Antz (1998)
 


Genres:Comedy,Family,Sci-Fi
Released: October 2, 1998
Directors:Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson
Distributor:DreamWorks
 
Starring:Woody Allen, Sharon Stone , Gene Hackman, Dan Aykroyd
 

General Mandible (voiced by Gene Hackman)
A restless worker ant changes roles with a soldier ant in
order to get the girl and a madcap adventure ensues

Synopsis
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
daptation (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, All Movie 


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