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| The Ant Bully | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John A. Davis |
| Screenplay by | John A. Davis |
| Based on | The Ant Bully by John Nickle |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Jon Price |
| Music by | John Debney |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50 million[2] |
| Box office | $55.2 million[2] |
The Ant Bully is a 2006 American animatedfantasycomedy film written, directed, and co-produced byJohn A. Davis. Loosely based on the1999 children's book of the same name, it tells the story of Lucas Nickle, a young boy who, after terrorizing a colony of ants, is shrunken and ordered to work amongst them. The film was produced byLegendary Pictures,Playtone, andDNA Productions, and features the voice talents ofJulia Roberts,Nicolas Cage,Meryl Streep,Paul Giamatti,Regina King,Bruce Campbell, andZach Tyler Eisen.
Released on July 28, 2006, byWarner Bros. Pictures,The Ant Bully received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $55 million against a $50 million budget, making it abox-office disappointment. This led to extensive layoffs at DNA Productions and, ultimately, the studio's closure.The Ant Bully wasRicardo Montalbán's final film role before his death in 2009.
Lucas Nickle, a 10-year-old boy, is left with his older sister Tiffany and alien-obsessed grandmother when his parents go on vacation toPuerto Vallarta. Neglected by his family and tormented by a local bully named Steve, Lucas frequently vents his frustration by attacking ananthill in his front yard. Zoc, an eccentricsorcerer ant, wants to fight back, while Hova, a nurse ant who is fascinated by humans, wishes to communicate with Lucas. The leaders of the colony decide to shrink Lucas down to ant size using apotion Zoc created.
The localexterminator, Stan Beals, manipulates Lucas into signing a contract for his services, claiming that Lucas' father authorized the extermination but forgot to sign the paperwork himself. That night, Zoc administers the shrinking potion into Lucas' ear while he sleeps. Now miniaturized, Lucas is carried to the anthill and put on trial; the Queen sentences him tohard labor. Hova volunteers to train Lucas, aided by her friends Kreela and Fugax. When the ants are attacked bywasps, Lucas uses a discardedfirecracker to repel them, earning the respect of all but Zoc.
Lucas is shown a painting of the “Cloud-Breather”, an ominous figure who heralds death. Recognizing the Cloud-Breather as Beals, Lucas convinces Hova, Fugax, and Kreela to visit his house; there, he attempts to phone Beals and terminate the contract, but unknowingly calls apizza restaurant instead. Upon their return, Zoc intimidates Lucas into running away. They end up both getting swallowed by afrog, and finally begin to bond after freeing themselves.
The following day, Beals arrives to exterminate the colony, and Lucas and Zoc enlist the wasps' aid. During the battle, Lucas saves the lives of Hova and an injured wasp. As Beals prepares to douse the anthill withpesticide, a beetle and a glowworm bite him in thetesticles, causing him to double over in pain. Seizing the opportunity, Lucas, Zoc, and Hova inject Beals with the shrinking potion, severely disfiguring him. Beals flees on atricycle while being chased away by the wasps.
The Queen declares Lucas an honorary ant for his heroism, naming him "Rokai", and the rest of the ants return Lucas to his normal size. Lucas drives Steve away by rallying his cronies against him. Before leaving with them, Lucas gives the colonyjellybeans.
Tom Hanks originally conceived the idea for an animated film adaptation ofThe Ant Bully after reading the book with his child. He then sent a copy toJohn A. Davis, due to Davis' work on the animated filmJimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001).[3] Davis came up with a potential take on the story within a few days. "To be honest, when I first looked at it, I thought "Oh, why does it have to be ants again?"" said Davis. "But the more I thought about it, I said, So what? It's got as much to do withThe Incredible Shrinking Man as it does the other bug movies. It's a completely different story."[4]
Hanks agreed that the story could be expanded considerably. Keith Alcorn, DNA Productions co-founder and one of the film's executive producers, had a similar initial reaction to the project as Davis did, recalling "My first thought was, 'not another ant movie.' But looking at the actual story, this was really about a little boy and how he learns about the world by having to live beneath the surface."[5] Davis states that he felt like something of a hypocrite when, while he was working on the script, carpenter ants infested his house and he called an exterminator to get rid of them.[6]
The film was rendered on DNA Productions' 1400-CPUrender farm, managed by theopen-sourceSun Grid Enginejob scheduler. TheAMDOpteron nodes started out withFedora Core 2Linux with a modern 2.6.x kernel, but later updated to Fedora Core 4. Most of the applications are commercial, includingMaya,Lightwave 3D,Houdini,Massive andPixar’sRenderMan.[7]
Along with the theatrical release ofThe Ant Bully, an IMAX 3D version was presented in only some of the IMAX theaters. The others continued to run the 3D version ofSuperman Returns. The special IMAX 3D version was remastered in three dimensions with IMAX DMR. Critics within the 3D motion-picture community have given the film high marks as, unlikeSuperman Returns released the same year, the entire film is projected in 3D stereo. The process of turning a pure animation film into 3D is much simpler than converting a film with live actors. Some of the production took place atC.O.R.E. Digital Pictures inCanada.
| The Ant Bully: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film score by | ||||
| Released | August 1, 2006 | |||
| Recorded | 2006 | |||
| Genre | Film Score | |||
| Length | 57:41[8] | |||
| Label | Varèse Sarabande | |||
| Producer | John Debney | |||
| John Debney chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [9] |
The soundtrack's music score was composed and conducted byJohn Debney, who previously worked with Davis onJimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and performed by theHollywood Studio Symphony.
The Ant Bully was theatrically released on July 28, 2006, byWarner Bros. Pictures. It was later released onDVD andBlu-ray on November 28, 2006, byWarner Home Video.
The film opened at number five on July 28, 2006, and closed on November 16, 2006, with $28 million in North America and a total of $55 million worldwide. The estimated production budget was $50 million.[10] The film was released in theUnited Kingdom on August 4, 2006, and opened at number eight.[11]
Review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes reported a 61% approval rating, based on 116 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's consensus reads, "Sometimes inventive and witty, this animated adventure into an ant-sized world is a pleasant diversion."[12] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 59/100 based on 26 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on a scale of A to F.[14]
Tom Long ofThe Detroit News wrote, "there's a sweet simplicity and humility to this film."[15]
Ruthe Stein ofThe San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "the brilliance ofThe Ant Bully is in the crafty way it delves into the minds of ants as they plot to save themselves from extermination...Davis creates a marvelously labyrinthine society for them, right below the surface of a bland suburb."[16]
Lisa Schwarzbaum ofEntertainment Weekly liked Roberts and Cage in their roles, and referred to Streep's queen ant as "excellently magisterial". She also wrote that "the kind of life lessons that usually gum up the fun go down as easily as jelly beans inThe Ant Bully."[17] Jeffrey E. McCants of theMinneapolisStar Tribune wrote that "the film's heavy-handed lessons turn it from a fun romp through a cartoonish insect world to a predictable and preachy snoozefest".[18]
Bill Muller ofThe Arizona Republic wrote, "The Ant Bully, in trying to matchAntz orA Bug's Life, just digs itself into a big hole."[19]
Jack Mathews of theNew YorkDaily News was positive about the film's lack of pop-culture references and thought that the film does not "talk down" to children. Additionally, he noted, "adults may be amused (or maybe not) by theChristian parallel in the ants' religion."[20]
Games publisherMidway releasedThe Ant Bully, the official video game tie-in to the film onGameCube,PlayStation 2,Microsoft Windows, andGame Boy Advance on July 24, 2006. AWii version was released on December 5, 2006. The game was developed by the Montreal StudioArtificial Mind and Movement.
