Bugs Life (Blu-ray) (1998)

"Makes jaunty, imaginative use of both extraordinary technology and bold storytelling possibilities within the insect world.  Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times
"All-embracing -- funny and silly and tender, full of fun scares and endless sight gags.  Jeff Giles, Newsweek
"Smashing family entertainment...loaded with clever sight gags and colorful, engaging supporting characters.  Nathan Rabin, The Onion A.V. Club
"One of the great movies -- a triumph of storytelling and character development...  Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle
"...as a comprehensive vision of computerized moviemaking, Pixar's dream works. And when A Bug's Life hits its stride, it's antastic.  Richard Corliss, Time

Editor's Note The computer animation crew at Pixar--the creators of TOY STORY--return with another feature rife with stunningly rendered worlds populated by cute critters you can't help but care about. The story is simple--an ant colony led by Flik (Dave Foley) seeks help from a flea circus and other insects in their struggles against the oppressive grasshopper bullies led by Hopper (Kevin Spacey). However, as with TOY STORY, there is as much for adults to enjoy here as there is for the kids. (In fact, the story is loosely based on Akira Kurosawa's classic SEVEN SAMURAI.) And don't miss the wonderful "outtakes" that roll with the closing credits!

	David Hyde Pierce
	Richard Kind
	Denis Leary
	Phyllis Diller
	Joe Ranft
	Madeline Kahn
	Bonnie Hunt
	Jonathan Harris
	Dave Foley
	John Ratzenberger
	Brad Garrett
	Kevin Spacey
	Michael McShane
	Julia Louis-Dreyfus
	Roddy McDowall
	John Lasseter - Writer
	John Lasseter - Director

Sight and Sound
"...Tightly constructed....The script has fun playing with our common knowledge of insects..." 02/??/1999 p.39-40

Entertainment Weekly
"...A hellzapoppin creature-feature jamboree..." -- Rating: B 01/15/1999 p.44

USA Today
"...Rowdier than a New Year's Eve party..."-- 4 out of 4 stars 12/24/1998 p.4D

New York Times
"...A BUG'S LIFE makes jaunty, imaginative use of both extraordinary technology and bold storytelling possibilities within the insect world..." 11/25/1998 p.E1

Box Office
"...Lasseter brilliantly exploits the material for both laughs and pathos, while pushing the technological parameters of computer animation even beyond the already impressive feat of TOY STORY..." -- 4 out of 5 stars 01/01/1999 p.53

Los Angeles Times
"...[A BUG'S LIFE has] an unfettered imagination....This footloose humor comes from both the writing and the direction..." 11/20/1998 p.C1

A.V. Club
"[T]he SEVEN SAMURAI-like story provides a solid framework for stunning animation and winning characters, including Dave Foley's nice work in the lead." 05/27/2009

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "Offering colourful eye-candy for tots and in-jokes galore for adults, its clarity of purpose boils the Pixar template to near-abstract purity." 02/01/2011

Wall Street Journal
"[T]his animated fable teems with vivid creatures standing on their own countless feet." 06/24/2011

ReelViews 9 of 10
It's almost a shame that A Bug's Life is debuting so close in the wake of Antz...No matter when the Pixar/Disney production reached theaters, comparisons between the two computer-animated insect movies would be inevitable...Fortunately, A Bug's Life can withstand the scrutiny. Despite a number of similarities to Antz, there are enough variations in plot and tone to warrant another visit to the unique and wondrous world existing beneath the blades of grass...One thing A Bug's Life has that Antz does not is a ingenious series of end credits. Instead of just the latest lame Randy Newman song warbling over scrolling names, we are presented with a collection of mocked-up outtakes that parody the kinds of flubs and goofs which have come to decorate the credits of numerous comedies. It's brilliant in both conception and execution, and one could make a solid case that the last three minutes of A Bug's Life are its best. I wouldn't go that far, but this is definitely a movie when it's a good idea not to run for the exit as soon as the story ends...Pixar is the studio that first brought a full-length computer-generated feature to the screen with 1995's Toy Story, and, by adding A Bug's Life to their resume, they have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with not only in the realm of animated films, but in that of family entertainment in general...Co-directors John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton understand that every story, even one with such an intense focus on visual elements, begins with a script and characters. A Bug's Life, like Toy Story, develops protagonists we can root for, and places them in the midst of a fast-moving, energetic adventure. And, while Antz and A Bug's Life each work well enough on their own, they are best when seen in concert, if only to compare and contrast the fine craft evident in such top-notch examples of family entertainment. - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
As ants struggle to gather morsels of food, a leaf falls and interrupts their procession. "I'm lost!" screams a worker in panic. "Where's the line?" Rescue workers quickly arrive: "We are going around to the left!" The harvest continues. "This is nothing compared to the twig of '93," an ant observes...Enjoying this, I enjoyed too the use of animation to visualize a world that could not be seen in live action and could not be created with special effects. Animation contains enormous promise for a new kind of storytelling, freed from reality and gravity, but although the Japanese have exploited that freedom, too many American feature cartoons follow the Disney formula of plucky young heroes and heroines and comic sidekicks...It's a formula that has produced wonderful movies. But the Pixar computer animation studio, a Disney co-producer, broke new ground with "Toy Story" in 1995, and now with "A Bug's Life," it runs free. The story, about an ant colony that frees itself from slavery to grasshoppers, is similar in some ways to the autumn [1998]'s other big animated release, "Antz," but it's aimed at a broader audience and lacks the in-jokes...The film's hero is Flik (voiced by Dave Foley), the smartest ant in the colony (the competition is not fierce). As the other ants labor to pile up "The Offering," a mountain of food for tyrannical grasshoppers, Flik perfects an invention to harvest grain more quickly; he's the Cyrus McCormick of the hymenopterous Formicidae. But he's still basically just an ant; the film is more about the fate of the colony and not so much about individuals like the Woody Allen hero of "Antz."..."Antz" has a more sophisticated sensibility and could play for adults attending by themselves. "A Bug's Life" is more clearly intended as a family film. Smaller children will respond to the threat from the Hoppers and the zaniness of the weird assortment of mercenaries hired by Flik. - Roger Ebert