It's inevitable. Whenever the conversation turns to Pixar, and said company's remarkable track record of animated masterpieces (and/or near works of art), someone always has to suggest their "worst." It's a silly exchange, really, arguments both for and against such splendid entertainments as Cars, Monsters, Inc., and Ratatouille taking up precious lines of communication. Yet one title often gets little or no respect, and that's the clever little insect saga A Bug's Life. From the semi-simplistic cartooning to the lack of a sophisticated storyline, a minor consensus feels that, in a span of arguable excellent work, this may be the company's clunker. Oh, how wrong they are.

On a small patch of lush land, a group of ants -- including misfit insect Flik (Dave Foley) -- are having it rough. They are forced into a kind of indentured servitude by a group of mean grasshoppers led by the despotic Hopper (Kevin Spacey). The bigger bugs make the frightened ants gather seeds for their supper, and when an accident destroys the latest crop, the grasshoppers give their slaves a terrifying ultimatum. Hoping to release his people from this pest plague, Flik heads out into the wilderness, where he comes across a circus filled with caterpillars, moths, and other misfit members of his genus. With their help, he plans on getting rid of the ants' oppressors once and for all.

For anyone still complaining that A Bug's Life is lesser Pixar, there's an old saying -- perhaps you should be looking at it through "different" eyes. If you realize how far off in the technological past this movie was made, how early it was in the entire CG development phase, you'll instantly see what a sensational film it is. Pixar was known for using its advances in technology as a way of investing each new feature with added artistry, and the gorgeous natural vistas produced here are indeed stunning in their visual clarity and detail. Sure, the insects themselves resemble clever sketch interpretations of their real life offshoots, but Pixar has never really been in the business of photorealism. Indeed, their skill lies in story and character, and A Bug's Life has plenty of both.

Unlike its contemporary counterparts, this movie doesn't rely on gimmickry when it comes to voice acting. Foley, famously of The Kids in the Hall sketch comedy troupe, invests Flik with an underdog likeability which helps add dramatic weight to the last act stand off with the grasshoppers, and Spacey manages to make his imposing pest as evil as possible. Elsewhere, Phyllis Diller does her stand-up best as the ant queen, while David Hyde Pierce and Jonathan Harris are hilarious as varying upper crust critters. Indeed, the performances here enliven the still in development aspects of the creature design, conveying in ways the bitmap and the motherboard can't quite generate... yet.

In fact, if you go back to the original progress of animation, A Bug's Life fits perfectly into the fledgling 3D format's R&D segment. It experiments with perspective and cinematic elements like angles and lighting. It takes risks with narrative devices and genre formulas that would pay off later in their more "perfected" catalog entries. And besides, it's a great deal of fun. Sure, over a decade ago when computer generated imagery was still in its infancy and companies were clamoring over the value of technology vs. tradition, A Bug's Life seemed like a sign of negligible things to come. Now, in light of where Pixar has pushed the boundaries of the art form, it's clearly the start of something significant. It's a wonderful, joyous, and inventive family film.

The Special Edition DVD features a second disc with more Pixar crap on it than you can possibly imagine. The Collector's Edition DVD is the same as the Special Edition but features a video transfer directly from the digital source (instead of being transferred from the film). The Blu-ray version adds animated sequences from the original treatment plus a retrospective roundtable.



It's a small world after all.