Bug’s Life, A (1998)

This second teaming of Disney and Pixar (the computer animation studio behind the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Toy Story)

Each season, the ants collect food for a gang of marauding grasshoppers: “They come, they eat, they leave.”

Only this time, after an exhausting harvest, our hero, Flik (voiced by Dave Foley from NewsRadio), accidentally knocks the collected seeds and berries into the water.

The grasshoppers – led by the villainous Hopper (voiced by Kevin Spacey) – are, needless to say, a bit ticked off, and the ants are given their sentence: They must collect twice as much food for their enemies before the last leaf falls – leaving them no time to collect food for themselves.

Flik decides they need protection: He’ll venture off Ant Island to get bigger bugs to fight the grasshoppers. The leaders of the ant colony are relieved he’ll be out of their antennae and let him go.

In a scene reminiscent of Gene Kelly, Flik finds his way to the big city and soon comes across a motley assortment of out-of-work performing insects from a flea circus – including a cheerful fat german caterpillar named Heimlich (Joe Ranft), feisty male ladybug Francis (Denis Leary), the stick-thin Slim (David Hyde Pierce), friendly black widow Rosie (Bonnie Hunt), the magician team of Manny the Mantis and Gypsy Moth (Jonathan Harris and Madeline Kahn), rhino beetle Dim (Brad Garrett) and the irrepressible twin Hungarian pill bugs Tuck & Roll (Michael McShane).

Mistaking them for bug mercenaries, he brings them home with him and – as they say in show business – chaos ensues.

Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is no great heroine, but her little sister, Dot (Hayden Panettiere), is cute as a bug and plays a key role in the plot with the help of her Blueberry troop (Bug Brownies).

David Hyde-Pierce (as ‘Slim’ the stick insect) is positively delightful, and Phyllis Diller has been a cartoon character all her life, so congratulations to Disney for finally making her into one here as the Queen. There’s something natural, too, about Roddy McDowall, who started as a child actor, being featured in his last role here.

The sole disappointment voice-wise is Julia Louis-Dreyfus, whose Princess Atta is surprisingly flat.

Flik
Dave Foley
Hopper
Kevin Spacey
Princess Atta
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Dot
Hayden Panettiere
Queen
Phyllis Diller
Molt
Richard Kind
Slim
David Hyde Pierce
Heimlich
Joe Ranft
Francis
Denis Leary
Manny
Jonathan Harris
Gypsy Moth
Madeline Kahn
Rosie
Bonnie Hunt
Tuck/Roll
Michael McShane
P.T. Flea
John Ratzenberger
Dim
Brad Garrett
Mr Soil
Roddy McDowall
Dr Flora
Edie McClurg
Thorny
Alex Rocco
Cornelius
David Ossman
Loco
Carlos Alazraqui
Thud
Jack Angel
Aphie
Bob Bergen
Harry Mosquito
Rodger Bumpass

Director
John Lasseter
Andrew Stanton