The standouts are Kevin Spacey's sarcastic performance as Hopper, Dave Foley's eccentric turn as Flik, and the late Joe Ranft's hilarious tour de force as Heimlich. Despite the list of recognizable names (including Roddy McDowall and Madeleine Kahn in their last feature films), each actor suits his character perfectly. As with any film released by Disney, most audience members will know where the story is going, yet the way it's told is strong enough to hold interest. The story itself is lean and tight while still satisfying. Despite focusing exclusively on bugs, this is one of the grandest Pixar films created in terms of scope. The marketing campaign's tagline "an epic of miniature proportions" is the perfect way to describe the film. That shouldn't take away from the fact that this animated interpretation does enough things uniquely to stand on its own. It would be a valid claim, however, to state that this picture does remake Akira Kurosawa's 1954 classic Seven Samurai. No one can accuse A Bug's Life of remaking that 1995 debut film. It comes as a testament to their strength and integrity as filmmakers that they resisted such an enticement. The team at Pixar surely could've felt tempted to rehash Toy Story's winning formula with different characters. The only exception is Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who can't help but feel that something is amiss and can't afford for things to go awry just as she's on the verge of becoming queen. Once they all head back to Ant Island, the colony receives them with open arms. Through some miscommunication, the troupe believes Flik to be a talent scout while he believes them to be warrior bugs. Among these players are the eternally hungry caterpillar Heimlich (Joe Ranft), the tough guy ladybug Francis (Dennis Leary), and the highly neurotic stick bug Slim (David Hyde Pierce).
He meets a group of second-rate circus bugs who have recently been fired by their boss, P.T. To make up for his blunders, Flik volunteers to leave Ant Island in search of warrior bugs who will help defeat the grasshoppers the next time they come. Hopper spares the colony from annihilation by promising to return in the fall, giving no time for the ants to scrounge up food for themselves.
On the very day they're set to return, an offbeat inventor ant named Flik (Dave Foley) accidentally sends the year's offering hurling over a cliff and into the river. Each spring, the grasshoppers arrive to reap the fruits of the ants' labor. Thankfully, they were able to accomplish both as the film was a critical, box office, and artistic success.Ī Bug's Life focuses on a colony of ants forced to collect food for a group of grasshoppers led by Hopper (voiced by Kevin Spacey). They were faced with the task of meeting the standards they had set for themselves while still delivering something fresh and distinctive. In the case of their second animated feature, A Bug's Life, Pixar was now being watched and scrutinized by everyone: distribution partner Disney, stockholders, critics, and audiences. It's one thing to work off the radar and have little to no outside expectations. This is the challenge the crew at Pixar faced when their debut feature film Toy Story became a smash hit around the world. Receiving accolades and acclaim for an achievement is certainly a fulfilling experience, but then the dreaded question "What comes next?" looms ahead. Success can be both a wonderful and a daunting thing.
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