The Ant Bully [DVD] [2006]

 

 

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Fantastic. The Ant Bully is just a fantastic animated film on multiple levels. The animation is superb, the characters are wonderfully memorable, the cast of voice actors boasts many a big name, and the story is as educational as it is entertaining. Adults should have already learned the message of this film, but they can still enjoy The Ant Bully just as much as the kids. Frankly, I had never even heard of this movie until a couple of weeks ago, and that's a real shame because this is an animated film that should have been talked about just as much as Cars, Happy Feet, etc.

Like Lucas (Zach Tyler), the little boy in this film, I used to squirt water on ants and destroy their little ant hills - I'm not proud of that, but I was just a dumb kid. Lucas has yet to learn that tormenting other creatures is bad. A local bully keeps picking on him because he's little, so he turns around and picks on ants because he is bigger than they are. For their part, the ants in his front yard have had enough of the horrible beast they call "Destroyer," and thanks to a young wizard named Zoc (Nicolas Cage), they have a way to fight back. Using a potion, they shrink Lucas down to their size and carry him back to the colony. Many of the ants want to kill and eat their nemesis, but the benevolent Queen (Meryl Streep) decrees that he is to remain in the colony and, through training, learn to become an ant himself. Zoc's girlfriend Hova (Julia Roberts) eagerly volunteers to train him, which threatens to drive a wedge between her and Zoc.

Lucas makes for a stubborn student, rejecting the teamwork inherent in ant society; he doesn't need anybody's help, thank you very much. Not having any human friends, he is even reluctant to accept the friendship that ants such as Hova offer him. When the colony finds itself in danger, though - particularly when The Cloudbreather shows up to exterminate the lawn - Lucas sees the error of his ways, begins to understand how important friends are in life, and even goes so far as to risk his own life to protect those around him. It's hard for a child to realize that a "me first" philosophy won't get you very far in life, and The Ant Bully communicates that very important lesson in a wonderful, expressive way. While most animated films play strictly for laughs, The Ant Bully uses comedy to reinforce one of life's most important lessons. Yes, there's an element of socialism in it all (and heaven knows how much I hate socialism), but the true message of the film is a good and proper one.

I love this film's animation and cinematography. The attention to detail is amazing; for example, it would have been all too easy to just give the ants plain white eyes, but these animators went the extra mile to make their ants' eyes reflect the convexity of real ants' compound eyes. In terms of the cinematography, I found myself thinking back to some of the epic battle scenes from the original Star Wars trilogy as the ants rushed to defend their base from an aerial assault by wasps. I also loved the scene where the view pulled way back for a dramatic ant-sized explosion, only to show - from a human perspective - the very modest poof of a little firecracker. That doesn't sound like much, but I thought it was brilliant. In fact, I thought this entire movie was brilliant. And wait - there's more. You also get to hear the great Ricardo Montalban and Bruce Campbell lend their voices to a couple of characters, as well. Wow! What else could you ask for? Truly, The Ant Bully is one of the best animated films I've seen in some time.

just finished watching this with the kids! wow! i don't know who loved it more, me or them! i thought cage was excellent as a cartoon, i knew his voice straight away, (almost) and felt he played the character well, all the rest were great to. much better than some of the other animated features i have watched recently in this genre, definitely worth watching and buying! the environment in which the ants live is absolutely beautiful, alot of imagination has obviously gone into this one and the character design is one of the best i have seen, each ant looks different, the colours and textures used are stunning, their are alot of tribal elements hinted at and for me these are the best ant's i have seen in in comparison to bugs life and antz.

the story was interesting and held my attention from start to finish, (and the kids, one is 4, the other 2) although they didn't quite get some of the jokes, (aimed at older viewers) such as the "yellow rain" lol, i was laughing, panicking, the lot!

the initial scenes of destruction were very well done, the effect's are very detailed and "expensive" looking, i found myself gasping at those scenes and yelling at the antz to escape! very realistic, i felt as if i was watching a live action "war of the worlds/the day after tomorrow" scene!

i won't say any more so as not to spoil it except go out and buy buy buy!

excellent effects, character designs, great voice overs, character development, an actual 'good' storyline and alot of originality!

you've nothing to lose with this one!

This is a lovely movie. The story is simple yet interesting enough to keep my 3year old entertained over and over and over. The moral is a good one and the animation is beautiful. Very pleased with this purchace.

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5.0 out of 5 stars ant bully
this is a really good production. The story tells you how one should consider life of small creatures and is a good video to show children and kids so that they will be more... Read more

Published 26 days ago by B. Waruna Gomis

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ant Bully
This was great a service and a excellent product, my Kids loved this film, Many thanx would recommend and use again.

Published 4 months ago by Ms Kl Haywood

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous tool for stopping Bullying!
Brilliant film for teaching children about Bullying and the Psychological reasons why people get bullied. Read more

Published 13 months ago by SASSYCHIC

5.0 out of 5 stars nice story great animation
this animated film had a really nice story in my opinion.the video quality was great.picture had a good deal of pop to it and colors were nicely saturated and bold. Read more

Published 13 months ago by sjitalian

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT FILM!
All of us love this film in my family! Good lessons to be learned for kids.

Published 18 months ago by Jenni

4.0 out of 5 stars Unoriginal but STUNNING!
I always pondered on the numerous Ant themed animated movies made and I think Ant Bully is a prime example of a film plot thats reached the slightly overkill stage. Read more

Published 23 months ago by Fenix Rising

3.0 out of 5 stars ant-bully
Good film, funny in parts. The idea and plot of the film is very clever, like the realisation of the ant mother and cloud breather (I think that's what those pictures on the... Read more

Published on 27 Dec 2009 by MJZ

5.0 out of 5 stars Ant Bully
My 9 year old son really loved this movie. He has watched it several times.

Published on 4 July 2009 by M. L. Edwards

4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing, entertaining and fun
One of the better animated films, this is a story, as always, with a moral, but it doesn't let that, or over-sentimentality, get in the way of the action or the story. Read more

Published on 29 Mar 2008 by M. P. Barnes

4.0 out of 5 stars Wasps get a raw deal
Though socially disturbing
This movie's lots of fun
It's not the best there ever was
But it's for everyone

If Lucas were my little son... Read more

Published on 8 Jan 2007 by Amanda Richards

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