THE AISLE SEAT - "A BUG'S LIFE"

by Mike McGranaghan

Animation is one of the most fascinating things in the world to me. I love animated movies, especially when they break some kind of new ground. In 1995, I was blown away by Toy Story, the first fully computer-animated motion picture, which was the product of an alliance between Disney and Pixar. The same people responsible for that hit are also behind A Bug's Life, the second computer-animated ant movie of the year, but also the best.

Like October's Antz, A Bug's Life starts out in an ant colony where workers are busy slaving away. In this case, they are gathering grain, which is offered as a seasonal sacrifice to a group of menacing grasshoppers. Kevin Spacey does the voice of Hopper, the lead grasshopper who "protects" the ants in exchange for the food. Unfortunately, a worker ant named Flik (voice of "NewsRadio" star Dave Foley) knocks all the food into the water. Flik is the kind of guy for whom nothing ever goes right, a fact he is reminded of by Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).

Hopper and his crew arrive and give the ants an extension, after which they are dead meat if they fail to provide more food. To make up for his error, Flik agrees to go out and search for "the fiercest warriors" he can find to help the colony battle the grasshoppers once and for all (the other ants agree to this plan simply to get rid of him). Flik discovers a group of circus bugs and, mistaking them for soldiers, brings them back to the colony. It quickly becomes clear that the new recruits are better suited to performing tricks than fighting wars. The circus owner, a guy named P.T. Flea (flea circus, get it?), is not happy that his star attractions have deserted him.

The circus bugs include an irascible male ladybug (Denis Leary) and one of those stick bugs (sorry, I don't know the technical terms for insects) with the voice of "Frasier" star David Hyde-Pierce. The inspired casting of the actors is one of the funniest things about A Bug's Life. I don't know which I enjoyed more: Denis Leary as a ladybug or Kevin Spacey as an evil mafioso grasshopper.

Although the story is often clever, it's really the humor and animation that make the movie special. The screenplay is packed with wall-to-wall jokes. As in Toy Story, there are plenty of satiric gags and throwaway lines that will go over the heads of children, but not their parents. The best family movies work on two levels: a simple, broad level for kids and a slyly intelligent level for adults. Not too many kids got the joke that made me laugh the hardest; namely the one where a snail begins frothing at the mouth after having a drink in a bar. "Hey," he shouts at the bartender, "I told you no salt!" I urge everyone to stay through the end credits of A Bug's Life for another ingenious comic surprise.

The animation, as you might expect, is ground-breaking. At times, the computer-generated effects are so real looking that you forget you're watching, essentially, a cartoon. (The ants also look more realistic than they did in Antz, although to be fair, that was a good film, too.) Among the highlights are an attack on the bugs by a robin, the hijinks at the flea circus, and the climatic battle between the newly-liberated ants and their tormentors. These scenes are dazzling, but the movie doesn't need big moments to inspire awe. I was delighted simply by the design of the characters, especially Hopper. There's a lot of detail in the creation of the bugs that makes them seem real. Also exciting is the fact that A Bug's Life has been filmed in a wide-screen CinemaScope process (uncommon for an animated feature, unprecedented for one that's been done with computers). This process is generally used for action pictures, because it makes the projected image longer and therefore more encompassing.

A few years ago, I picked up a deluxe boxed set laser disc of Toy Story that also features some of Pixar's animated short films. They are both clever and technically stunning. A Bug's Life shows how much the computer capabilities have progressed since those shorts were made. The movement and detail in the characters, action, and background are more incredible than ever. Clearly, computer animation is an artform that will have a long impact. A Bug's Life is on the ground floor of a cinematic revolution. History is being made.

( out of four)

A Bug's Life is rated G. The running time is 1 hour and 30 minutes.