Overview
See production notesA colony of ants, led by the elderly Queen and her daughter Princess Atta, lives in the middle of a seasonally dry creekbed on a small hill known as "Ant Island". Every summer, they are forced to give food to a gang of grasshoppers, led by Hopper. Simultaneously, the distrusting ants distance themselves from Flik, a kind-hearted inventor who is prone to incompetence. One day, he unintentionally spills the food offering with his grain harvester. Hopper discovers this, and demands twice as much food as compensation. When Flik earnestly suggests the ants enlist the help of bigger bugs to fight the grasshoppers, Atta sees it as a way to get rid of Flik and sends him off. Flik travels to "the city", a heap of trash under a trailer. There, he mistakes a troupe of jobless Circus Bugs for the warrior bugs he seeks. The bugs, in turn, mistake Flik for a talent agent, and agree to travel with him back to Ant Island. During a welcome ceremony after their arrival, the Circus Bugs and Flik discover their mutual misunderstandings. The Circus Bugs attempt to leave, but are pursued by a nearby bird; while fleeing, they rescue Atta's younger sister Dot from the bird, gaining the ants' respect. At Flik's request, the Circus Bugs continue the ruse of being "warriors", thus enabling them to continue enjoying the ants' hospitality. Learning that Hopper fears birds inspires Flik to build a crude ornithopter disguised as a bird to scare away the grasshoppers. Meanwhile, Hopper reminds his gang of the ants' higher numbers, warning them the ants will rebel if not kept in line. The ants finish constructing the fake bird. During the subsequent celebration, the Circus Bugs' old supervisor, P.T. Flea, arrives, seeking to rehire them and blowing their cover; believing that the plan is doomed to fail, Atta foolishly advises Flik and the Circus Bugs to leave which Flik sadly does. The ants desperately try gathering food for a new offering. Hopper returns, sees the small offering, and takes over the island. He then demands the ants' own winter food supply, planning to execute the Queen afterward. Overhearing the plan from one of the grasshoppers, Dot persuades Flik and the Circus Bugs to return to Ant Island. After the Circus Bugs distract the grasshoppers long enough to rescue the Queen, Flik deploys the bird. It initially fools the grasshoppers, but P.T., who is also fooled, sets the bird on fire. Realizing the deception, Hopper has Flik publicly beaten and proclaims the ants are lowly life forms who live only to serve the grasshoppers. Flik asserts Hopper knowingly downplays the ant colony's strengths and capabilities. This inspires the ants and the Circus Bugs to fight back against the grasshoppers, driving all but Hopper and his affable brother Molt away. The ants shove Hopper into the circus cannon to shoot him off of the island, but rain suddenly begins to fall. In the ensuing chaos, Hopper frees himself from the cannon and abducts Flik. The Circus Bugs and Atta pursue, with the latter catching up to Hopper and rescuing Flik, who lures Hopper to the real bird's nest. Believing the bird is another fake, Hopper taunts it, until it grabs him and feeds him to its chicks. With the anthill now at peace, Flik improves his inventions to help gather food for the ants. Flik and Atta become a couple. P.T. and the Circus Bugs begin their new tour with Molt as a strongman and some of the ants as acrobats. Atta and Dot become the new queen and princess, respectively. The ants celebrate their victory and congratulate Flik as a hero as Heimlich emerges from a cocoon with just butterfly wings as Francis and Manny carry him off. They then bid a fond farewell to the circus troupe.
Plot from A Bug's LifeCC BY-SA 4.0
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- English
Gallery
Quotes
See all quotesScared Ant #1: No, no, no, Oh, no. Oh, no. I'M LOST!! Where's the line?! It just went away! What do I do?! Scared Ant #2: Help! Scared Ant #3: We'll be stuck here forever! Cockroach Waitress: Hey, who ordered the Poo Poo Platter? Mosquito Waitress: Here you go, Slick. Enjoy. Slick: Ow! OW!! HEY I SAID NO SALT!! Drunk Mosquito: Hey, bartender, Bloody Mary, O positive.
A Bug's Life, CC BY-SA 4.0
Scared Ant #1: [gasps] No, no, no, Oh, no. Oh, no. Scared Ant #1: I'M LOST!! Where's the line?! It just went away! What do I do?! Scared Ant #2: Help! Scared Ant #3: We'll be stuck here forever! Mr. Soil: Do not panic. Do not panic! We are trained professionals. Now, stay calm. We are going around the leaf. Scared Ant #1: Around the leaf. I-I-I don't think we can do that. Mr. Soil: Oh, nonsense. This is nothing compared to the twig of '93. [gestured for the line of nervous ants to come towards him] That's it. That's it. Good! You're doing great! There you go. There you go! Watch my eyes. Don't look away. And here's the line again. Scared Ant #1: [gleeful shout] Thank you! Thank you, Mr. Soil! Mr. Soil: Good job, everybody! Dr. Flora: Oh, my. There's quite a gap, Mr. Soil. Shouldn't we tell the queen? Mr. Soil: I don't think we need to involve the queen in this. She's got enough on her plate already: training her daughter. Dr. Flora: Oh, yes, Princess Atta. The poor dear.
