A childhood favourite of mine, but does it still stand up?
It’s February! And a new month
means that it’s time for a new Disney Movie of the Month. This time I’ve chosen to look at A Bug’s Life. Probably not one of the most obvious movies to choose
for this monthly series but it’s one of my favourites from when I was growing
up. It was a couple of years since I last
watched A Bug’s Life and recently I’ve
felt like it’s probably time for me to revisit it.
In many ways A Bug’s Life is quite a typical Disney movie. There’s the quirky outsider
who people underestimated - Flik. There’s a princess who needs to learn
something - Atta. There’s an arch villain for the audience to root against -
Hooper. And there’s a cast of colourful side characters - like Heimlich, Slim
and Francis. If you’re not the type of person who enjoys movies with any of
those elements then A Bug’s Life is
an earth-shatteringly different movie. However it has the charm and humour that
we have come to expect from Pixar movies. A
Bug’s Life is a thoroughly entertaining adventure with lots of very
enjoyable moments.
A Bug’s Life was Pixar’s second ever feature length animation and
one of the first few fully computer animated movies, considering that it’s 18
years old the animation still looks good. I suspect that the more stylised
instead of realistic character designs were intentionally done so that the computers
of the time could render them successfully. There’s a few wide shots that look primitive
by today’s standards but they don’t detract from the overall look of the film. It
really has aged well in that regard.
As with all of Pixar’s releases
this is a movie that presents a rich and varied world on screen. Pixar really
did a great job in showing on screen what the world looks like from an ant’s
perspective and creating a whole insect culture. For example, the scene’s in
the bug city all work to indicate that the movie exists in a larger world of
bugs which expands beyond the main narrative. As a creative writer this is something
that I always like when movies can allude to.
Overall A Bugs Life still stands up as a very enjoyable film, not just
something I liked when I was younger. If it’s been a while since you lasted
watched it I would say it’s worth watching again. If you’ve never seen it then
it’s one I would recommend.
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