By JULIA OLSEN
julia@du2.byu.edu
It's a bug-eat-bug world out there. Or so it is in the world of Flick the ant in Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studio's newest computer animation film, 'A Bug's Life.'
The plot of the movie is based on Aesop's fable about the carefree grasshopper that get his winter food from the industrious ants. You know the song: 'The world owes me a living, do dady, do dady, day.'
Much like Pixar's last great success, 'Toy Story,' this is destined to be a big hit for the holidays. The plot clips along at a good pace, never allowing the audience check their watches, and the creators used clever imagination to present their bug world, rich with witty humor.
Flick (Dave Foley, 'News Radio') is the typical outcast inventor who dreams of a better way of life for the indebted ant hill. At the end of every summer, Hopper (Kevin Spacey, 'The Usual Suspects'), the 'Waterworld' Dennis Hopper look-alike, and his gang of evil grasshoppers, storm Ant Island to take all the food collected during the summer.
The story starts out with Flick ruining the offering and creating havoc for the anthill. Hopper says he'll give the ants one more chance; he'll return at the end of fall to collect the food before winter comes.
Of course this means certain death for the anthill. But there is no other way, says Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), future queen ant, but to try to collect enough food for the grasshoppers and the ants.
Flick must stand trial for losing the offering. During his trial he suggests that he leaves Ant Island to enlist the help of some city bugs to beat Hopper and his gang. The council decides it's best if Flick leaves, no matter the pretense.
And so Flick, the country ant, strikes out for the big city. There he meets an entire group of circus outcasts who are desperate for a job. Flick convinces them to come help the anthill (very much like the plight in the film 'The Three Amigos.') Thus, the adventure begins.
Throughout the film, the uses of the natural world and the bug's perspective are skillfully manipulated. The best-parodied character is Slim (David Hyde Pierce, 'Frasier'), the walking stick bug. Slim gets a lot of laughs as he doubles for swords, a clown or just a branch.
The rest of the circus act characters give plenty of belly laughs for audience members. These characters include the dramatic preying mantis Manny (Jonathan Harris, 'Fantasy Island'), the bearded ladybug Francis (Dennis Leary, 'Small Soldiers') and the hilarious fat German caterpillar Heimlich (Joe Ranft, 'James and the Giant Peach').
It wouldn't be a Disney story without some love interest. Flick and Princess Atta are featured as this episode's love pair, as Atta starts to realize that original thinking isn't that bad. Of course, they have the pesky kid sister, Dot (Hayden Panettiere, 'Guiding Light'), to help the lovers along.
The best part of the film is after the credits. Stay in your seats to see the bloopers that the animators put in, mocking the favorite cuts placed at the end of films. It's worth the ticket.
'A Bug's Life,' rated G, will start showing this Thanksgiving vacation. It's a fun family or date flick, not to miss.