Own it on DVD November 28, 2006
Director
John A. Davis
Cast (Voices Only)
Julia Roberts”¦”¦”¦.Hova
Nicolas Cage”¦”¦”¦.Zoc
Meryl Streep”¦”¦”¦.Queen Ant
Paul Giamatti”¦”¦”¦.Stan Beals
Zach Tyler”¦”¦”¦.Lucas Nickle
Regina King”¦”¦”¦.Kreela
Bruce Campbell”¦”¦”¦.Fugax
Lily Tomlin”¦”¦”¦.Mommo
Cheri Oteri”¦”¦”¦.Doreen Nickle
Larry Miller”¦”¦”¦.Fred Nickle
The Movie
In any sort of team sport there’s always a rule of thumb: teams built around having many all-stars generally fail if only because athletes at the top of their profession need mediocre to average players to do the roles they’re not accustomed to. Michael Jordan needed the likes of Luc Longley and Will Purdue to take care of the defensive roles on the inside, as well as other vital tasks as rebounding, to allow him to be able to be the sort of game-changing presence required to win games. It stands to reason that collecting plenty of voice talent for an animated film would require the presence of some top notch supporting actors to keep the film entertaining. Not everyone can be the hero; sometimes one has to be the sidekick.
And that’s the crux of The Ant Bully. Lots of talent, but not enough supporting characters to make the film worthwhile from a character standpoint, are the film’s essential dilemma. One would think that having Oscar winners like Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep assembled, along with noted character actors Paul Giamatti and Lily Tomlin as well as B-movie legend Bruce Campbell, that character crafting and the such would be the easiest thing in the world.
The film revolves around Lucas (Zach Tyler), a little boy in the midst of a rather wild adventure. Bullied by the neighborhood kids upon his arrival, he takes out his frustrations on a colony of ants that occupy his lawn. Nicknamed “The Destroyer” by the ants whom he terrorizes, he has a sad and lonely existence. When his parents (Cheri Oteri and Larry Miller) leave for vacation, he finds himself alone to deal with the bullies. Life takes an unexpected turn for the child as the ants, led by wizard Zoc (Cage), shrink the child to their size with a magic potion. From here he learns the value of teamwork and to respect his newfound friends whom he once tried to destroy.
And while it does all the perfunctory functions an animated film about teamwork, family and overcoming the differences in both the human and animal world. It has some spectacular animation and some quality action sequences. It’s just that the high level of actors never really become animated characters.
The film’s failing grace is that one can’t believe it’s an ant; it’s Nicolas Cage’s voice through an ant. Everyone’s voices are virtually identical to their live action roles, as opposed to becoming their roles. It’s what made a film like The Incredibles so good; Craig T Nelson may have been the lead, but it wasn’t his famous voice. It was the voice of the character. Everyone is instantly identifiable in The Ant Bully and they don’t do anything to distinguish themselves as characters.
It leaves the film struggling with mediocrity, despite everything going for it in terms of audio-visual splendor.
The Audio
Presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround format, the film sounds terrific. Taking full advantage of the format, the audio component of The Ant Bully comes through loud and clear.
The Video
The Ant Bully is presented in a widescreen format and has a terrific transfer. The animation is terrific and comes through masterfully on this release.
The Extras
A decent amount of extras inhabit this DVD. First off are Seven animated shorts. Nothing special to be found there, as characters from the film are given one minute or less animations from which to frolic in. The animation is solid, and it is in Dolby Digital sound that’s as good as the film itself, but they aren’t long enough to be anything more than curiosities as opposed to nuggets of great animation. It Takes a Colony is a featurette exploring the animation process used to make the film. Featuring contributions from the cast and crew interspersed with the characters in the film crafted into the featurette itself; it’s a relatively extensive look at the animation process as a whole. With asides from the animation crew, it’s interesting to see the process from beginning to end. Additional scenes are included, having been cut for obvious reasons. There’s an Ant Habitat TV Screensaver included which is mildly fascinating to watch but is obviously included for the child audience it’s meant to attract. The Theatrical Trailer is also included.
