THE ANT BULLY (Theatrical Release USA 2006)

Ben Meyers’ rating—3.0|5.0 Starsììì

The Ant Bully presents a simple animated story for young children that quietly shows that bullying starts with one person, but once passed to another person, it keeps passing from one person to another until finally it ends with a little boy who, with no power over anything larger, kicks ant hills and shoots ants with water guns. It explores the powerfulness of understanding and how understanding leads to loving protection of that which was bullied and the desire to shower the bullied thing with abundance.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

Ten-year-old Lucas Nickle (Zach Tyler Eisen) transfers personal anger to a colony of ants by squirting them with a water gun and kicking their home with his shoes. The wizard of the colony, Zoc (Nicolas Cage), develops a potion that will shrink Lucas down to ant size. After successfully reducing Lucas, the ants assign him to hard labor. Lucas learns about how ants live and the things that are important to them.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Director John A. Davis for his directing efforts. Thank you to Executive Producers Keith Alcorn, Diana Choi, William Fay, Scott Mednick, Steve Shareshian, and Thomas Tull for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Hova (voice of Julia Roberts), Queen (voice of Meryl Streep) Stan Beals (voice of Paul Giamatti), Lucas Nickle (voice of Zach Tyler), Kreela (voice of Regina King), Fugax (voice of Bruce Campbell), Mommo (voice of Lily Tomlin), and Doreen Nickle (voice of Cheri Oteri).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. There have been several animated films featuring ants, most of them considerably better than this one; but as a time filler, this film works for the child audience.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers