A Bug’s Life 1998

     As an annual job, a huge colony of ants collects every piece of food that grows on their island for a group of menacing grasshoppers.  This year, an ant named Flik accidentally knocks over the offering pile.  This forces the grasshoppers’ leader Hopper to make the ants redo their gathering.  Flik is desperate to help save the colony because of his mistake.  He volunteers to go out into the world and search for a group of warrior bugs to help him.  What he finds is a talented group of circus performers?  Of course, the grasshoppers return to take control of the island.  Flik needs to step in as a hero before it’s too late for the colony!!

     There is a lot of good bug and bad bug cartoon action.  Some images could be scary to very young children.  Especially those who have not yet differentiated make believe violence from real violence.  Also, sensitive kids who are not comfortable with suspense of jeopardy.  There is scowling, threatening grasshoppers loom and swarm toward an ant colony.  The ants are the heroes and they contend with fire, rain, predatory birds and power hungry grasshoppers.   5* (I liked this movie)

95 min, Animation directed and written by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton.  Also written by Joe Ranft, Don McEnery and Bob Shaw. with the voices of Kevin Spacey, Dave Foley, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hayden Panettiere, Phyllis Diller, Richard Kind, David Hyde Pierce, Denis Leary, Jonathan Harris, Madeline Kahn, Bonnie Hunt, Michael McShane, John Ratzenberger.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10 with 260,625 reviews, Roger Ebert 3 1/2*, Rotten Tomatoes 92% with 87 critics 73% with 982,460 audience scores, empireonline.com 4* Kim Newman, Metacritic 77 out of 100 with 23 critic reviews (positive 18, mixed ,5 negative 0), 7.8 out of 10 with 390 user scores ( positive 325, mixed 58, negative 7), Amazon 4* out of 5* with 424 reviews, Common Sense Media, Nell Minow, age 5+, 1* educational value, 3* positive messages, 3* role models, 2* violence, 0* sex, 2* language, 0* consumerism, 0*drinking drugs & smoking.

Special Note:  The two mosquitoes trapped in the light of the bug zapper are the voices of the co-directors, Lasseter and Stanton.  This is the first Pixar film to have outtakes.  The names on the boxes that make up the City are all the names of the writers’ kids.  JuJu’s Litter, Hannah’s Bananas and PJ Pop.  Princess Atta is named after the genus of the ants of the same name.