A lonely little boy humiliated by the neighborhood bully takes his anger out on a nearby anthill in John A. Davis' computer-animated The Ant Bully, only to learn an important life lesson after he's shrunk down to bug size by the colony's sorcerer and begins to see things from his victims' point of view. Yes, miniaturized Lucas ultimately—as his kindly underground mentor puts it—finds his inner ant, learning to work with others to achieve goals that will benefit everyone, and he even persuades the ants' natural enemies, the wasps, to join forces against a common foe: a ruthless exterminator. Of course, when the boy is restored to proper size, he has a new attitude and—in collaboration with other neighborhood kids—is able to turn the tables on the bully who's been tormenting them all. While there's certainly nothing wrong with a message decrying bullying and espousing teamwork, the plot here isn't exactly groundbreaking, the lead characters aren't terribly charismatic, and the animation (from the makers of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius) is rather undistinguished (as usual, there's also excessive humor involving flatulence, excrement, and other forms of glop). Basically a harmless, middling kiddie flick (though sporting a star-studded voice cast that includes Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, and Meryl Streep), The Ant Bully is an optional purchase. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include a 17-minute “It Takes a Colony” featurette on the filmmaking process, 12 minutes of additional scenes, three minutes of “Animators Having Fun” spoof sequences of films (including The Matrix), an “Ant Habitat TV” screensaver, seven brief animated shorts (8 min. total), and trailers. Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for a so-so animated film.] (F. Swietek)
The Ant Bully
Warner, 88 min., PG, DVD: $28.99, Nov. 28 Volume 21, Issue 6
The Ant Bully
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