The Ant Bully
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- See also: The Ant Bully (book)
| The Ant Bully | |
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| Directed by | John A. Davis |
| Produced by | Tom Hanks Gary Goetzman John A. Davis Keith Alcorn Thomas Tull Scott Mednick William Fay (executive) |
| Written by | John A. Davis Dave Reynolds |
| Starring | Julia Roberts Nicolas Cage Meryl Streep Paul Giamatti Bruce Campbell Myles Jeffrey Regina King Cheri Oteri Clive Robertson Lily Tomlin Zach Tyler Eisen Jake Austin Ricardo Montalban Larry Miller Allison Mack |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Editing by | Jon Price |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures, in asociation with Legendary Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 28, 2006 |
| Running time | 88 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Ant Bully is a computer-animated film produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman's Playtone, John A. Davis and Keith Alcorn's DNA Productions and directed by John A. Davis. Released in movie theatres on July 28, 2006 by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, it is based on a book by John Nickle and featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Paul Giamatti. Concurrently with the general release, the film will be offered in big screen IMAX 3D, the format also used with The Polar Express. For more information on the IMAX 3D experience of The Ant Bully, see The Ant Bully IMAX 3D Experience.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The story is about a 10-year-old boy named Lucas Nickle, who has just moved to a new neighborhood, has no friends, and is the target for the local bully and his gang. His parents are leaving for a honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, so they are too busy to attend to his problems. His sister is distracted by her cellular phone, and the grandmother (Mommo) is obsessed with UFOs and aliens.
Lucas is constantly being beat up by the obese yet intimidating neighborhood bully. Because he cannot fight back, he takes out his anger on an anthill in his front yard; He kicks it, stomps it, squirts it with his water gun, and floods it with a hose. This terrifies the ants, who call Lucas the Destroyer.
One ant, a wizard named Zoc (Nicolas Cage) being a hopeful and adventurous type, is trying to solve this dilemma. He tries to devise a potion that he believes will solve all their problems. His girlfriend, Hova (a nurse ant), doesn't agree with Zoc's idea to fight Lucas head on, but she goes along with helping him in making the potion. Hova (Julia Roberts) believes in reasoning with Lucas, even though Lucas is much larger than she, and can't hear her. She also maintains a positive attitude at her work, and puts up with her impatient boss.
After Lucas's parents leave, the local exterminator, Stan Beals (Paul Giamatti), tries to get Lucas to sign a contract to kill the local vermin. Lucas is hesitant about signing it at first, but after the exterminator calls him a baby, accusing him of only saying what his mother wants him to say, he signs it. (In a deleted scene, Stan Beals had approached Lucas's father beforehand and tried to get him to sign his contract, stating that his house sticks out like "a dime in a goat's butt", but Mr. Nickle refused.)
Zoc finally manages to create the potion, just as the anthill is nearly destroyed by Lucas's latest attack on the anthill with the hose. The council members give the order to let Zoc use his potion. Late that night, Zoc and a small troop of ants steal into Lucas's house and pour the potion into his ear.
Lucas wakes up and discovers that he is now as tiny as an ant. He falls off the bed and lands near a potato chip. Zoc and his aides kidnap Lucas and rush back to the colony. The boy is thrown down the hole in the anthill into a world of giant caves, caterpillars, and ants with spinners.
He is brought before the council, and charged with "attempting" to destroy the colony, flooding the lower hatching chambers, and bringing on the "horrible yellow rain". Zoc, wanting revenge, insists that they should kill the boy, which Lucas pleads against. All decisions are left up to the Queen ant. In her wise reasoning, she puts Lucas to doing hard labor until he can be considered an ant, for she believes that the colony could be improved this way. Hova volunteers to train Lucas, much to Zoc's mortification.
Hova and Lucas both learn that there is much ants and humans don't know about one another (such as their different internal anatomy). Lucas finds some clothes for himself, made from leaves, grass, and shedded exoskeletons he finds lying around. Hova looks to see what the kid could specialize in as a worker. She first has him try foraging; on a mission, he meets Kreela and a scout ant named Fugax. However, the relay race he was sent to play in foraging doesn't fulfill expectations, so Hova tries to think of something else he can do.
Unfortunately, the ants tending to caterpillar herds are attacked by wasps, and they must fight back. Lucas tries to save himself at first; when he finds a discarded firecracker, he uses it to scare away the wasps, and this earns him the admiration and respect of all the ants– with the exception Zoc, who believes him to be still an incorrigible Destroyer who only cares about himself.
Lucas is then invited to eat with the ants; he is introduced to honeydew, a preparation made from the feces of caterpillars. This disgusts Lucas, who is soothed by Hova and a delicious alka-root in a water molecule.
Hova, Kreela (Regina King), and Fugax (Bruce Campbell) then show Lucas a special cave, wherein are paintings depicting the history of the colony. Lucas learns of the Great Ant Mother, and the prophecy that she will one day return and "honeydew" would rain down from the sky. He then sees a dark picture of a human-like figure that looks familiar. The ants call it the "Cloud Breather", saying to the effect that death follows it wherever it goes. Lucas recognizes it as Stan the Exterminator, and he remembers the contract he signed.
Meanwhile, at his office at Beals' A Bug, Beals catches a fly and literally clips its wings. He believes insects to be a disgusting force bent on destroying the earth, and is easily crossed by his secretary's beliefs in the good of bugs.
Lucas manages to convince his friends to take him back to his house, with the promise of lots of sweets. Once in the kitchen, Lucas leaves Fugax and Kreela to gather jelly beans while he hops around on the phone buttons to dial the exterminator. He accidentally calls a pizza seller, but does not notice his error. To make matters worse, his sister comes in and tries to crush the ants. No one is seriously hurt, but escape is complicated.
The group comes back to the anthill by nightfall. Zoc discovers what they've done, whereupon he scares Lucas, making the boy run off on his own. When Hova hears of this, she, Kreela, and Fugax go to find him.
Zoc then has a flashback of when he was a little ant in a good colony and a wise and good Wizard Ant leader to guide him lived. But one day, after Zoc completed a test to collect nectar, the evil Stan Beals destroyed Zoc's friends with his dark smoke.
Just as the others find Lucas, he is chased by a giant Frog and is eaten right before their eyes!
Lucas is still alive when he reaches the frog's stomach. Zoc, repenting, uses an emetic root to free him.
They climb up on a mushroom, where they speak of themselves to one another. By now the boy has changed his view of ants; he additionally sees his own world in a new light. They compare and contrast the ants' way of life with that of humans, saying in essence that humans work for personal gain whereas ants work for the benefit of the colony.
The next morning, the ants see a phenomenon that turns out to be the exterminator's approach. Lucas reveals all; although initially angry at him, the ants are placated by his plan of defence. The ants team up with the wasps to form a fighting squad. Lucas then suggests that Zoc's magnitude-reductory potion be used against Stan. The plan is put into action, but fails.
At one point Lucas and Hova crash to the ground, with a wasp pinning Hova. Lucas risks his life to save both Hova and the wasp that lies injured on top of her, using ant-like proportionate strength. Zoc rescues the group, whereupon they produce another idea. They daub onto the sting of a wasp the magnitude-reductory potion, which is later injected into Stan's body. The potion distorts Stan's body, reducing him to infantile size, and he runs off on a Tricycle with a swarm of angry wasps chasing him. Lucas is pronounced an ant by the Queen (Meryl Streep). She names him Rokai, as such to be forever known by the entire colony. They are eternally grateful to him. Zoc gives him the antidote to the shrinking potion, which Lucas/Rokai puts to use.
By then, his parents have come home; he is very grateful to see them. Lucas later stands up the neighborhood bully by joining forces with the other children victimized thereby. The end shows Lucas pouring a box of jelly beans out near the ant colony.
