Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4596 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-03-05
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Synopsis
A young boy learns the importance of teamwork and gains self-confidence in this animated feature written and directed by John A. Davis (JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS), and based on the book by John Nickle. Misfit Lucas (Zach Taylor Eisen) doesn't have any friends and suffers daily at the hands of the neighbourhood bully. Lucas's mother (Cheri Oterie) might call her 10-year-old 'Peanut', but to the ants inhabiting the colony in his front yard, Lucas is 'the Destroyer'. Lonely and frustrated by his small stature, Lucas repeatedly takes his aggression out on the colony, leaving the ants running for their lives. Tired of the unprovoked attacks, Zok (Nicolas Cage), an ant wizard, devises a potion that will shrink the Destroyer down to their size so that he can stand trial for his actions. Soon, Lucas is ant-sized and sentenced to live among the ants where he has to learn their ways in order to earn his freedom. Zok's ever-cheerful girlfriend, Hova (Julia Roberts), becomes Lucas' mentor, teaching him the ways of the ant world and helping him gain a whole new perspective. He begins to understand the meaning of teamwork and how working with others can help an individual accomplish great things. He also learns that danger lurks everywhere for an ant: killer wasps, hungry frogs, even sunlight reflected off a mirror can mean certain death. Even worse, before being shrunk, Lucas was tricked into signing a contract with a slimy exterminator, Stan Beals (Paul Giamatti), who will soon be returning to destroy the colony unless Lucas can find a way to stop him. An amusing, smart script and likeable characters are hallmarks of this pleasant romp through a secret underground world. Meryl Streep voices the ant Queen, while Lily Tomlin is Mommo, Lucas' grandmother, and Ricardo Montalban is the Head of the Ant Council.

Customer Reviews

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. With so many famous names cast as the voices, it has a quality feel to it, and, at 1h30 long, you don't really have time to get bored, as there is a pretty good pace to proceedings...You should see it because "You have a brain the size of a peanut!" (That's a compliment, by the way!;-))

FANTASTIC! one of the better ones!
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!

Cross my heart (not my butt) -- what a fantastic animated movie!
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.