Antz

Infobox Film
name = Antz


image_size = 200px
caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Eric Darnell
Tim Johnson

producer = Aron Warner
writer = Todd Alcott
Chris Weitz
Paul Weitz
starring = Woody Allen
Dan Aykroyd
Anne Bancroft
Sharon Stone
Gene Hackman
Sylvester Stallone
music = Harry Gregson-Williams
John Powell
editing = Stan Webb
distributor = DreamWorks Animation
Pacific Data Images
released = October 2, 1998
runtime = 83 min.
country = U.S.A.
language = English
budget = $60,000,000
gross = $171,750,000
amg_id = 1:173454
imdb_id = 0120587
stars = 2 stars

"Antz" is a 1998 computer-animated film produced by DreamWorks. It features the voices of well-known actors such as Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Danny Glover as various members of an ant society. Some of the main characters share facial similarities with the actors who voice them. [ [http://dvd.ciao.co.uk/Antz_DVD__Review_5030989 Antz DVD - Review - Just a big kid ] ] The film was originally released to theaters on October 2, 1998, and was released on home video on March 23, 1999.

Plot

The setting for the story is an ant colony in Central Park in New York City. The protagonist (Woody Allen) is an ant named Z-4195, or "Z" for short. Z is a neurotic and individualistic soul living in a wholly conformist society and therefore longs for the opportunity truly express himself, a dream his friend Azteca (Jennifer Lopez) dismisses as a silly fantasy. When his depression leads him to a drink bar, he meets a drunk who tells of a paradise called "Insectopia", piquing Z's interest. The very same night, Princess Bala (Sharon Stone) goes to the bar with two of her attendants to escape from the suffocating life of royalty, disguising herself as a worker. She spots Z at the bar and asks him to dance, during which he falls madly in love with her. When a fight breaks out, Z learns Bala's true identity.

Later that night, Z concocts a plan to see Princess Bala once more, suggesting that he and his best friend Weaver (Sylvester Stallone), a soldier ant, exchange places for one day. Weaver reluctantly agrees, unaware of what Z would be forced to confront. Thinking he is simply to undergo a routine inspection, Z marches with the ranks and is befriended by Barbatus (Danny Glover), another soldier. However, Z learns to his horror that General Mandible (Gene Hackman) is sending the troops to war against a colony of termites that he explains are planning to destroy the ants and use their territory for foraging.

The soldiers, along with Z, then march to battle and arrive at the termite colony, intending to defeat the much larger termites by being the survivors of a decimating battle wherein the victors are simply the last soldiers alive. They are ambushed by the termite soldiers, who attack savagely and without restriction. While running away from a termite, Z falls into a hole and remains there with no knowledge of what is happening outside. Eventually, Z emerges from the hole to find that he is the sole survivor.

Z returns home and is hailed as a war hero, congratulated personally by General Mandible, and is brought before the Queen. There he meets Princess Bala, who eventually recognizes him as a worker. When Z finds that he has been cornered in a lie, he takes Princess Bala hostage and falls into a garbage chute, taking the Princess with him. When he realizes that he has escaped the colony, Z decides to search for Insectopia. Bala reluctantly decides to go with him.

Word of the incident quickly spreads through the colony, whereupon Z's act of individuality sparks a revolution in the workers. As a result, productivity grinds to a halt. Infuriated, General Mandible begins to publicly portray Z as a villain who cares only about himself. Mandible then promotes the glory of conformity and promises them a better life, which he claims to be the reward of completing a "Mega Tunnel" planned by himself. As the colony resumes digging this tunnel, Mandible notices Weaver in the crowd of workers and orders Colonel Cutter (Christopher Walken) to capture him for questioning.

Weaver is beaten mercilessly while being questioned of Z's whereabouts. When he refuses to confess, Mandible orders that Azteca be captured, so that Weaver, who fears losing her, will confess to prevent her death. When Mandible begins to torture Azteca, Weaver reveals that Z may be searching for Insectopia. Knowing full well of the place's existence, Mandible sends Cutter to its location to retrieve the Princess and kill Z.

Z and Bala, after a misdirection and a brief separation, finally find Insectopia, which consists of a human-sized wastebin overfilled with decaying food (a treat for insects of all kinds). Here, Bala begins to return Z's feelings. Having spent some time enjoying themselves in its luxury they settle down around a campfire with a group of other insects. When Z momentarily leaves to find wood for the dying fire, Cutter arrives and politely asks Bala to come with him; to protect Z, Bala tells Cutter that he had died. Z finds them gone and makes his way back to the colony to rescue Bala, aided by a wasp named Chip (Dan Aykroyd), whom he met earlier and has made himself drunk grieving over the loss of his wife.

Z arrives at the colony, where finds that Bala has been held captive. After rescuing her, they learn that General Mandible's "Mega Tunnel" leads straight to a body of water, which Mandible will use to drown the workers who have gathered at the opening ceremony. Bala goes to warn the workers and her mother at the ceremony, while Z goes to the tunnel exit to stop the workers from digging any further. He fails to convince the foreman ordering them to dig, however, until a final strike by the foreman opens a leak, which breaks the exit open and allows the water to enter. Z and Bala unify the workers into a single working unit and build a towering ladder of ants towards the surface as the water continues to rise.

