It's Not Toy Story, But A Bug's Life Doesn't Bug Me

Reading Janell Cannon's Crickwing, a marvelous picture book involving a cockroach and two very different groups of ants, I was reminded of A Bug's Life, the Disney-Pixar follow-up to the hugely successful Toy Story. I was surprised to realize that I'd never reviewed it. Upon reflection, however, I think of all the films that pairing has produced, A Bug's Life is the least memorable because bugs just aren't as versatile and rich with creative possibilities as toys, monsters, cars or even fish. Especially when the vast majority of the characters are the same type of insect.

Flik (Dave Foley) is a clumsy inventor with a dream. He wants to make a difference to his fellow ants, and to make an impression on beautiful, feisty Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss), princess of his colony. But no one seems to appreciate him except her little sister Dot (Hayden Panattiere), and he only manages to alienate the others further when his attempts to speed up production go hopelessly awry. When he goes off to find warriors who will help defend his kind from the vicious grasshoppers who will be coming to collect the ants' regular offering of food, he thinks he's on a noble mission, but Atta just wants him out of the way. Little does she know that he will actually succeed in his quest - well, after a fashion...

The ants in this movie are quite cute, and though I find it odd that they boast shiny blue or purple bodies, I'm not complaining. The grasshoppers are big, mean-looking brutes, though without Hopper (Kevin Spacey) they probably wouldn't bother terrorizing the ants; his dopey brother Molt (Richard Kind) is especially unintimidating. What really livens the movie up is the arrival of the group of circus bugs Flik finds on his trip to town. This motley crew is good for a lot of comic relief thanks to their varied and unusual appearances and personality quirks and the lauded actors providing them with voices.

There's Heimlich (Joe Ranft), the jolly, ludicrously chubby caterpillar with a German accent; tough-talking (male) ladybug Francis (Denis Leary); classy couple Manny (Jonathan Harris), a praying mantis, and Gypsy Moth (Madeline Kahn), who are past their prime; black widow spider Rosie (Bonnie Hunt); good-natured and wimpy rhino beetle Dim (Brad Garrett); twin pills bugs Tuck and Roll (Michael McShane), who don't speak English; and my favorite, long-suffering fussbudget Slim (David Hyde Pierce), a stick bug.

This eclectic group adds color to A Bug's Life's intricate depiction of that strange world of creatures going on unnoticed amongst the blades of grass beneath our feet; without them, I suspect the film would not have captured my fancy nearly as much as it did. As it is, while A Bug's Life doesn't quite measure up to the likes of Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., it won't bug me at all to sit down and watch it.