Flaming Death act), which was in his circus wagon. (That was knocked over by the fake bird)
Hopper's End[]
After the fight against the ants and the grasshoppers (to which the ants win), Hopper takes Flik out of anger. Luckily, Atta intervenes and saves Flik from Hopper's grasp. Then, Flik has an idea and tells Atta to go to the bird's nest. When Atta does this, Hopper follows them. When they get there, Flik tells Atta to hide. Then, Hopper shows up. After Hopper tortures Flik by choking him and having a villainous breakdown, the bird appears from the nest, noticing Flik and Hopper. Hopper, thinking that this bird is another fake, insults the bird. The bird gives out a roar (chirp) and grasps Hopper with her beak, much to his horror. She later uses Hopper as food for her newly hatched baby chicks, as a scared Flik and Atta cover their eyes as Hopper is devoured by the baby chicks, ultimately ending Hopper's reign of terror.
Bloopers[]
The bird reappears in the "bloopers" in the credits during the scene where she is about to eat Heimlich before getting distracted by Gypsy. In this blooper, she starts to go for Heimlich but then breaks down, showing herself to be an animatronic. As she is put away, Heimlich asks if this means that he can have his lunch break to the offscreen cameramen.
Gallery[]
Add pictures and screenshots here, as I don't know how to do so.
Trivia[]
- Alongside her offspring, she is the only non-background character to not have any lines of dialogue anywhere during the film, including the bloopers at the end. (Thumper does not have any piece of dialogue in the film either. However, he does talk in one of the bloopers)