A Bug's Life. © Disney Enterprises, Inc./Pixar Animation Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Comparisons between A Bug's Life (Disney/PIXAR) and Antz (DreamWorks/PDI) are inevitable, because they are the second and third computer-animated features ever made, because they were created by rival studios and because of the many similarities between the two films. Both stories are set in ant colonies, and both center on a Princess and a schlemiel who save the colony and find each other. But despite their similar premises, Bug's Life and Antz are very different films, and Bug's Life is brighter, broader, better animated and funnier.

The Gist of It
Flik (voice by Dave Foley) is a square ant in a round hill; he's always trying something new that flies in the face of tradition -- and backfires. Innocent, eager and boyish, Flik often recalls Woody in Toy Story. But Woody was the kingpin of Andy's Room; here, the other ants look down on Flik. No one is less aware of his charms than Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the insecure heiress to the throne.

In a twist on Aesop's fable, these industrious ants have to gather food for the grasshoppers, an entomological motorcycle gang led by Hopper (Kevin Spacey). When Flik inadvertently dumps the food the ants have laboriously gathered under Atta's direction, the grasshoppers demand they amass a second offering, even though it means starvation for the colony. As insect non grata, Flik leaves to find help.

Hopper (Kevin Spacey) isn't all fun and games. © Disney Enterprises, Inc./Pixar Animation Studios. All Rights Reserved.

In a nearby bar, he mistakes a troupe of inept "circus bugs," recently sacked by P.T. Flea (John Ratzenberger), for a corps of warriors. The performers include Francis, a cranky male ladybug (Denis Leary); Heimlich (story supervisor Joe Ranft), a chubby caterpillar; the all-but-incomprehensible pillbug-acrobats Tuck and Roll (Michael McShane); Slim (David Hyde Pierce), a put-upon walking stick, and Dim (Brad Garrett), a dumb but well-intentioned rhinoceros beetle. Flik thinks he's found the colony's saviors; the circus bugs think they've found a talent scout. The mountebanks grow too fond of Flik and the ant-children to abandon them when the grasshoppers' return threatens to destroy the colony. The misfits join together, rally the ants to defeat the enemy and renew their self-confidence, in the best cartoon tradition.

Energy and Appeal
In contrast to the somber, earth-toned palette of Antz, A Bug's Life brims with energizing pastels. Antz has a greater scope that suggests an enormous, underground metropolis inhabited by uncountable hordes of ants. The smaller colony in Bug's Life feels more like a community, with an elementary school, scout troop, etc. The inclusion of school-age characters contributes to the sense that the film is intended to appeal to younger viewers than Antz, although adults will certainly enjoy it.