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Antz
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Eric Darnell Tim Johnson
Produced by	Aron Warner
Written by	Todd Alcott Chris Weitz Paul Weitz
Starring	Woody Allen Dan Aykroyd Anne Bancroft Sharon Stone Gene Hackman Sylvester Stallone
Music by	Harry Gregson-Williams John Powell
Editing by	Stan Webb
Distributed by	DreamWorks Animation Pacific Data Images
Release date(s)	October 2, 1998
Running time	83 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
Budget	$60,000,000
Gross revenue	$171,750,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Antz is a 1998 computer-animated film produced by DreamWorks. It features the voices of well-known actors such as Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Danny Glover as various members of an ant society. Some of the main characters share facial similarities with the actors who voice them.^[1] The film was originally released to theaters on October 2, 1998, and was released to DVD on March 23, 1999.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Crew 4 Annie Awards 5 Movie references 6 Reception 7 Trivia 8 References 9 External links

An ant colony in Central Park, New York City includes an ant named Z-4195, or "Z" for short. Z (Allen) is a neurotic and individualistic soul living in a society that values strength and conformity. He dreams of a better place where he can truly be himself; upon hearing an ant at a bar talking about the heavenly "Insectopia", Z becomes convinced that such a place must actually exist. During the same night, Z meets Princess Bala (Stone), herself at odds with her fate as the eventual heir to the throne, in a bar and they dance together. He has no idea who she is, but nonetheless falls madly in love with her. When he discovers her true identity, Z begs his best friend Weaver (Stallone), a soldier ant, to trade places with him for just one day, so that he can meet the princess again at the soldiers' royal inspection the next day. Although constituting a criminal offense, Weaver relents when Z hints that he'll be able to meet some attractive worker girls. They are unaware that the military dictator of the colony, General Mandible (Hackman), is secretly planning on sending the Queen's army to war on a suicide mission against a vicious termite colony to eliminate them so he can focus on his twisted plans to overthrow the Queen (Bancroft).

Z, who believes is appearing before the queen for a mere royal inspection, is in for a surprise when General Mandible announces that they are initiating a preemptive strike against the neighboring termite colony. Fortunately, Z meets an amiable soldier ant named Barbatus (Glover), who promises to look after him and ends up protecting him from an attacking termite during the battle. After the battle, Z finds Barbatus's decapitated head (and being an insect, Barbatus can still talk despite the absence of his body). Barbatus knows he will be gone soon, and gives Z some advice on life: follow your heart. Barbatus, reflecting on his past, regrets having lived his life by mindlessly following orders. Z is understandably heartbroken and feels guilty for not being able to help save Barbatus or any of the other soldiers.

Z returns to the ant colony as the only survivor of the horrific battle and is hailed a war hero. General Mandible, quite surprised that there were any survivors, pretends to congratulate him on his valiant efforts. When Z is presented to the Queen and Bala, the princess reveals his identity as a mere worker ant.

Discovering Z's blatant disregard for procedure and criminal act of masquerading as a soldier, General Mandible orders his guards to take away Z. While Z stands behind Bala, trying to get away from Mandible, someone shouts out that "Z is taking the princess hostage." Z confirms this in a marginally serious tone, and while pulling her backwards, he accidentally drags her down a refuse chute, and they both exit the colony. Once outside, Bala pushes Z away, quite upset that he removed her from the colony, and waves to alert the soldiers who have appeared at a distance, running to save her. While they are heading towards Bala and Z, a magnifying glass (ostensibly held by a human child) appears and begins focusing a beam of sunlight onto the approaching soldiers ants, leading to their explosive demise. Despite resistance from Bala, Z convinces her to accompany him on his journey to Insectopia, citing their respective ill fortunes that await them should they return to the colony (she will be General Mandible's bride, and he will likely be imprisoned, or perhaps even executed for treason).

