Thumper is the secondary antagonist in A Bug's Life. He is one of Hopper’s minions, alongside Molt. He snarls, growls and fights for most of the time.
Thumper is a "pet" of Hopper. He’s feral, vicious and almost doglike (and also attached to a leash collar). Thumper is somewhat Hopper’s main enforcer, brutally beating up any insect who stands up to or disrespects Hopper.
Thumper seems less like a grasshopper and more like a mad attack dog. Although it takes two handlers to control the snarling, snapping, crazy bug, Hopper evilly commands Thumper with a snap of his fingers. He likes terrifying others, even small ones including Dot.
Personality[]
He does not speak in the actual movie, and is portrayed as animalistic and feral. However, in one of the bloopers, he’s revealed to be brainy and can speak. As he is snarling at Dot, he stops to rethink on how he could do better, in which he says: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Can we cut? It's just that I don’t think I'm coming across. Hmm. Oh, oh. I know, I know. I could lather up a bunch of spit. Ooh, ohh, that’s good. I got it, J.L. Alright, one more for me."
A Bug's Life[]
"Snarling Thumper is less like a grasshopper and more like a mad guard dog. When Hopper doesn’t get his way, he uses Thumper as a threat. Vicious and unpredictable, Thumper has to be kept on a leash- and even then it takes two handlers to control him!"
When Thumper is first seen, he is straining at his leash two grasshoppers are holding onto while snarling. Then, Thumper suddenly roars as he goes for Dot. Dot tries to get away, but Hopper picks her up and dangles her in the air. Hopper brings a fearful Dot over to a snarling and growling Thumper so the latter can eat her. But, Flik orders Hopper to leave Dot alone.
Many months later, when the grasshoppers return to Ant Island, Thumper hungrily ambushes and angrily chases Dot while she is attempting to seek Flik for help. Dot, however, manages to escape thanks to Thumper scaring her out of nowhere.
Later, Flik stands up to Hopper again and, after admitting that he was the one who came up with the fake bird hoax (when it was set on fire by P.T. Flea), gets beaten up by Thumper as punishment. However, Flik manages to survive the ordeal and continues his standoff. As he does, Hopper furiously approaches Flik and angrily knocks him to the ground. Hopper then tries to kill him. Before he can, he is stopped by Princess Atta.
While the rest of the colony chase off the other grasshoppers, Thumper ferociously tries to eat Dot again, but she violently smacks him, furiously calls him a bad grasshopper, and angrily tells him to go home. He then angrily snarls at her, but Dim appears behind Dot and lets out a T-Rex like roar at Thumper, making him go from ferocious to frightened to race off after the other grasshoppers while yelping like a dog.
A Bug's Life: The Video Game[]
In the video game, Thumper is the first of the four bosses that Flik must defeat, appearing in the "Council Chamber" level.
Trivia[]
- Thumper's iconic name was completely intended. John Lasseter named him after one of his favorite Disney characters, Thumper from Bambi.
- Though Thumper rarely speaks, as Molt is desperately trying to hold his leash, he roars, "GET THOSE BUGS!". When he actually speaks in the outtakes, he is voiced by David L. Lander, who has also voiced Smarty the Weasel.
- In the video game, his only line is "PSYCHO! THAT'S WHY THEY CALL ME THUMPER!"