September 19, 1998 (TIFF)
October 2, 1998 (United States)
Antz is a 1998 American animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation (as its debut film) and Pacific Data Images, and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson (in their feature directorial debuts) from a screenplay by Todd Alcott and the writing team of Chris and Paul Weitz. The film stars the voices of Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Christopher Walken, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Danny Glover and Gene Hackman. Some of the main characters share facial similarities with the actors who voice them. The film involves an anxious worker ant, Z (Allen), who falls in love with Princess Bala (Stone). When the treacherous scheming of the arrogant officer General Mandible (Hackman) threatens to wipe out the entire worker population, Z must save the ant colony from the flooded tunnel and strives to make social inroads.
Development began in 1988 when Walt Disney Feature Animation pitched a film called Army Ants, about a pacifist worker ant teaching lessons of independent thinking to his militaristic colony. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Katzenberg had left the company in a feud with CEO Michael Eisner over the vacant president position after the death of Frank Wells. Katzenberg would later go on to help co-found DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, and the three planned to rival Disney with the company's new animation division. Production began in May 1996, after production had already commenced on The Prince of Egypt (1998). DreamWorks had contracted Pacific Data Images (PDI) in Palo Alto, California, to begin working on computer-animated films to rival Pixar's features. Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell composed the music for the film, marking their first animated film. During its production, a controversial public feud erupted between Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks and Steve Jobs and John Lasseter of Pixar, due to the production of their similar film A Bug's Life, which was released a month later. The feud worsened when Disney refused to avoid competition with DreamWorks' intended first animated release, The Prince of Egypt.
Antz premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 19, 1998, and was released theatrically in the United States on October 2, 1998. It grossed $171.8 million worldwide on a budget of $42–105 million and received positive reviews, with critics praising the voice cast, animation, humor, and its appeal towards adults.
Storyline[]
Z is an anxious worker ant who is suffering an existential crisis due to the fact that everyone in the colony, even his psychiatrist, reminds him of his insignificance. While at the local bar one night, Z falls in love with the colony's princess Bala when she visits the bar to escape her suffocating royal life. Meanwhile, the ant colony declares war on an encroaching termite colony, and soldiers are sent to engage the invaders. To see Bala again, Z exchanges places with his best friend, a soldier ant named Weaver, and joins the army, where he befriends staff sergeant Barbatus. The ants are unaware that General Mandible, the army's leader and Bala's fiancé, is secretly sending the soldiers loyal to the colony's Queen to die so he can stage a coup d'état. In the battle, everyone except Z is killed by much-larger acid-shooting termite defenders. Before dying, Barbatus tells Z to think for himself instead of blindly following orders. Meanwhile, Weaver joins the digging crew and falls in love with Z's co-worker, Azteca.
Z returns home and is mistakenly hailed as a war hero. Secretly dissatisfied, Mandible congratulates him and introduces him to the Queen. There, Z meets Bala, who recognizes him as a worker. Z panics and pretends to take Bala hostage; he flees with Bala, but they end up falling out of the anthill via a garbage chute. Now a fugitive, Z decides to search for Insectopia, a legendary insect paradise. Bala attempts to return to the colony, but quickly rejoins Z after encountering a praying mantis.
Z's act of individuality inspires the workers and some soldier ants, halting productivity. To gain control, Mandible publicly portrays Z as a self-centered war criminal, promotes the glory of conformity, and promises the workers rewards for completing a "Mega Tunnel" he designed. However, Mandible's second-in-command, a flying ant named Cutter, begins to doubt Mandible's constant reassurances that he's acting for the good of the colony.
Z and Bala come upon a human picnic, which they mistake for Insectopia. They are baffled by the wrappings on the food, but Muffy and Chip, a married couple of liberal wasps, condescendingly befriend them and try to help break the wrappers. They are disrupted by a human, who kill Muffy with a fly swatter and attempt to squish the ants with a shoe. Z rescues Bala from the sneaker, and the two ants at last find Insectopia, a trash can overfilled with decaying food.
Meanwhile, after interrogating Weaver, Mandible learns that Z is looking for Insectopia and sends Cutter to find it. That night, whilst Z is away, Cutter arrives at Insectopia and forcibly flies Bala back to the colony, where Mandible reveals his intention to restart the colony with Bala as his Queen. Seeing Z's desperation at finding Bala gone, a drunken Chip, mourning over Muffy's death, generously flies Z back to the colony. When Z arrives, Mandible's soldiers forcibly direct him toward the Mega Tunnel. Along the way, he finds Bala held captive in Mandible's office. After he frees her, they both discover that Mandible's Mega Tunnel leads straight to the puddle next to Insectopia, which Mandible will use to drown the Queen and the workers at the opening ceremony. Bala warns the Queen while Z attempts to stop the workers in time, but fails. Z and Bala unify the Queen and workers into building a ladder towards the surface as the water rises.
Meanwhile, Mandible gathers the soldiers on the surface and gloats he has created a new colony, where only the strong survive. When the worker ants break through the surface, Cutter betrays Mandible and rescues them. Enraged, Mandible attempts to tackle Cutter, but Z intervenes and takes the blow. He and Mandible fall back into the flooded tunnel, with Mandible striking a root and dying on impact. Z nearly drowns, but is rescued by Cutter and resuscitated by Bala. Z is praised for his heroism, and he and Bala become a couple. Together, they rebuild the colony, and Z narrates that he is finally content with his place in the world. The camera then zooms out to show the anthill is in Central Park in New York City.
Sound Effects Used[]
- Hollywoodedge, Gasps 1 Woman Close Pe PE131701
- Hollywoodedge, Male Lng Yell PE675401
- Hollywoodedge, Man Yells Mediumhig CRT028301 (2nd yell)
- Hollywoodedge, Stinger Cymbal Roll PE1073407
- Pro Sound Effects, Flying Sleigh Wind, Moaning Howl, Gusty, Swirling, Constant 02
- Pro Sound Effects, Wood Crash, Cracking, Thudding, Tumbling, Hard Falling Impacts, Many Versions
- SKYWALKER EXPLOSION 01 (SFX cluster only; used for the stomping flat.)
- SKYWALKER LIGHTSABER SOUND (The ignition startup sound is used for the flood.)
- SKYWALKER PUNCHING SOUNDS (4th punch only.)
- SKYWALKER, WATER - FISHING BOBBER SPLASH (Debut; Heard once in the DreamWorks logo at the very beginning of the movie.)
- Sound Ideas, BIRDS, VARIOUS - GENERAL AMBIENCE: OUTDOORS, RESIDENTIAL, ANIMAL, COUNTRY 03
- Sound Ideas, BITE, CARTOON - BIG CHOMP (Heard once when Z tries to eat a giant sandwich covered in plastic wrap.)
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE DIVE AND SWOOP BY (Skywalker Sound render variant)
- Sound Ideas, SCREAM - FEMALE, MEDIUM, HUMAN, HORROR 02
- Sound Ideas, WATER, SPLASH - ROCK THROWN IN WATER, BIG SPLASH, DIGIFFECTS
- Wilhelm Scream (Heard when one of the soldier ants is eaten by a termite.)