Word of Z and his exploits have spread throughout the colony and the workers begin to lose interest in work, wondering why they even bother. They take up a protest march, demanding individualism and choice. General Mandible gets an idea, and stands upon a balcony, asking the crowd why Z hasn't come back for them. He lies and says Z does not care about the workers and for the workers to come to the Tunnel Opening Ceremonies and have the day off. Upon making this speech, Mandible notices Weaver amongst the worker crowd and orders him brought to his office.

Mandible has Weaver physically disciplined and asks him where Z would flee to. When Weaver refuses to speak, Mandible blackmails him by threatening to torture Azteca (Lopez), a former co-worker of Z's and Weaver's new girlfriend. Weaver cannot tolerate the torture of Azteca and finally gives in and informs him that if Z would be going anywhere, it would be "Insectopia." Mandible sends out his most loyal and trusted officer, Colonel Cutter (Walken), to locate Bala and kill Z.

Meanwhile, Z and Bala have found Insectopia, which is essentially an insects' foraging-ground surrounding a garbage basket. Bala begins to reciprocate Z's amorous feelings. Just as the couple become complacent in the insects' paradise, Cutter intrudes and recaptures Bala. Z escapes Cutter and turns back towards the colony to rescue Bala. Bala, upon returning, is not taken to her mother, but to the private office of General Mandible. There, she discovers Mandible's secret plan to "rinse away the filth from our gutters" and start a new, pure colony. Mandible orders Bala to remain incarcerated while he puts his plan into action.

Z returns, just in time to meet Bala when she freed herself from captivity by breaking one of the larger windows with a chair. They learn more about Mandible's plans and figure out that he plans to not only eliminate the Queen but all the workers by flooding the colony using the workers' mega tunnel, leaving his chosen ants to rule the colony. Z and Bala rush to save the colony but they are too late - all the exits have been blocked and the flooding already commenced. The incident which directly leads to the flooding of the tunnel system is an important turning point in the plot; while workers are abandoning the work throughout the colony, a foreman grabs a tool in order to make a statement that work must proceed because those are his orders. It is his continued effort which leads to the flood.

Z calls upon the workers to make a ladder so they can break through the colony roof and avoid drowning. As the ladder is formed, Weaver holds it up by himself, ordering Z and Azteca to reach the top and break through. Z achieves this, and the workers break through to the surface, only to see General Mandible and his soldiers outside the colony, safe from the flood. Z begs for help, but Mandible grabs a spear, determined to finish off the ant that had caused him and "the colony" so much trouble. In a brave twist, Cutter steps forward and knocks Mandible aside, tired of his fascism, and helps Z up to safety. Furious, Mandible shouts "I am the colony!," and charges at Cutter to attack him; just in time, though, Z pushes Cutter aside and it is he who Mandible knocks over the edge and down into the flood waters within the colony tunnels below. Mandible hits a thick root and is killed, while Z lands in the water. Cutter orders the soldiers to help the worker ants up, then dives into the water to retrieve Z. He finds him, and flies him to the surface.

While the story ends there, Z is hailed a hero and presumably marries Bala, saying they will have a few kids "a million or two to begin with". The colony is probably rebuilt and Cutter is likely promoted from colonel to general. Subsequent to the realizations of the colony and its members, it is suggested that the colony is transformed from a communistic military state that values conformity to a democratic state that values individualism. As for the flooded tunnels, Z announces that they now have an "indoor swimming pool". At the end, Z announces that he is seeing a therapist to help him recover from his ordeal.

• Woody Allen as Z
• Sharon Stone as Princess Bala
• Gene Hackman as General Mandible
• Jennifer Lopez as Azteca
• Sylvester Stallone as Weaver
• Christopher Walken as Colonel Cutter
• Dan Aykroyd as Chip
• Anne Bancroft as The Queen
• Jane Curtin as Muffy
• Grant Shaud as The Foreman
• Danny Glover as Barbatus

The cast features several actors from movies Woody Allen wrote and directed, including Sharon Stone (Stardust Memories), Sylvester Stallone (Bananas), Gene Hackman (Another Woman), and Christopher Walken (Annie Hall). Dan Aykroyd later co-starred in Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.

Crew Position
Directed by	Eric Darnell Tim Johnson
Produced by	Brad Lewis Aron Warner Patty Wooton
Written by	Todd Alcott Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz
Executive Producer	Penny Finkelmen Cox Sandra Rabins Carl Rosendahl
Music by	Harry Gregson-Williams John Powell
Production Designer	John Bell
Art Director	Kendal Cronkhite
Film Editor	Stan Webb
Supervising Animators	Rex Grignon Raman Hui
Visual Effects Supervisor	Ken Bielenberg
Head of Story	Randy Cartwright
Head of Layout	Simon J. Smith
Character Designer	Raman Hui
Additional Sequences Directed by	Lawrence Guterman
Production Manager	Patty Bonfilio Jane Hartwell Denise Minter

Result	Award	Winner/Nominee Recipient(s)
NOMINATED	Individual Achievement in Directing	Eric Darnell (Director) Tim Johnson (Director)
NOMINATED	Individual Achievement in Writing	Todd Alcott (Screenplay) Chris Weitz (Screenplay) & Paul Weitz (Screenplay)
NOMINATED	Individual Achievement in Production Design	John Bell (Production Designer)
NOMINATED	Individual Achievement in Music	Harry Gregson-Williams (Music) John Powell (Music)

This movie contains several clever references/parodies to blockbuster movies such as:

• The Mask of Zorro — The scene in which the worker ants are protesting the class system and shouting for Z is similar to one in The Mask of Zorro. Don Raphael has returned to California, and the peasants begin to revolt, shouting "Zorro! Zorro!" General Mandible gives a speech that bears a strong semblance to Raphael's. Both sought-after figures have names in which the letter "Z" figures prominently.
• Titanic — During the flooding of the tunnel, one shot in particular contains a strong reference to the film Titanic. The similar shot in both movies contain a large number of characters fleeing up an incline away from an impending wall of water. Even the music during that shot contains a homage to the film.
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope — After Princess Bala accuses Z of being an idiot for kidnapping her, he says "Who's the bigger idiot, the idiot or the idiot who gets kidnapped by the idiot?", echoing Obi-Wan Kenobi's famous line, "Who's more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?"
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back — While crossing the lake, Bala says "I hope you know what you're doing," to which Z responds, "Yeah, me too". Leia Organa and Han Solo (respectively) say the same thing as Han takes the Millennium Falcon into an asteroid.
• Pulp Fiction - During the dance scene between Z and Princess Bala, their dancing is identical to that seen in Jackrabbit Slim's between Vincent and Mia.
• Independence Day - When the magnified sunbeam is about to burn the soldier ant, he utters the same words uttered by curious people who gather at the top of a sky scraper before they are incinerated by the beam from the alien space ship, "It's beautiful".
• Godzilla - While Z is trying to rescue Bala while riding on a person's shoestring, there is a strong reference to the 1998 film Godzilla; it mimics Godzilla/Zilla's rampage through New York, complete with the legs and feet moving in slow-motion. Incidentally, both films were released the same year, and both took place in New York City.
• Metropolis - General Mandible's plan to flood the colony to get rid of the workers is similar to Rotwang's plan to flood the underground city in Fritz Lang's 1927 fil Metropolis. Also, the division of the ants' society, into workers and rich people is similar to the life of the workers and the upper class in Metropolis.
• Patton - General Mandible's speeches, attitude and opinions towards individualism bear a striking resemblance with General Patton, as depicted in the movie about him with George C. Scott.

