The Ant Bully (film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Ant Bully |
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Theatrical release poster with the old release date
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| Directed by | John A. Davis |
| Screenplay by | John A. Davis |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Joby Talbot |
| Editing by | Jon Price |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 28, 2006 |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50 million |
| Money made | $55.2 million |
The Ant Bully is a fun computer-animated fantasy comedy film from 2006. It was written and directed by John A. Davis. The movie is based on a children's book called The Ant Bully by John Nickle.
Famous actors like Zach Tyler Eisen, Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and John Cleese lent their voices to the characters. The film was made by companies like Playtone (owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman), DNA Productions, and Legendary Pictures. Warner Bros. Pictures helped share the movie with everyone.
Sadly, the studio that made the movie, DNA Productions, closed down after this film. The Ant Bully was also the last movie for actor Ricardo Montalbán before he passed away. The movie got mixed reviews from critics. It also didn't make much money, earning $55.2 million when it cost $50 million to make.
Contents
The Story of The Ant Bully
Lucas's Big Problem
The movie starts in Las Vegas, where a lonely 10-year-old boy named Lucas Nickle lives. His parents go on vacation, leaving him with his older sister, Tiffany, and his grandmother. Lucas often gets picked on by a local bully named Steve and his friends.
Feeling angry, Lucas takes out his frustration on an anthill in his yard. He attacks it with a squirt gun, which scares the ants a lot! One ant, a quirky wizard named Zoc, tries to fight back. Zoc's girlfriend, a nurse ant named Hova, is very interested in humans. She tries to talk to Lucas.
Lucas drops his squirt gun and then kicks the anthill, sending ants flying. Hova almost gets squashed but Zoc saves her. The ant leaders decide to use a special potion Zoc made. Their plan is to shrink Lucas down to ant size!
Becoming Ant-Sized
A local exterminator named Stan Beals convinces Lucas to sign a paper to get rid of bugs. Later that night, Zoc and some ants pour the shrinking potion into Lucas's ear.
Lucas wakes up tiny! He's so small that his underwear is now huge. He falls off his bed and lands on a potato chip. The ants carry him to their anthill. He finds himself in a giant world of caves, caterpillars, and ants. Zoc thinks Lucas should be studied and then eaten. But the Queen Ant, who is very wise, says no. She sentences Lucas to hard work instead.
Hova volunteers to teach Lucas about ant life, which makes Zoc unhappy. Lucas and Hova start to learn about each other's worlds.
Learning Ant Ways
Hova makes Lucas go look for jelly beans with two other ants, Kreela and Fugax. Lucas isn't very good at finding food. Suddenly, wasps attack the ants! Lucas finds a firecracker that Steve had left behind. He uses it to scare the wasps away. This makes all the ants admire him, except for Zoc.
Lucas is then introduced to "honeydew," which is actually caterpillar poop! He feels sick when he finds out. The ants show him a painting of the Great Ant Mother and the exterminator. They tell him the Great Ant Mother will return with honeydew. But the "Cloud-Breather" (the exterminator) will bring destruction.
Lucas, Hova, Fugax, and Kreela go back to Lucas's house. Lucas tries to call off the exterminator, but he accidentally calls a pizza place instead. Then, they hear loud footsteps. Tiffany, Lucas's sister, comes in. Everyone hides except Fugax. Tiffany sees Fugax and stares at him. Fugax, not scared, greets her as "Queen Tiffany." A disgusted Tiffany tries to crush him. Lucas and the ants have to hide until it's dark.
Friendship and Forgiveness
Zoc finds out Lucas put Hova in danger. He gets angry and refuses to give Lucas the antidote to grow back to normal. Lucas runs away, scared. Hova is mad at Zoc and goes to find Lucas. She finds him just as a frog swallows him!
Zoc sees this and realizes how much Hova cares about Lucas. He frees Lucas to make up for being selfish. After this, they talk about their differences. Zoc explains that ants work for the good of their whole colony. Lucas says humans often work for themselves. Zoc isn't sure how humans get anything done. But then they both admit they used to act without thinking.
The Final Battle
The next day, Stan Beals, the exterminator, arrives to destroy the ant colony. Lucas and Zoc ask the wasps for help. At first, the wasps want to eat them. But when they hear their hill is being destroyed, they agree to help.
During the fight with Beals, Lucas saves Hova and an injured wasp. The ants and wasps can't stop the pesticide. But just as Beals is about to spray the anthill, a beetle and a glowworm bite him. While he's in pain, Lucas injects him with the shrinking potion! Beals gets very disfigured and rides away on a tricycle, still being attacked by wasps.
The Queen Ant declares Lucas an ant because of his brave actions. Zoc then gives Lucas the antidote. Lucas returns to his normal size. He finally stands up to Steve, the bully. Steve's friends decide to be friends with Lucas instead after Steve insults them. As a goodbye gift, Lucas showers the ant colony with jelly beans!
Voice Cast
- Zach Tyler Eisen as Lucas Nickle, a 10-year-old boy who is always bullied
- Julia Roberts as Hova, a nurse ant who trains Lucas
- Nicolas Cage as Zoc, a wizard ant
- Meryl Streep as The Queen Ant, leader of the Ant colony
- Paul Giamatti as Stan Beals, a local exterminator
- Regina King as Kreela, a forager ant
- Bruce Campbell as Fugax, a scout ant
- Lily Tomlin as Mommo, Lucas' grandmother
- Cheri Oteri as Doreen Nickle, Lucas' mother
- Larry Miller as Fred Nickle, Lucas' father
- Allison Mack as Tiffany Nickle, Lucas' older sister
- Ricardo Montalbán as The Head of Council
- Myles Jeffrey as Steve, the local neighborhood bully
- Jake T. Austin as Nicky, a neighborhood boy who originally acts under Steve's lead
- Rob Paulsen as Beetle
- S. Scott Bullock as Glowworm
- Mark DeCarlo as Fly
- Richard Green as Wasp Leader, leader of a group of wasps who oppose the ants but becomes an ally later on
- Don Frye as Soldier Ant
Other voices were provided by Tyler James Williams, Jaishon Fisher, Frank Welker, Tom Kenny, Neil Ross, Bob Joles, Wally Wingert, Leon Morenzie, Johnathan Cook, Clive Robertson, S. Scott Bullock, Susan Silo, Zack Shada, Benjamin Bryan, and Jordan Orr.
Music from the Movie
| The Ant Bully: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
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| Film score by | ||||
| Released | August 1, 2006 | |||
| Recorded | 2006 | |||
| Genre | Pop music | |||
| Length | 57:41 | |||
| Label | Varèse Sarabande | |||
| Producer | John Debney | |||
| John Debney chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
The music score for The Ant Bully was created and conducted by John Debney. He had worked with the director, John A. Davis, before on the movie Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. This movie does not have any songs with singing.
Video Game
A video game based on The Ant Bully was released by Midway. It came out on GameCube, PlayStation 2, PC, and Game Boy Advance on July 24, 2006. A version for the Wii console was released later on December 5, 2006. The game was made by a company called Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M) in Montreal.
