Antz

Name	Antz
Caption	Theatrical release poster
Director	Eric DarnellTim Johnson
Producer	Brad LewisAron WarnerPatty Wooton
Writer	Paul WeitzChris WeitzTodd Alcott
Story	Tim Johnson (Idea)
Starring	Woody AllenSharon StoneGene HackmanSylvester StalloneJennifer LopezChristopher WalkenAnne BancroftDan AykroydDanny Glover
Music	John PowellHarry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography	Simon J. Smith
Editing	Stan Webb
Studio	DreamWorks AnimationPacific Data Images
Distributor	DreamWorks Pictures
Released
Runtime	83 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$60 million
Gross	$171,757,863

Antz is a 1998 American computer animated action adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation. It features the voices of well-known actors such as Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Danny Glover as various members of an ant society. Some of the main characters share facial similarities with the actors who voice them.

Antz is the first animated film, as well as the first CGI-animated film, by DreamWorks and the second computer-animated film released in the United States after Toy Story. The film was originally released to theaters on October 2, 1998, and was released on home video on March 23, 1999 by DreamWorks Home Entertainment.

Plot

Loosely based on the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the setting for the story is an ant colony in Central Park in New York City, under the chronological timespan of 4 days. The protagonist (Woody Allen) is an ant named Z-4195, or "Z" for short, a neurotic and individualistic ant living in a wholly conformist society who longs for the opportunity to truly express himself. His friends include fellow worker Azteca (Jennifer Lopez) and a soldier ant, Weaver (Sylvester Stallone). Z meets Princess Bala (Sharon Stone) at a bar where she goes to escape from her suffocating royal life and falls in love with her.

In order to see Bala again, Z exchanges places with Weaver and joins the army. He marches with the ranks, befriending Barbatus (Danny Glover), another soldier, in the process. He doesn't realize that the army's leader, the corrupt General Mandible (Gene Hackman), is secretly sending all the soldiers loyal to the Queen to die so he can begin to build a colony filled with powerful ants. At the base of a tree near nightfall, Z realizes he's actually marching into battle, and all of the soldiers except for Z are killed by the acid-shooting termites. Following the battle, all Z can find of Barbatus is his head. Before he dies, Barbatus tells Z to think for himself rather than follow orders all his life. Z returns home and is hailed as a war hero, congratulated personally by the secretly irate General Mandible, and is brought before the Queen. There he meets Princess Bala, who eventually recognizes him as a worker. When Z finds that he has been cornered in a lie, he panics and takes Princess Bala hostage. They escape the colony and hide, and Z decides to search for the legendary Insectopia. Bala reluctantly decides to go with him after she narrowly escapes from a hungry praying mantis.

Word of the incident quickly spreads through the colony, whereupon Z's act of individuality sparks a revolution in the workers. As a result, productivity grinds to a halt. Seeing an opportunity to gain control, General Mandible begins to publicly portray Z as a villain who cares only about himself. Mandible then promotes the glory of conformity and promises them a better life, which he claims to be the reward of completing a "Mega Tunnel" planned by himself. Mandible learns Z is looking for Insectopia after interrogating Weaver. Knowing full well of the place's existence, Mandible sends his aide, Colonel Cutter (Christopher Walken), to its location to retrieve the Princess and kill Z. Cutter, however, slowly begins to have doubts about Mandible's plans and agenda and develops sympathy for the worker ants.

Z and Bala, after a misdirection and a brief separation, finally find Insectopia, which consists of a human wastebin overfilled with decaying food (a treat for insects of all kinds). Here, Bala begins to reciprocate Z's feelings. However, during a break, Cutter arrives and takes Bala back to the colony. Z finds them gone and makes his way back to the colony to rescue Bala, aided by a wasp named Chip (Dan Aykroyd), whom he met earlier and has made himself drunk grieving over the loss of his swatted wife, Muffy (Jane Curtin). Z arrives at the colony, where he finds that Bala has been held captive in General Mandible's office. After rescuing her, he learns that General Mandible's "Mega Tunnel" leads straight to a body of water (the puddle next to Insectopia), which Mandible will use to drown the queen and the workers who have gathered at the opening ceremony. Bala goes to warn the workers and her mother at the ceremony, while Z goes to the tunnel exit to stop the workers from digging any further. He fails, however, and the water leaks in. Z and Bala unify the workers into a single working unit and build a towering ladder of ants towards the surface as the water continues to rise.

Meanwhile, General Mandible and his soldiers are gathered at the surface, where he explains to them his vision of a new colony with none of the "worker filth". He is interrupted, however, when the workers successfully claw their way to the surface and break through. Mandible tries to kill Z but is stopped by Cutter, who helps Z out of the hole "for the good of the colony." Mandible then snaps, yelling "I AM THE COLONY!" and charges toward Cutter, who is, however, pushed away by Z at the last moment. Mandible inadvertently takes Z with him back down into the flooded colony; Mandible is killed when he lands upon a root while Z falls into the water, and Cutter rescues him while the other soldier ants help the workers and the queen onto the surface. Although it seems that Z has drowned, Bala successfully resuscitates him. Z is lauded for his heroism and marries Bala. Together they rebuild the colony with Cutter as their General, transforming the colony from a conformist military state into a community that values each and every one of its members.

Cast

Main

Woody Allen as Z, a meek but individualistic worker ant and the main protagonist.

Sharon Stone as Princess Bala, the daughter of the Queen Ant and the deuteragonist.

Gene Hackman as General Mandible, the leader of the soldier ants and the main antagonist.

Sylvester Stallone as Weaver, a soldier ant and Z's best friend.

Jennifer Lopez as Azteca, a worker ant and Weaver's lover.

Christopher Walken as Colonel Cutter, Mandible's second-in-command.

Supporting cast

Anne Bancroft as The Queen Ant, Princess Bala's mother

Dan Aykroyd as Chip The Wasp

John Mahoney as Head of the Workers

Grant Shaud as The Foreman

Danny Glover as Barbatus, a soldier ant who befriends Z.

The cast features several actors from movies Allen wrote, starred in and directed, including Stone (Stardust Memories), Stallone (Bananas), Hackman (Another Woman), and Walken (Annie Hall). Aykroyd later co-starred in Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.

Cameos

Credited

Jane Curtin as Muffy The Wasp, Chip's wife

Paul Mazursky as Psychiatrist

Tim Johnson as the voice of many ants

Uncredited

Gene Hackman, Albert R. Brooks and Dan Aykroyd as Termites

Dan Aykroyd and Sylvester Stallone as Bar Guys

Sharon Stone as Bala's Friend #1

Carol Alt as Bala's Friend #2

Woody Allen and John Mahoney as Workers

Albert R. Brooks and Gene Hackman as Soldiers

Paul Mazursky and Woody Allen as Ridgeway the Soldier

John Mahoney as Drunk Scout

Mischa Barton and John Mahoney as Fireplace Bugs

Production

Antz is notable for being part of the Disney-DreamWorks feud. The movie was released a little more than a month before Pixar's A Bug's Life, which is similar in many aspects. Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney in 1994 to form DreamWorks. According to Katzenberg, the idea for Antz came from a 1991 story pitch by Tim Johnson that was related to Katzenberg in October 1994. However, Disney had been working on developing an ant movie since 1988. Pixar head John Lasseter pitched A Bug's Life the day Katzenberg left Disney in August 1994, and said he felt "betrayed" when he learned Antz was scheduled for release before A Bug's Life. Antz was the first animated DreamWorks film to receive over 90% of its reviews as positive, and the only one until How to Train Your Dragon. Roger Ebert praised the film, saying that it's "sharp and funny". The variety of themes, interesting visuals, and voice acting were each aspects of the film that were praised.

Box office

The film topped the box office in its opening weekend, earning $17,195,160 for a $7,021 average from 2,449 theaters. In its second weekend, the film held the top spot again, with a slippage of only 14% to $14.7 million for a $5,230 average and expanding to 2,813 sites. It held well also in its third weekend, slipping only 24% to $11.2 million and finishing in third place, for a $3,863 average from 2,903 theaters. The film's widest release was 2,929 theaters, and closed on February 18, 1999. The film altogether picked up $90,757,863 domestically, recouping its $60 million budget, but failing to outgross its competition with A Bug's Life. The film picked up an additional $81 million overseas for a worldwide total of $171.8 million, making it a box office success.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Script

Category:1990s comedy films Category:1998 films Category:1990s animated films Category:Action figures Category:American films Category:Computer-animated films Category:DreamWorks Animation films Category:English-language films Category:Fantasy-comedy films Category:Fictional ants Category:Films about insects Category:Films featuring anthropomorphic characters Category:Films set in New York City Category:Playmates Toys Category:DreamWorks films Category:Directorial debut films Category:Animated features released by DreamWorks SKG