The cinematic release of Antz was somewhat overshadowed by Pixar's A Bug's Life. In theaters just a month after Antz, A Bug's Life is also a computer animated film based on the adventures of a misfit ant who falls for the princess of the colony. Antz, receiving a PG rating, is not as child-centric as A Bug's Life (which received a G rating). It deals with slightly more complex themes, including conformity and war, and its imagery is less colorful and more realistic; for example, the ants' coloration is orange-brown rather than bright blue and the ants in Antz have six extremities (four legs and two arms) rather than the more human-like four. The film shows the transition of the colony from a dictatorship to a democracy. General Mandible's plan to "rinse away all the filth from our gutters" (the colony) is reminiscent of Adolf Hitler's "Final Solution." There are also parallels to Soviet-style socialism, as well as to Lois Lowry's famed novel, The Giver. There are also many similarities between the movie and Ayn Rand's book, Anthem. It also features various uses of the word damn.

Despite the greater box office success of A Bug's Life, critics praised Antz with positive reviews. The variety of themes, interesting visuals, and voice acting were each aspects of the film that were praised. The film holds a 97% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes [1] (compared with A Bug's Life which earned a 91%).[2]

The film grossed $90 million domestically. [3] No sequel has ever been made in spite of its immense worldwide popularity.

• After the end credits, A PDI logo appeared. This was the first and last appearance with the logo, and its only appearance on home video was on the VHS release of Antz.

• A second and more recent release of Antz on DVD was in 2006.

IMDb

• Antz at the Internet Movie Database
• Antz at Rotten Tomatoes
• Antz at Metacritic

• Script.
• Antz at Box Office Mojo

v • d • e DreamWorks Animation
Traditionally animated films	The Prince of Egypt (1998) • The Road to El Dorado (2000) • Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) • Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
Films produced with Aardman Animations	Chicken Run (2000) • Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) • Flushed Away (2006) • Crood Awakening (2010)
Computer-animated films	Antz (1998) • Shrek (2001) • Shrek 2 (2004) • Shark Tale (2004) • Madagascar (2005) • Over the Hedge (2006) • Shrek the Third (2007) • Bee Movie (2007)
Future films	Kung Fu Panda (2008) • Madagascar 2: The Crate Escape (2008) • Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) • How to Train Your Dragon (2009) • Shrek Goes Fourth (2010) • Master Mind (2010) • Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer (2011) • Shrek 5 (2013)
Direct-to-video	Joseph: King of Dreams (2000)
Shorts	Far Far Away (2004) • The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005) • Hammy's Boomerang Adventure (2006) • First Flight (2006)

v • d • e Films starring Gene Hackman

Hawaii (1966) • Bonnie & Clyde (1967) • The Gypsy Moths (1969) • Downhill Racer (1969) • Marooned (1969) • I Never Sang for My Father (1970) • The Hunting Party (1971) • The French Connection (1971) • Prime Cut (1972) • The Poseidon Adventure (1972) • Scarecrow (1973) • The Conversation (1974) • French Connection II (1975) • Night Moves (1975) • Bite the Bullet (1975) • The Domino Principle (1977) • A Bridge Too Far (1977) • March or Die (1977) • Superman (1978) • Superman II (1980) • All Night Long (1981) • Reds (1981) • Under Fire (1983) • Uncommon Valor (1983) • Eureka (1984) • Misunderstood (1984) • Twice in a Lifetime (1985) • Target (1985) • Hoosiers (1986) • No Way Out (1987) • Superman IV (1987) • Bat*21 (1988) • Mississippi Burning (1988) • The Package (1989) • Loose Cannons (1990) • Postcards from the Edge (1990) • Narrow Margin (1990) • Class Action (1991) • Company Business (1991) • Unforgiven (1992) • The Firm (1993) • Geronimo: An American Legend (1993) • The Quick and the Dead (1995) • Crimson Tide (1995) • Get Shorty (1995) • The Birdcage (1996) • Extreme Measures (1996) • The Chamber (1996) • Absolute Power (1997) • Twilight (1998) • Enemy of the State (1998) • Antz (1998) • Under Suspicion (2000) • The Replacements (2000) • Heist (2001) • The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) • Behind Enemy Lines (2001) • Runaway Jury (2003) • Welcome to Mooseport (2004)

Dystopian Movies