Synopsis

10 year old Lucas Nickle has recently moved to a new city with his family, but he hasn’t made a single friend. He gets nothing but grief from his teenage sister, Tiffany, and his parents, who are busy planning their big anniversary weekend trip to Puerto Vallarta aren't giving him a whole lot of attention lately. Meanwhile, his loving but kinda kooky grandmother spends all her time trying to protect the family from those space aliens she’s been reading about in the grocery store magazines. To make matters worse, Lucas has become the number one target of neighborhood bully Steve, who never misses an opportunity to push him around. Lucas vents his frustration and anger on the defenseless Ant hills in the lawn, kicking them, stomping them and squirting them with the garden hose. Until Wizard Ant Zoc puts one drop of his recently invented magic in Lucas's gigantic human ear and shrinks him down to ant size. Lucas is then taken deep below the ant hill to stand trial. Proclaimed guilty, Lucas must live with among the Ants and learn their ways to earn his freedom. Lucas is about to learn a lesson in life. One that will change his outlook on Ants forever.

What The Critics Say

"The film acknowledges that faith is an important part of our social fabric, and if the film has any moral lessons to pass on, it implicitly roots them in a spiritual foundation." Peter T Chattaway CHRISTIANITY TODAY "A computer-animated gem as ingenious as a children's book you don't mind reading aloud again and again." Chris Hewitt ST PAUL PIONEER PRESS "Here's something I haven't felt from a CG animated film so far this summer: pure delight. Ant Bully supplies this sensation over and over again." Brian Orndorf FILMJERK.COM "Families should swarm to "The Ant Bully." Linda Cook QUAD CITY TIMES "A fun-filled, enormously entertaining fable about family, friendship and fair play." Susan Granger MODAMAG.COM "Besides keeping us entertained and occasionally thrilled, there's a nice sense that the film is actually saying something." Rich Cline SHADOWS ON THE WALL

"It's imaginative and amusing with its engaging characters and nicely crafted animation, even though the ants themselves are visually the least interesting. The voice talents of Nicolas Cage and Julia Roberts ensure there is ant-charisma, while young Zach Tyler Eisen brings energy and verve as Lucas. Uplifting and bright, there's plenty to entertain everyone in this good hearted and funny animation, whose moral, to work together as a team, sends the right message." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "The film has frequently astonishing sequences that make it hard to look away from the screen, lest you miss something special." David Kaplan KAPLAN V KAPLAN "This is an exceptional family film : it's well written, gorgeously animated and funny." Jeanne Kaplan KAPLAN V KAPLAN "It would be wrong to dismiss The Ant Bully as just another bug movie." Sue Pierman MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL "The new computer-animated movie, "The Ant Bully," knows a few things about bullies, most of which we already know--all of which bear repeating." Christopher Smith BANGOR DAILY NEWS "The simple pleasures of a bedtime story are filtered through the hands of animators in The Ant Bully, a story with a message about the ugliness of bullying. Aimed at the pre-teen audiences, the film offers some thrills, laughs and a teensy bit of educational information in a package that, while entertaining enough, doesn't reach the exalted heights of The Incredibles or Shrek." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE

