In 15 years, Pixar has created not only some of the finest animated motion pictures, but also some of the best films of the last decade and a half. Before the 11th film, Toy Story 3, comes out on June 18, here’s my ranking of Pixar’s first 10 outings.
7. A Bug’s Life (1998)
To me, by far, the most underrated Pixar film is A Bug’s Life. Perhaps because it had a tough act to follow. Perhaps because Antz stole some of its thunder. It certainly performed well at the box office, just barely beating the worldwide total of Toy Story. But I think this film is great. And yet it still sits in the bottom five.
Look at the voice cast: Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Denis Leary, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Hyde Pierce, Richard Kind, Phyllis Diller, Bonnie Hunt, Madeline Kahn, Brad Garrett and a very young Hayden Panettiere. Talk about star power, each with a very unique voice style. We also got the animated outtakes and blooper reel for the very first time over the credits. And it was packaged with my favorite Pixar short, Geri’s Game.
Still, I think one of the biggest drawbacks of this film was its overall look and feel. Sure, the humans in Toy Story still had a very cartoonish style. But the toys looked just like real toys! And some of them were beloved toys from our childhood. There was an instant connection there. Ants, well, for the most part are pests in our life. (I fear a lecture from It’s Tough to be a Bug coming on.) And we didn’t get a real colorful world and with that a chance to see what the computer animation can real put forth. The environment was dominated mostly by greens and blues.
But I think one element of this film was overlooked and really set the stage for Pixar to push the envelope in later years. The villain actually died! And Hopper faced a pretty gruesome death if you think about it. What would happen if one of us were feed to hungry animals? But people didn’t call it shocking or indecent. I think that was a sign to Pixar to say, “Go ahead. Take this new technology and really run with it. Tell a good story, and people will follow.” And like ants marching, we certainly have.
Previously ranked:
8. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
9. The Incredibles (2004)
10. Cars (2006)
A Bug's Life [Blu-ray]
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