A Bug's Life, CC BY-SA 4.0
Princess Atta: Oh... Wind's died down. They'll be here soon. Queen: Just be confident, dear. You'll be fine. Princess Atta: Ah! There's a gap. There's a gap in the line! What are we gonna do?! Thorny: It's okay, Your Highness. Gaps happen. We just lost a few inches, that's all. Princess Atta: Oh, right. [hovers over Thorny's shoulder] Thorny: Your Highness, I can't count when you hover like that. Princess Atta: Oh, of course. I'm sorry. [chuckles] Go ahead. Queen: Guys, go shade someone else for a while. Okay, Atta. Now what do we do? Princess Atta: Oh! Don't tell me. I know it. I know it. What is it? Queen: We relax! Princess Atta: Right. Queen: Oh, it'll be fine. It's the same, year after year. They come, they eat, they leave. That's our lot in life. It's not a lot, but it's our life. [laughs. Atta laughs too] Isn't that right, Aphie? Oh, you're such a cute little aphid. [As she sets Aphie down, the two ant boys pop out of a hole in the ground] Reed: Ditch Dot! Grub: Yeah, yeah! Dot:
A Bug's Life, CC BY-SA 4.0
Flik: [Looks to the sky and gasps] They're here! Ants: They're here! Dot: Mom! Where are you?! Ants: They're coming! Run! Queen: Dot! Dot! Dot: Mom! Princess Atta: Single file! Dot: Mom! Princess Atta: Please, everyone. Uh, food to the offering stone. Queen: [whistles] Okay, everyone, single file. Food to offering stone and into the anthill. Now, let's go! Ant #4: Go, go, go, go. Princess Atta: Come on. Keep movin', keep movin'. Good! Okay. That's everyone. Flik: Hey! Hey, wait for me! [runs up to the offering stone, tangled up in his harvester] Get the food to the offering stone, then into the anthill. Flik: [screams] No! No, no, no, no, no! Oh, oh! Flik: Oh, no. Princess Atta! Princess Atta! Princess Attaaaa!
A Bug's Life, CC BY-SA 4.0
Princess Atta: They come, they eat, they leave. They come, they eat, they leave. Flik: Excuse me, pardon me. Pardon me, excuse me. Coming through. Excuse me. Excuse me. Sorry, sorry. [he runs through the crowd to make his way to Atta] Coming through. Princess Atta, there's something I need to tell you. Princess Atta: Not now, Flik. Flik: But, Your Highness, it's about the offering! Princess Atta: Shhh! Grasshopper: [off-screen] Hey, what's going on? Molt: [first words; off-screen] Yeah, where's the food? Princess Atta: [furious with Flik] What did you do? Flik: [nervously] It was an accident? Molt: Boo! Where's the food?! Flik: Hopper. Hopper: [first words] So, where is it? WHERE'S MY FOOD? [echoes] Princess Atta: I-Isn't it up there? Hopper: What?! Princess Atta: The food was sitting on a leaf on top- Hopper: [interrupts] EXCUSE ME?! Princess Atta: Are you sure it's not up there? Hopper: Are you saying I'm stupid? Princess Atta: No. Hopper: Do I look... stupid... to you? Let's just th
A Bug's Life, CC BY-SA 4.0
Princess Atta: Flik, what do you have to say for yourself? Flik: Sorry. I-I'm sorry for the way I am. I didn't mean for things to go so wrong. I...especially didn't want to make you look bad, Princess. Princess Atta: Well, Flik, you did. Flik: I was just trying to help. Mr. Soil: Then help us. Don't help us. Flik: Help? Help? Help? Princess Atta: Flik, you are sentenced to one month digging in the tunnels. Thorny: Uh, excuse me, Your Highness. Need I remind you of Flik's tunnel-within-a-tunnel project? Flik: Helpers to help us. That could... That's it! We could... Thorny: It took the whole engineering department two days to dig him out. Send him to Health and Ant Services. Dr. Flora: Heavens, no! Flik: We could leave the island. The riverbed's dry right now. We could just walk right across the riverbed. We could go get helpers. We could! We could leave, sure. We could go find helpers to help us. It's perfect! Queen: Perfect? What's so perfect? Flik: Your Highness, don't you see? We cou
A Bug's Life, CC BY-SA 4.0
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