Meanwhile, General Mandible and his soldiers are gathered at the surface, where he explains to them his vision of a new colony with none of the "worker filth". He is interrupted, however, when the workers successfully claw their way to the surface and break through. Mandible is furious and grabs a spear to kill Z while he is defenseless. Cutter, however, has grown tired of Mandible's cruelty and strikes him down, helping Z out of the hole.

Infuriated, Mandible attacks Cutter but instead strikes Z, both of them falling off into the colony. Mandible is killed crashing into a tree root and Z falls into the water, from which Cutter rescues him. Cutter tells the other soldiers to help the workers up to the surface. At the surface, Bala resuscitates him and the ants celebrate their victory. Z is lauded for his heroism and marries Bala. Together they rebuild the colony with Cutter as their General, transforming the colony from a conformist military state into a community that values each and every one of its members.

Cast

Main

* Woody Allen as Z
* Sharon Stone as Princess Bala
* Gene Hackman as General Mandible
* Sylvester Stallone as Weaver
* Jennifer Lopez as Azteca
* Christopher Walken as Colonel Cutter (later General Cutter)

upporting Cast

* Anne Bancroft as The Queen Ant
* Dan Aykroyd as Chip The Wasp
* John Mahoney as Drunk Scout
* Grant Shaud as The Foreman
* Danny Glover as Barbatus

The cast features several actors from movies Allen wrote, starred in and directed, including Stone ("Stardust Memories"), Stallone ("Bananas"), Hackman ("Another Woman"), and Walken ("Annie Hall"). Aykroyd later co-starred in Allen's "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion".

Cameos

Credited

* Jane Curtin as Muffy The Wasp
* Paul Mazursky as Psychiatrist

Uncredited

* Gene Hackman, Albert R. Brooks & Dan Aykroyd as Termites
* Dan Aykroyd & Sylvester Stallone as Bar Guys
* Sharon Stone as Bala's Friend #1
* Carol Alt as Bala's Friend #2
* Woody Allen & John Mahoney as Workers
* Albert R. Brooks & Gene Hackman as Soldiers
* Paul Mazursky & Woody Allen as Ridgeway The Soldier
* Mischa Barton, John Mahoney & Owen Wilson as Fireplace Bugs

Crew

Annie Awards

Movie references

This movie contains several clever references/parodies to blockbuster movies listed below.

* "" — After Princess Bala accuses Z of being an idiot for kidnapping her, he says "Who's the bigger idiot, the idiot or the idiot who gets kidnapped by the idiot?", echoing Obi-Wan Kenobi's famous line, "Who's more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?".
* "" — While crossing the lake, Bala says "I hope you know what you're doing", to which Z responds, "Yeah, me too". Princess Leia and Han Solo (respectively) say the same thing as Han takes the "Millennium Falcon" into an asteroid field.
* "Batman" - Often confused as a reference to "Pulp Fiction", Z and Bala dance The Batusi from the campy 1960's show "Batman" (which "Pulp Fiction" itself was referencing as well) [Directors' Commentary, "Antz" DVD] .
* "Independence Day" - When a magnified sunbeam is about to burn a soldier ant, he utters the same words uttered by curious people who gather at the top of a sky scraper before they are incinerated by the beam from the alien space ship: "It's beautiful". The sound effects from the 1953 film "The War of the Worlds" is used for the "UFO sound".
*"Metropolis" - General Mandible's plan to flood the colony to get rid of the workers is similar to Rotwang's plan to flood the underground city in Fritz Lang's 1927 film "Metropolis". Also, the division of the ants' society into workers and rich people is similar to the life of the workers and the upper class in "Metropolis".
*"Patton" - General Mandible's speeches, attitude, and opinions towards individualism bear a striking resemblance to General Patton, as depicted in the movie about himself featuring George C. Scott. Z also refers to Bala's fiance, General Mandible, as "Old Blood and Guts". Which was the nickname of General Patton.
*"" - The monolith as the way to utopia

Reception

The cinematic release of "Antz" was somewhat overshadowed by Pixar's "A Bug's Life". Released in theaters just a month after "Antz", "A Bug's Life" is also a computer animated film based on the adventures of a misfit ant who falls for the princess of the colony. "Antz", receiving a PG rating, is not as child-centric as "A Bug's Life" (which received a G rating). It deals with slightly more complex themes, including conformity and war, and its imagery is less colorful and more realistic; for example, the ants' coloration is orange-brown rather than bright blue and the ants in "Antz" have six extremities (four legs and two arms) rather than the more human-like four. The film shows the transition of the colony from a dictatorship to a democracy. General Mandible's plan to "rinse away all the filth from our gutters" (the colony) is reminiscent of Adolf Hitler's "Final Solution".

Despite the greater box office success of "A Bug's Life", critics praised "Antz" with positive reviews. The variety of themes, interesting visuals, and voice acting were each aspects of the film that were praised. The film holds a 97% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/antz/] (compared with "A Bug's Life" which earned a 91%). [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bugs_life/]

The film grossed $90 million domestically and $81 million in other countries, making a worldwide gross of $171 million. [http://imdb.com/title/tt0120587/business]

Philosophical Aspects

The film explore aspects of individualism vs. totalitarianism. [http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/2/filmlist.htm]

References

External links

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* [http://www.scifiscripts.com/cartoon/antz.html Script] .
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Box Office Leaders USA
before = Rush Hour
date = October 4
year = 1998
after = Holy Man