A Bug's Life 95min Dir John Lasseter and Andrew StantoN.

IT'S always the way, isn't it? You wait all your life for a computer animated story set in an ants' nest and then two come along at once.

Like Antz, released at the end of last year, A Bug's Life finds our heroes living a microscopic life in a large nest beneath a tree on an island in a stream (you can stop singing now). Unlike Antz, however, the creators of the latest insect extravaganza have not utilized quite such a star-studded cast. Still, half the fun of a film such as this is trying to work out who is voicing whom.

Easy to spot is David Hyde Pearce (Niles in Frasier) as a long-suffering stick insect and, well, that's about it. Would you recognise Dave Foley on the 'phone (or in the flesh) and Kevin Spacey turns all Dennis Hopper as the mean grasshopper called, erm, hopper.

Perhaps a moment to explain the plot should be taken.

A Bug's Life is loosely based on the fable of the ant and the grasshopper. A happy but oppressed colony of ants spends the entire summer harvesting the small amount of food on their tiny island. They keep a little for themselves, but have to give most of it to a gang of biker grasshoppers who take the nosh and offer protection in return; protection, of course, from themselves.

When one ant, Flik (Foley) dares to stand up to them, he incurs their wrath and must try to make it up to the colony and save it from destruction for the rest of the movie. Unfortunately, he is taken in by some circus performing insects who he believes to be warriors. Remember the film The Three Amigos with Steve Martin, Chevvy Chase and Martin Short; well it's a bit like that.

Apparently, A Bug's Life creators Pixar, the team behind Toy Story, had the movie on the proverbial drawing board long before they heard about Antz, but for whatever reason, it has been released afterwards.

It's certainly nowhere near as visually impressive as what was one of the best films last year. It is beautifully animated and lit, plus the expressions on the ants' little faces is a joy to behold. Watching the little chorus of ants looking on at the action is sometimes even better than watching what is happening in the foreground. They blink and react to what is going on like the 'crowd' in an amateur dramatics production.

It pulls ahead in the ease of the story-telling. Which is not surprising as the film's berlord is the massive Disney studio which knows a thing or two about making films for kids. This is a much simpler, faster and more attractive film for kids than Antz; half of the latter's charm was the adult humour.

In A Bug's Life we have people being called "poo poo head" and more cute and cuddly insects (if that's possible) than most Disney stories would have room for (although I'm sure they'll find some). There is still a little something for the more mature; witness the ant at the start who loses his way because a leaf falls in his path and the out-takes at the end (which I forgot to stay for).

Jeremy Austin

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.