A Bug’s Life
Even after the likes of “The Incredibles,” “Wall-E,” “Up,” and “Finding Nemo,” I still have to say, Pixar’s second film remains one of my favorites of theirs. It’s not because of any great depth or themes I say that. The fact remains, “A Bug’s Life” is hilarious. It’s the closest thing to a true comedy the studio has ever made, and it’s an absolute delight. The cast of characters is riotous, the animation (as it always in with Pixar) is wonderful, and the story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Joe Ranft is just plain fun.
That’s not to say the film is as original as other Pixar films. One of the strangest pieces of film criticism I’ve read over the years was when Mike Clark of USA Today, in placing “A Bug’s Life” on his 10-best list for 1998, likened the film to Akira Kurosawa’s classic epic, “Seven Samurai.” I honestly didn’t know what to think at the time, but when I finally watched the film a few years later, I couldn’t believe my eyes: Clark had hit the nail on the head with this film. Why Lasseter and co. didn’t mention this debt to the Japanese master on their commentary for the film is beyond me. Maybe they didn’t realize it, but with a filmmaking collective as well-versed in film history as the Pixar troupe, I’d find that difficult to believe.
The thing that really made “A Bug’s Life” stand out from other animated films, such as Dreamworks’s similarly-conceived “Antz,” back then was the treat the animators put in the end credits. At the time, the idea of outtakes during the closing credits was solely for comedies and Jackie Chan films. Once Pixar broke the fourth wall for this film, there was no going back; ever since, there’s been little reason to leave before the Disney castle comes onscreen when all is said and done. My favorites are the multiple takes where Kevin Spacey’s bad guy grasshopper Hopper is cut down to size as his scene partners break character, but there are plenty of other gems Lasseter and co-director Andrew Stanton have up their sleeves.
For those who may not remember the story, a colony of ants is collecting food for the bully grasshoppers led by Hopper. They spend the summer collecting for the grasshoppers, who eat the food in exchange for “protection” (or so they say), giving them until the last leaf falls to collect for themselves. Unfortunately, a particularly inventive ant named Flick (voiced by the wonderful Dave Foley) marches to his own drummer, and one of his creations causes a ruckus, which isn’t good for the ants or Princess Atta (voiced by Julia Louis Dreyfus) when their offering ends up in the nearby stream, and Hopper forces them to collect food again. Flick is humiliated– maybe if he gets some warrior bugs to fight off Hopper and co. he’ll be redeemed. What he doesn’t know is that the bugs he gets are really a failed circus troupe that ended up in a bar fight. Isn’t that always the way things go?
From the old-school orchestral score from Randy Newman that evokes Copland-esque Americana to Pixar’s bright and brilliant animation (this would be a great 3D rerelease; too bad it’s the least successful of the studio’s films) to the great cast (from well-known comedic talents like Madeline Khan, David-Hyde Pierce, and Dennis Leary to the irreplaceable Joe Ranft, Pixar’s head of story, as the German caterpillar Heimlich) and the imaginative set pieces (gotta love the mime bug and the bird sequences), “A Bug’s Life” doesn’t look for the same profundities of later Pixar films, but it’s a genuine delight that can be watched over and over again.