[edit] Cast & Crew
[edit] Main Voice Actors
- Zach Tyler Eisen as Lucas Nickle (Peanut)
- Nicolas Cage as Zoc
- Julia Roberts as Hova
- Regina King as Kreela
- Bruce Campbell as Fugax
- Paul Giamatti as Stan the Exterminator
- Meryl Streep as Queen Ant
- Cheri Oteri as Doreen Nickle
- Clive Robertson as Wizard Ant
- Lily Tomlin as Mommo
- Jake T. Austin as Nicky
- Ricardo Montalban as Head of Council
- Larry Miller as Fred Nickle
- Rob Paulsen as Black Beetle
- S. Scott Bullock as Glow Worm, Wasp Survivor
- Allison Mack as Tiffany
- Mark DeCarlo as Fly
[edit] Additional Voice Actors
- Nissa Alcorn as Billo
- Frank Welker as Spindle the Firefly, Frog, Caterpillar
- Shane Baumel as Red Team Ant #6
- Larry the Cable Guy as Ant
- Larry Cedar as Ant #8
- Pat Fraley as Ant Council
- Nika Futterman as Ant #1, Ant #7
- Richard Green as Wasp Leader
- Paul Greenberg as Sleeping Ant #1, Head Lice #1, Brett
- Bob Joles as Wasp #2
- David Kaye as Sleeper Ant
- Tom Kenny as Ant #2, Ant #6, Drone Ant
- Kevin Kline as Guard Ant
- Tress MacNeille as Old Council Ant
- Candi Milo as Ant Nurse #3
- Leon Morenzie as Wasp #2
- Neil Ross as Wasp #1, Wasp #5
- David Schwimmer as Ant
- Scott Speedman as Glow Worm
- Susan Silo as Ant #4
- Lori Tritel as Ant Council #3
- Luke Wilson as Blue Teammate #1
- Wally Wingert as Wasp #3
[edit] Crew
- Directed by John A. Davis
- Screenplay by John A. Davis and Dave Reynolds
- Based on a book by John Nickle
- Produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and John A. Davis
- Executive producers Keith Alcorn, Thomas Tull, Scott Mednick, and William Fay
- Co-Executive Producer Alex Johns
- Music by John Debney
- Art Director Chris Consani
- Production designer Barry E. Jackson
- Edited by Jon Price
- Visual effects supervisor David Santiago
- Casting by Ruth Lambert
[edit] Trivia
- The Ant Bully is the 3rd full-length CGI-made film mainly about ants - 1998's Antz was the 1st - also in 1998, A Bug's Life was released. The movie's main character is an ant.
- The film was originally going to be released on August 4, 2006, but switched to July 28, 2006 with Barnyard: The Original Party Animals moving to August 4, 2006.
- There were shorts playing on Cartoon Network in the United States and Teletoon in Canada based on this before the film. Those shorts are now available on this film's DVD. This has also occurred with The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron on Nickelodeon, thus, many question themselves if the Ant Bully will appear as a television show on another of John A. Davis's "creations" as the next step (Step 1: TV Shorts, Step 2: Movie, Step 3: TV Series).
- Several times in the film, the distinctive, shrill sound effect associated with the giant ants in the 1954 classic film Them! can be heard.
- In the movie the male ants' antennae are forwards, while the females' are backward.
- The phrase "Don't fire until you see the wax of their ears" is a parody of the famous line "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" from the Battle of Bunker Hill.
- The "sweet rocks" are Jelly Bellys. Jelly Belly is currently marketing packets of their jelly beans as "sweet rocks".
- Exterminator Stan Beals's service is called "Beals-A-Bug"
[edit] The Ant Religion
The Ants, living in a matriarchal society, have a matriarchal religion, and worship the Mother. Lucas becomes so well-assimilated that by the end of the film he is also saying "Praise the Mother!"
[edit] Technical information
The movie was rendered on DNA Productions' 1400-CPU render farm, managed by the open source Sun Grid Engine job scheduler. The nodes started out with Fedora Core 2 Linux with a modern 2.6.x kernel, but the new AMD Opteron nodes are running Fedora Core 4. Most of the applications are commercial, including Maya, Houdini, Massive and the Pixar RenderMan. [1]
[edit] IMAX 3D
Along with the theatrical release of The Ant Bully, there was a IMAX 3D version presented in only some of the IMAX theaters. The others continued to run the 3D version of Superman Returns. The special IMAX 3D version was re-mastered in 3D with IMAX DMR. Critics within the 3D motion picture community have given the film high marks, as unlike Superman Returns, the entire film is projected in 3D stereo. The process to turn a pure animation film into 3D is much simpler than converting a film having live actors.
[edit] Release
[edit] Box office
As of November 16, 2006, The Ant Bully, currently has made $54 million worldwide. The estimated production budget was $50 million. [2] This is moderate success while Monster House and Barnyard: The Original Party Animals both sold far more. The 3D version did considerably better per screen in its few playdates, though this is due partially to the higher admission prices of IMAX theaters.
[edit] Ratings
This film was rated PG by the MPAA for some mild rude humor and action.
[edit] The Video Game
Games publisher Midway released The Ant Bully, the official video game tie-in to the film on GameCube, PlayStation 2, PC and Game Boy Advance on July 24, 2006. A Wii version is currently in development. The game was developed by the Montreal Studio Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M).
[edit] Soundtrack
The soundtrack is music score by John Debney and the main and end title songs by "Drummer Man" (end title) Performed by Baha Men, "Super Time" (main title) Performed by Stevie Wonder, "12987" (end title) Performed by Sterko and "Ant Dead" (end title) Performed by Fountains of Wayne from Warner Sunset Records and Reprise Records.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- The Ant Bully at the Internet Movie Database
- The Ant Bully at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Ant Bully at Box Office Mojo
