Antz

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images collaborated on this all computer-animated comedy-adventure about the ant angst of misfit worker ant, Z (voice of Woody Allen), who feels trapped by the conformist confines of his totalitarian ant civilization and eventually sets forth in search of Insectopia. After DreamWorks began animating Prince of Egypt June 1, 1995, the company launched Antz in Palo Alto a year later (5/20/96), the same month the DreamWorks/PDI partnership was announced. The screenplay by Chris and Paul Weitz and Todd Alcott has uncredited input by Woody Allen (who matched dialogue to fit his usual style of verbal delivery). The story suggests the possible influence of Yevgeny Zamatin's classic novel We (1923) and Ayn Rand's similar-themed Anthem (1936), filmed in the early '70s in a rarely seen unauthorized film adaptation (which Rand never allowed to be shown commercially). Following the 1995 Toy Story (1995), Antz is the second fully computer-animated feature, preceding the release of Disney's all-CGI A Bug's Life by seven weeks. Antz begins with worker ant Z discussing his feelings of insignificance with a shrink (voice of Paul Mazursky) before heading off to his tunnel-digging job, work supervised by General Mandible (Gene Hackman) and Colonel Cutter (Christopher Walken). Mandible has big dreams of conquest, and he convinces the Queen (Anne Bancroft) an attack is necessary to prevent a termite invasion. Her daughter is Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), who's not overly enchanted by her engagement to Mandible. The Princess goes slumming, visiting the bar where Z hangs out with his friend Weaver (Sylvester Stallone). To the tune of "Guantanamera," Bala dances with Z -- in a scene with allusions to the dance in Pulp Fiction (1994). Entranced by the encounter, Z convinces Weaver to swap places, so a military parade will allow him to see Bala in the reviewing stand. Befriended by soldier ant Barbatus (Danny Glover) during the parade, Z nervously realizes he's actually marching into battle. Attacked by termites, the troops experience horrors highly reminiscent of the Starship Troopers (1997) bug battles. The dying Barbatus tells Z, "Don't follow orders all your life." As the only survivor of the slaughter, Z returns home a war hero. Threatened by Mandible, Bala and Z are thrown together in a journey into the outside world, and they travel toward the legendary Insectopia. Major city newspaper critics were almost unanimous in their praise of Antz. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Features:
  • Audio commentary with directors Tim Johnson and Eric Darnell
  • Production featurette
  • Basics of computer animation
  • ANTZ facial system
  • ANTZ character design
  • Production notes
  • Cast list & director bios
  • Theatrical trailer

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Woody Allen - Z
       Sharon Stone - Bala
       Sylvester Stallone - Weaver
       Gene Hackman - Mandible
       Christopher Walken - Cutter
       Danny Glover - Barbatus
       Dan Aykroyd - Chip
       Jane Curtin - Muffy
       Anne Bancroft - Queen

• Director:

  Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson

• Producer:

  Aron Warner, Brad Lewis, Patty Wooton

• Screenwriter:

  Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz

• Composer (Music Score):

  Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell

• Editor:

  Stan Webb

• Production Designer:

  John Bell

• Art Director:

  Kendal Cronkhite-Shaindlin

• Executive Producer:

  Penney Finkelman Cox, Sandra Rabins, Carl Rosendahl

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker

• Consultant/advisor:

  Terry Rossio, Zak Penn, Ted Elliott

• Casting:

  Leslee Feldman

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Richard L. Anderson

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  Ken Bielenberg, Philippe Gluckman

• Technical Director:

  Marty Sixkiller

REVIEW:

• What a masterstroke to graft Woody Allen's neurotic schtick onto a creature with great allegorical cause for feeling insignificant: an ant born into a colony of millions, indistinguishable from his neighbors. The opening scene of Antz, in which Allen's Z reports his psychological malaise to a therapist, sets audiences up for the way the film will work on multiple levels. Only the second film to be entirely digital, after Toy Story (1995), the film is not content to be merely an odyssey of visual stimuli -- it also has the wry intelligence to exist as a loving lampoon of Allen's work. Allen is just one of many who do assured vocal work on the project, with Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone also offering mild riffs on their familiar personas. Inevitably compared and contrasted with its CGI insect competition, A Bug's Life, released by Disney and Pixar later that year, A Bug's Life may be the more cuddly and kid-friendly movie (the battle scene in Antz is not really appropriate for younger viewers), but Antz boasts a superior script. Plus, it earns points for the risky artistic decision to make the ants look realistic -- in other words, brown, rather than their plastic blue color in Pixar's film. Pacific Data Images knew it had a dynamic story and slick visuals, and it didn't need to enhance this essentially earth-toned world with pastels. Viewers aching for color will get a good enough dose when the ants go in search of Insectopia -- at which point it assumes thematic resonance, a symbol of the quest for a better world. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi