Antz

Eric Darnell and Tim Johson, USA, 1998, 83 mins

There can't be many cartoons that open with the lead character lamenting his buggy problems in a psychiatrist's chair, but from the very start of Antz we are in no doubt that this is an animated adventure with a slightly more advanced sense of humour than is usually the case.

The unlikely hero of the piece is the neurotic Z, an ant literally made for Woody Allen (he provides the voice). Z feels insignificant being the "middle child in a family of five million". In particular he finds it hard to fit into the work ethic of the ant colony, his digging job as a worker ant being thoroughly uninspiring. The monotony of the ant colony is broken for Z when he meets a beautiful young ant at the bar one evening. The ant in question is actually Princess Bala (voiced by Sharon Stone), the ant colony's future Queen, who, like Z, is pretty bored with her lot. Predictably, Z is besotted and sets out to meet and woo the Princess again - no easy task for a lowly worker ant. In order to achieve this end he persuades his soldier ant friend (Sylvester Stallone) to swop places with him, allowing Z to attend a parade in the presence of the Princess. However, unbeknown to Z and most of the other ants, General Mandible, the head of the army and Bala's fiancee, has hatched an evil plan to take over the colony and repopulate it from loyal soldier stocks. By taking part in the parade Z unwittingly falls into a chain of events that lead him to war, Insectopia and eventual self fulfilment (!).

It has to be said that it is not the storyline of Antz that sets it apart from many cartoons; it is after all pretty predictable and unoriginal. The real strength of this film lies in its characters and very funny script - the high society wasps are a definite highlight for me. So, if you haven't seen Antz I strongly suggest you do - even if you aren't usually a great kiddy cartoon fan - and if you have already seen it you'll know how much fun it is so probably don't need any persuasion from me to see it again!

Review by Sarah Woolner
Taken from EUFS Programe Autumn 1999