The Ant Bully (2006)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

John A. Davis

Writers:

John A. Davis (writer)
John Nickle (book)

Release Date:

28 July 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

The battle for the lawn is on.

Plot:

After Lucas Nickle floods an ant colony with his watergun, he's magically shrunken down to insect size and sentenced to hard labor in the ruins.

Plot Keywords:

Ant | Bully | Colony | Wizard | Magic Potion

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Julia Roberts	...	Hova (voice)
Nicolas Cage	...	Zoc (voice)
Meryl Streep	...	Queen (voice)
Paul Giamatti	...	Stan Beals (voice)
Zach Tyler	...	Lucas Nickle (voice) (as Zach Tyler Eisen)
Regina King	...	Kreela (voice)
Bruce Campbell	...	Fugax (voice)
Lily Tomlin	...	Mommo (voice)
Cheri Oteri	...	Doreen Nickle (voice)
Larry Miller	...	Fred Nickle (voice)
Allison Mack	...	Tiffany Nickle (voice)
Ricardo Montalban	...	Head of Council (voice)
Creagen Dow	...	Mullet Boy (voice)
Myles Jeffrey	...	Steve (voice)
Jake T. Austin	...	Nicky (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild rude humor and action.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Sonics-DDP (IMAX version) | SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Ireland:G | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:MG6 | USA:PG (certificate #42829) | UK:U | Australia:G | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Hong Kong:I | France:U | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-7 | Argentina:Atp | Philippines:G | Brazil:Livre | South Korea:All | New Zealand:G | Portugal:M/4 | Denmark:7 | Sweden:7 | Norway:A | Canada:G (all jurisdictions) | South Africa:PG

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Final film appearance of Ricardo Montalban.

Quotes:

Doreen Nickle: Where's your brother?
Tiffany Nickle: Still locked in his room, hiding from society.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008)

Soundtrack:

The Ants Go Marching

Well Worth Viewing

I really don't get the negative reviews for this movie. I'm in my forties, so is my husband. Our children are three and eleven. We all loved this movie. I'll buy the DVD.

I liked this movie as well as A Bug's Life, if not better. Why? The message that it's okay to be yourself and that you don't have to simply accept bullying is delivered in a more laid-back way. A Bug's Life and Toy Story, by comparison, are frenetic.

The actors voices and characterization are terrific. All in all, I think the visuals at the end of the film - sort of a funky, hieroglyphic narrative - help to sum up this film's appeal or lack of appeal, depending on the nature of the viewer. If you genuinely prefer faster-paced, more "in-your-face" type of movies (and I realize that most American film viewers do these days), then you will have to acclimate a little to this film. But not much. It's plenty busy.

What it also is, however, is charming. Toy Story was charming. So was the first Shrek, in its own quirky, slightly perverse way. The Ant Bully, in my family's opinion (and we go to a lot of movies), was just what we needed for a Friday night of family entertainment. We had some really good laughs, enjoyed being together, and left feeling upbeat. The audience seemed to enjoy this movie very much. There was a lot of laughter and many people stayed to watch the colorful visuals at the end.

If you don't like this movie, then perhaps you need to learn to kick back and relax a little more often. We found it to be well worth viewing and it will certainly receive a lot of travel time viewing in our car once it's released on DVD. I saw that Tom Hanks was an Executive Producer. Thanks, Tom.