| Overall: | B |
|---|---|
| Violence: | C+ |
| Sexual Content: | A |
| Language: | A- |
| Drugs/Alcohol: | -- |
| Run Time: | Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus |
| Theater Release: | |
| Video Release: | 26 May 2003 |
| MPAA Rating: | |
| See Canadian Ratings | |
| How We Determine Our Grades | |
Comparing Disney’s A Bug’s Life to DreamWorks’ Antz is unavoidable, because both were released within months of each other. (In fact the two films have so much in common, you have to wonder if the studios weren’t “bugging” each other’s offices!) A family of children gets a bug’s eye view in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. A young boy finds out what life is like in the hill in the movie The Ant Bully.
Home Video Extra Features
DVD Release Date: 27 May 2003
With as many bonus extras as ants in a hill, A Bug’s Life comes to DVD in a collector’s edition. Director John Lasseter, co-director/co-writer Andrew Stanton and supervising film editor Lee Unkrich provide audio commentary. Pixar presents its Academy Award-winning animated short Geri’s Game. The film’s background is extensively excavated with an early presentation reel called Fleabie, the original story treatment and pitch boards, character designs, concept art and color script, as well as production tests. Unearth the behind-the-scenes secrets with featurettes on the creation of A Bug’s Life, a look at the voice talent, the technical details on how the movie was recomposed from its original widescreen presentation to a full frame presentation for home video release, the demonstration of production progressions, a discussion with sound engineer Gary Rydstrom, and a storyboard-to-final film split-screen comparison. For fun viewers can access A Bug’s Land activity games and deleted sequences. Audio tracks are available in English (Dolby Digital 5.1), with subtitles in English.
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About the Reviewer: Rod Gustafson
Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. He currently serves as the President of the Alberta Association for Media Awareness, a provincial non-profit society. He also authors a regular column for The Parent's Television Council in Los Angeles. He and his wife Donna have four children.
