The Ant Bully (2006)

After Lucas Nickle floods an ant colony with his watergun, he's magically shrunken down to insect size and sentenced to hard labor in the ruins.

Director:

John A. Davis

Writers:

John A. Davis, John Nickle (book)

Stars:

Paul Giamatti, Nicolas Cage, Julia Roberts

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Julia Roberts	...	Hova (voice)
Nicolas Cage	...	Zoc (voice)
Meryl Streep	...	Queen (voice)
Paul Giamatti	...	Stan Beals (voice)
Zach Tyler	...	Lucas Nickle (voice) (as Zach Tyler Eisen)
Regina King	...	Kreela (voice)
Bruce Campbell	...	Fugax (voice)
Lily Tomlin	...	Mommo (voice)
Cheri Oteri	...	Doreen Nickle (voice)
Larry Miller	...	Fred Nickle (voice)
Allison Mack	...	Tiffany Nickle (voice)
Ricardo Montalban	...	Head of Council (voice)
Creagen Dow	...	Mullet Boy (voice)
Myles Jeffrey	...	Steve (voice)
Jake T. Austin	...	Nicky (voice)

Storyline

This is the story of a ten-year-old boy named Lucas Nickle, who has just moved to a new neighborhood, has no friends, and is the target for the local bully and his gang. His parents are leaving for a honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, so they are too busy to attend to his problems. His sister is distracted by her cellular phone, and the grandmother is obsessed with UFOs and aliens. Lucas is constantly being beat up by the obese yet intimidating neighborhood bully. Because he cannot fight back, he takes out his anger on an anthill in his front yard; He kicks it, stomps it, squirts it with his water gun, and floods it with a hose. This terrifies the ants, who call Lucas the Destroyer. One wizard ant, known as Zoc being a hopeful and adventurous type, is trying to solve this dilemma. He tries to devise a magic potion that he believes will solve all their problems. As the plan to shrink Lucas down to their size with a magic potion and forcing him to live like an ant within the colony--an ...

---

Plot Keywords:

ant | punishment | miniaturization | formicary | moral | 

---

Taglines:

This Summer It's Crunch Time.

---

Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild rude humor and action

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [France] Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 July 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las aventuras de Lucas

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,432,465, 30 July 2006, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$28,142,535, 16 November 2006

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$55,181,129, 30 June 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment, Playtone

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Sonics-DDP (IMAX version) SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the last Warner Bros.' animated film to be featured in a 1:85:1 aspect ratio until Teen Titans Go! to The Movies! (2018), Which also featured Nicolas cage.

---

Goofs

A glow worm was inside the frog with the beetle and the fly. A glow worm is not like a worm; but rather a species of a beetle.

---

Quotes

Zoc: You know what this is? This is the potion that will make you big again. I just wanted you to take a good, long look at it. Because this is the last time you will ever see it.
Lucas Nickle: What do you mean?
Zoc: I mean there is no way I'm ever going to make you big again.
[chuckles]
Zoc: Ever. You are a threat to every ant in this colony. Especially to Hova.
Lucas Nickle: But I would never do anything to hurt Hova. I just - I - I just wanna go home.
Zoc: Well, then, if I were you, I'd try to find help somewhere else, because there is ...

---

Crazy Credits

The ending credit is in "Chamber of the Ages" style (seen in the movie).

---

Connections

Referenced in Cleanflix (2009)

---

Soundtracks

The Ants Go Marching
Performed by The Ant Buddies
Traditional Arranged by Ralph Sall
Produced by Ralph Sall

User Reviews

A Cute Fantasy

With a story and style that's definitely aimed more at children than adults, "The Ant Bully" will probably be entertaining enough for the young ones, but might not have enough meat to hold the attention of an older viewer. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, and it does what it seeks to do well enough.

The story revolves around the adventures of young Lucas. He's a young kid being bullied by the bigger kids in the neighbourhood and who takes out his frustrations by regularly destroying one of the anthills in his yard. Out for revenge, the ant wizard develops a potion that shrinks Lucas down into an ant-sized human, and the ants kidnap him and carry him back to the nest. Rather than destroying him, though, the ants decide to try to turn him into an ally by teaching him what it's like to be an ant. Nicknamed "Peanut the Destroyer" (Peanut being the name his mom calls him, and The Destroyer being what the ants called him) Lucas does learn from his new friends, especially Hova, he joins in the defence of the colony against an attack by wasps, and finally he becomes the inspiration for a plan to work together with the wasps to defeat an exterminator who's there to destroy both nests.

The story teaches the value of co-operation in overcoming big odds, and it's a very overt (appropriately so) anti-bullying message. It's a cute story, a little bit reminiscent of an animated version of "Honey I Shrunk The Kids." There's not enough to really hold an adult captivated, but it should entertain the kids. (5/10)