Antz (1998)

A rather neurotic ant tries to break from his totalitarian society while trying to win the affection of the princess he loves.

Directors:

Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson

Writers:

Todd Alcott (screenplay), Chris Weitz (screenplay)

Stars:

Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 6 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Woody Allen	...	Z (voice)
Dan Aykroyd	...	Chip (voice)
Anne Bancroft	...	Queen (voice)
Jane Curtin	...	Muffy (voice)
Danny Glover	...	Barbatus (voice)
Gene Hackman	...	Mandible (voice)
Jennifer Lopez	...	Azteca (voice)
John Mahoney	...	Drunk Scout (voice)
Paul Mazursky	...	Psychologist (voice)
Grant Shaud	...	Foreman (voice)
Sylvester Stallone	...	Weaver (voice)
Sharon Stone	...	Bala (voice)
Christopher Walken	...	Cutter (voice)
Jim Cummings	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jerry Sroka	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Storyline

In an anthill with millions of inhabitants, Z 4195 is a worker ant. Feeling insignificant in a conformity system, he accidentally meets beautiful Princess Bala, who has a similar problem on the other end of the social scale. In order to meet her again, Z switches sides with his soldier friend Weaver - only to become a hero in the course of events. By this he unwillingly crosses the sinister plans of ambitious General Mandible (Bala's fiancé, by the way), who wants to divide the ant society into a superior, strong race (soldiers) and an inferior, to-be-eliminated race (the workers). But Z and Bala, both unaware of the dangerous situation, try to leave the oppressive system by heading for Insectopia, a place where food paves the streets.

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Plot Keywords:

ant | anthropomorphic insect | good versus evil | profanity | mastiff | 

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Taglines:

See the world from a whole new perspective.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language and menacing action

Did You Know?

Trivia

Apparently Woody Allen nailed every reading he did for Z. But he also got very physical in the recordings, ruining some of the takes because the animators couldn't keep up with him.

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Goofs

Cutter is depicted as having wings, as are the large, unidentified flying ants during the ant march to the termite colony. In an actual ant colony, the only winged ants are the princess and one or more rather wasp-like drones. When the time comes to establish a new colony, the princess takes flight accompanied by her flying drones. It would make more sense for Mandible to have wings, given he's the princess' fiance.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Z: All my life, I've lived and worked in the big city, which now that I think of it, is kind of a problem since I always feel uncomfortable around crowds. I mean it, I-I have this fear of enclosed spaces. I-I-I, everything makes me feel trapped all the time. You know, I always tell myself, there's gotta be something better out there, but maybe I think too much. I-I-I think everything must go back to the fact that I had a very anxious childhood. You know, my, my mother never had time ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

A child's hand holding a magnifying glass brings into focus the tiny names of the cast.

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Alternate Versions

In 2008, Cartoon Network started broadcasting the film in an edited format, with all explicit language completely removed, despite airing it virtually uncut in 2004.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Enemy of the State/Waking Ned Divine/A Bug's Life/Celebrity/The Rugrats Movie (1998)

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Soundtracks

Almost Like Being in Love
Performed by Woody Allen
Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Loewe
Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

User Reviews

Good Fun

Antz (1998)

*** (out of 4)

Z (Woody Allen) is an ant that questions just about everything but after a chance meeting with the Princess he decides to try and meet her again, which gets the two of them outside their colony where they learn that the General (Gene Hackman) has some bad plans.

ANTZ isn't any sort of masterpiece but if you're a fan of Woody Allen then you'll certainly enjoy seeing his type of humor in a kids movie. In fact, the movie is a tad bit more adult in nature, which took me by surprise and especially with some of the mild cussing that can be heard in it.

For the most part this is a mildly amusing film that manages to get a great number of vocal talent. Not only do we get Allen and Hackman but there's also Dan Aykroyd, Sharon Stone, Danny Glover, Anne Bankroft, Christopher Walken, Jennifer Lopez and more. All of them are good in their roles but I think the one major flaw of the film is that none of the ants really look their own. I guess part of the joke was having the worker ants and the war ants looking alike. I think this just took away from the film and it would have been better if they had their own look. Heck, even the Allen character doesn't have any of the actor's features.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ants

Box Office

Budget:

$105,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,195,160, 4 October 1998

Gross USA:

$90,757,863

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$171,757,863

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dreamworks Pictures, Pacific Data Images (PDI), DreamWorks Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1