Let's start with Dreamworks' very first animated feature
Antz
The controversial predecessor to "A Bug's Life".
"Did Disney think of the idea first?"
"Did Katzenberg?"
Blah blah blah blah blah, who cares.
Let's just look at the movie as a whole.
The film stars an ant named "Z"
played by Woody Allen.
He's, big surprise, a neurotic
living in a colony of ants where it's very easy to lose your identity.
He has friends here and there
but for the most part he finds it hard to fit in.
That is until he accidentally comes across the queen's daughter
played by Sharon Stone
Which is weird because, yeah, they're all technically
her children. But, I guess somehow they singled her out
as princess because she's being trained to carry
the children nec- don't know how it works but
they have a romance and seem to hit it off.
But while uncovering an evil plan from a General ant
played by Gene Hackman
Z and the princess get whisked away outside of the colony.
And thus the two are on a hair-raising adventure
against humans, other insects, and even their own kind
to find what they call paradise.
Known as "Insectopia"
which is really nothing more than a garbage can.
As a first film this is pretty damn good from an animation company.
The CG now is a touch-dated
but when it came out it was pretty impresive.
I find it interesting that I actually don't have a hard
time telling the ants apart.
They're not drawn like typical cartoon characters
with big eyes or big expressions.
But somehow I actually do know which ones are which.
Part of that comes from the incredibly distinct
voices that they have.
Yeah, this movie really crammed the celebrities in there.
I mean, there's a ton.
But, to its credit, they all sort of fit.
Woody Allen as the neurotic, that's a no-brainer.
Gene Hackman as the bad guy, that works obviously.
Stallone as a soldier obviously fits well.
Jennifer Lopez as one of the tough miners, that works too.
Danny Glover as a supportive comrade.
Dan Aykroyd as a snobby sophisticate.
These actually really do fall together.
That is all except for one...
what the hell is Christopher Walken doing in this movie?
And I'm not at all about the Christopher Walken hate.
Anything he's in, I'll take it.
But I, ju- why?!
He has like no role.
He's the assistant to the general and...
that's it, there's no other character to 'em.
He's not weird, he's not strange,
and his voice sticks out like a sore thumb.
"Imagine it."
"Strong colony, Sir."
"A colony, we can be proud of."
I just remember snickering the whole time
'cause every time he opened his mouth
I'd be like "Oh, that's Christopher Walken and he sounds funny.
I wish he was given funny stuff to do."
But while we're on the subject
the film is pretty funny.
I mean, okay, not knee-slapping funny.
But it certainly does great in creating these grand environments
made out of every-day small things.
Their view of the world and the way they actually act
as a colony is pretty entertaining.
Literally at birth they decide whether or not
they're gonna be a worker or a soldier.
And of course there's a lot of obvious commentary.
In either following the pack or being an individual.
And where you draw the line.
Which is why I think the film really does work better
for maybe a younger audience.
I remember when I saw this I was a junior in high school.
I was going through my rebellious artist phase
and this is just the movie I wanted to see.
Not realizing that a bajillion movies more that year
and the following years were going to come with a very similar message.
That's not a bad message, it's just been kinda
hammered to death in other films and
yeah this one kinda hammers it to death too.
But what makes it stand out is the characters,
the environments they create,
and the fact that while it's animated
it doesn't go totally kid friendly.
I mean, yeah, kids can watch it
and like I said, I enjoyed it in high school.
Bu the designs aren't as colorful
or baby-friendly as something like Pixar can be.
Neither is the story or the content for that matter.
and I think that gives it a little bit more of an edge.
Even the bad guy's diabolical plan
at first I though was kinda cliched.
What he just wants to wipe out the weak, start all over
and have a "survival-of-the-fittest" type thing?
But when you really look at the way they set up this colony.
and the way things work.
Yeah, actually you can see how a character like that would be formed.
I even give credit to the fact that the bugs are not all
the same size like in "A Bug's Life".
Everything is actually to scale.
The termites are much bigger.
Mantises are much bigger.
Bees are much bigger.
It's like, yeah, bugs aren't all the same size
and that makes for a much more entertaining
and threatening world to go through.
So I really like the film.
Does it have flaws? Sure.
Is the message a little passe? A touch.
But I think it still stands out as being a very unique
tongue-in-cheek adventure.
And audiences at the time seemed to like it too.
But this would turn out to be only the first big hit
in Dreamworks' lineup.