A Bug's Life Featuring the voices of Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Hyde Pierce and Denis Leary. Rated G, 96 minutes long
A very cute and intelligent comedy that outshines its graphics, unlike most Hollywood films.
Disney has a way with animated features, otherwise known as cartoons. Sure, when we were young we loved cartoons. "Inspector Gadget," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" being two prime examples. But, as we grow older, we lose touch with these cartoons. But, Disney still keeps everyone coming back for more. Whether it be the starry eyed children or the frantic parents, a majority of audiences leave Disney animated films with a positive mind. In Disney's latest feature, they turn to the folks at Pixar who brought us the dazzling Toy Story. Although A Bug's Life is not as good as its lofty predecessor, it still provides a unique and entertaining experience. To get the familiarities out of the way, the voice casting is yet again excellent. Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey and especially Julia Louis-Dreyfus stand out. Their voice acting is superb, displaying all of the right emotions and features. Plus, Disney still gets some features of each actor/actress into the looks of their characters. I have seen this done by Disney for years, and yet it still amazes me every time. Pixar has done it again. Despite the tremendous success of Toy Story, Pixar still needed to come out and show the world it was not a flash in the pan. And they did a great job of it. Overall, the film is not better then Toy Story, although I doubted it would be. But, the graphics are better, and that was the job of Pixar. In Toy Story, the animations were groundbreaking. But, they could have used improvement. The one major flaw was that a majority of the backgrounds were still. However, A Bug's Life called for lush and moving visuals due to the outside environment. Pixar delivered in a big way. The lush graphics were tremendous with even little details like grass blowing in the wind. Simple details like this added to the beauty of this film. The story is pretty basic, with no complexity. Remember that this is still a child's film and it needs to be reared for a child to view. Disney has a way with these films. It is basically another David versus Goliath, dumbed down for a child. However, Disney is able to make it entertaining. I know I gushed on about the graphics, but I could do even more about the plot. It has cute humor and wonderful voice acting. Despite being a children's film, it can be viewed- and enjoyed- by anyone. Which is why Disney is the reigning king of animation. You rarely- and I mean rarely- find an animated film over an hour and a half. Which runs true with A Bug's Life. But, that is usually what makes the film enjoyable. You can only take so much cuteness and predictability in one film, no matter whom the film is geared towards. That also runs true in A Bug's Life. The film, despite being short, still runs its course too long. The last twenty minutes are predictable, unless you actually think Disney is going to kill off the main character in a G rated film. It drags on, but fortunately, ends with a perk and, fortunately, will not leave a sour taste in your mouth. In conclusion, A Bug's Life is yet another critcal- and box office- hit for Disney. A Bug's Life is the perfect example of why Disney is and always will be the king of animation. And the help from Pixar certainly did not hurt it. Three And A Half Stars out of Four Stars
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