THE ANT BULLY

Starring the vocal talents of:
Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Paul Giamatti, Regina King, Bruce Campbell, Lily Tomlin, Zach Tyler and Ricardo Montalban

Director:
John A. Davis

Running Time:
88 mins

Out to buy on DVD 05/03/07

"Peanut the Destroyer!"

Lucas Nickle (Tyler) is always getting bullied by the bigger kids because he is small, so he decided to pick on something that is smaller than him, the ant colony in his garden. Know to them as the Destroyer, the Ant Council are at a loss about what to do after his last devastating attack but Ant Wizard Zoc (Cage) has a radical idea. He has developed a potion that will show Lucas the consequences of his destructive actions by shrinking him to the same size as an ant.

Ants are no stranger to animated movies but can 'The Ant Bully' bring anything new to the colony?

After the success of 'A Bugs Life' and 'Antz', you might have thought that another movie about the same insect might be a little too much but 'The Ant Bully' is a fun addition to the bug club. Based on the book John Nickle, the story is a young boy who bullied because of his size so he in turn bullied the ant colony that lives on front yard, to make himself feel bigger. This is the main plot but the underlying plot is one about tolerance, understanding of different cultures and not just exterminating things you don't understand. In a way, it is trying to parallel what is going on in the world today.

As computer animation takes over completely from traditional 2D cell animation techniques, Studios complete to produce more or more technically stunning features. 'The Ant Bully' raises the bar again with its creation of the ant colony, the ants and the human characters. Animators are now excelling in their arts and pushing the boundaries even further, making it as creative as any other animation medium.

The key to the success of any family oriented animated movie is making the story and the characters appeal to both the adults and the children but 'The Ant Bully' succeeds more for the younger viewers than those accompanying them. There is still a lot to enjoy here however. While the kids will love Lucas, Zoc and Hova, voiced with great gusto by Zach Tyler, Nicolas Cage and Julia Roberts but it is the performance of a cult legend that steals the show for the adults. Bruce Campbell is absolutely brilliant as ant scout Fugax. Supplying all of the gags with his usual style, Campbell steals the film completely and is a joy for the adults to watch. There are also good performances from Regina King as Kreela and a fun turn from Paul Giamatti as insect exterminator Stan Beals.

With a good message to children and the presence of Bruce Campbell to keep the adults entertained, 'The Ant Bully' is another good addition to the 3D animated family pictures that are fun for all the family. While it might be a little more child oriented than 'A Bugs Life' or 'Antz', this is a creepy crawly movie won't have you crawling up the walls when you take the family to see it.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1, the movie is presented well as you'd expect from a computer-animated feature.

BONUS FEATURES

It takes a Colony (16.34 mins)
Director John A. Davis and the Beetle (voiced by Rob Paulsen) take you behind the scenes of DNA Productions and look at how the script developed from the book, the vocal cast recordings, the storyboarding process, the character design and the animation.

Animated Shorts (8.19 mins)
Entitled 'Hot Enough for You', 'World Wide Web', 'Please Help', 'Monster Truck', 'Turn it down a notch', 'Arrival' and 'Pea Brains', these funny animated shorts allow you to see more of your favourite characters.

Additional Scenes (11.24 mins)
These nineteen additional or extended scenes are presented in complete and partially complete animation as well as in animated storyboard form. They suffer from the lack of commentary track or introduction however to say why they were removed.

Theatrical Trailer
Watch the preview of the movie that was shown in cinemas and on the Internet before the film's release.

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for 'The Ant Bully' is a little lacklustre for a children's release. The featurette is fun and the animated shorts are excellent but there needs to be a few more interactive fun things for children to enjoy. This is still a decent DVD for the kids to enjoy.

DVD

A Bug's Life

Antz


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2006