The Inside Story If asked if there is one thing that really stood out in "The Ant Bully" I would have to says that, besides being damn good fun; the excellent animation; the great characters and an excellent voice cast, it would be this: "The Ant Bully" speaks volumes when it comes to just how socially unacceptable bullying is and, how precious the micro environment below our feet is. From Academy Award nominated filmmaker John A Davis ("Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius") and producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman ("The Polar Express"), comes the family adventure "The Ant Bully", combining vivid state of the art computer animation with a witty and heartwarming story for children of all ages. "Imagine a whole world you know nothing about yet probably step over every day. It could be a dynamic, hidden universe that exists in your own backyard," suggests "The Ant Bully" writer/director John A Davis, who admits getting some of his wildest creative ideas by "tapping into things that excited and entertained me as a kid." In "The Ant Bully", Lucas Nickle is contunually being picked on by the local bully. Being bullied cause ten year old Luca to take out his frustrations on the local Ant population. "He thinks nothing of spraying them with water or stomping them with his sneakered feet every time the neighborhood tough kid pushes him around." "When you first see the ants from Lucas's’ vantage point, they look like real ants, small and indistinct, the way we would view them from the distance of our great human height," Davis observes. "But when we cut down to their level, we see they have individual expressive faces and we get that first inkling, as does Lucas eventually, that things are not always what they seem. That was one of the things that attracted me to the project: the idea of creating this alien realm completely out of the ordinary, which we get to peek inside.” Producer Tom Hanks asks this question: "What human being hasn’t fantasized about being the size of an ant and living in their world. There’s something almost cozy about how they live. We’ve seen them in our toy ant farms, and the togetherness of the colony seems cheerful when you apply an anthropomorphic sense. That makes the story of Lucas's adventures with the ants awfully attractive." But Lucas is a ten year old boy. How can someone so big get down an Ant hole. They can't of course. But they could if they were shrunk down to the same size as an ant." Through a magic elixir prepared by Wizard Ant Zoc, Lucas is suddenly miniaturized, kidnapped from his bedroom and taken deep into the ant burrow to stand trial for his wanton destruction. Lucas soon learns his first lesson in life. These tenacious little creatures he once dismissed as "just a bunch of stupid ants" have thoughts and emotions just like him, not to mention a whole lot of attitude, and at the moment they’re all hopping mad at him. They even have a name for him. Lucas the Destroyer! So where did the story of how "The Ant Bully" come from? "My son came home from kindergarten with a book he had checked out from the library, John Nickle’s The Ant Bully," says Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks. "Reading it together, we weren’t halfway through before I thought it would make a wonderful movie. John Davis's "Jimmy Neutron" had just come out then, and I felt the match of his talent with Nickle’s story would be perfect." "Tom sent me the "The Ant Bully" to see if I had a take on it," recalls Davis. "I thought, well, if I was going to make this movie, here’s how I would approach it." Davis met with Tom Hanks and his producing partner Gary Goetzman, co-founders of Playtone Productions. "It was obvious from our initial meeting that John’s enthusiasm, passion and vision for the material made him the perfect director for the project," states Goetzman. "And because most children’s animated films today are branded by adult humor, it was refreshing to hear John’s take on creating an entertaining family film that would transport the audience to a unique world and take them on a fantastic adventure." The three men then started brainstorming ideas. "It's great when you’re immediately on the same page," says Davis. "We saw the same things in it; the adventure aspect, the action, how cool it would be to have Lucas and the ants fighting giant wasps, and all the places he could go. In some ways, it’s the ultimate wish fulfillment for a kid." But getting the message across in a film is not an easy thing to do. "Trying to teach kids a lesson cannot be jack-knifed into a movie," Hanks stated. "The meaning of a fable has to be part and parcel to the story being told. What Lucas learns from the ants, that being part of a good family is irreplaceable, is what "The Ant Bully" tells, not preaches, at its core." Davis notes, "kids grasp a lot more than people give them credit for. When I was a kid, I always knew when I was being talked down to and I resented it. The truth is kids are pretty sharp and insightful." So what ingredients did he have in mind? "First and foremost, you want to make something entertaining and fun to watch," Davis says. "But along with that, there should also be a purpose, some message that kids and parents can walk away with and feel good about. Otherwise it’s just frivolous, and the experience is over the minute you leave the theatre." Speaking not only from a writer’s point of view, but as a moviegoer, he says, “It’s always more interesting to see characters change throughout the telling of a story, to see them go through struggles and learn something." Davis went to work expanding on the characters and Lucas's adventure by including additional characters, relationships, obstacles and motives. While Lucas is the main character, the one who wields the most power is the Wizard Ant Zoc. Zoc is voiced by Academy Award winner and star of "World Trade Centre" star, Nicolas Cage. "What I really love about Nic’s characterizations, especially in films like Leaving Las Vegas, and Vampire’s Kiss," says Davis, "is that he's able to portray dark and anxious characters with sympathy and charm, even humor. I knew Zoc was going to do a lot of brooding but he couldn’t be too heavy, and I knew Nic would give him the right blend of sarcasm and heart." Hard as he can be sometimes, Zoc is still a loveable character just like Lucas who is voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen. What did Zac think of Lucas? "Lucas looks hilarious. When I saw a picture of him for the first time, I just laughed. It wasn’t till later that I saw the animation in a more developed stage and it's awesome." Another loveable character is Lucas's Grandmother, Mommo, voiced by Lily Tomlin. Mommo is convinced that aliens in flying saucers are going to invade the earth and has rigged up all kinds of apparatus to protect herself and her family from attack. "At the same time," Tomlin acknowledges, "she’s wise in that she knows Lucas is being bullied, and she’s there to support and love him." By now you've most probably worked out that all ends well for Lucas and the ants. To find out how everything pans out, you'll have to see "The Ant Bully". One thing that does happen is that Lucas's adventure is a great learning curve for him, especially when it comes to bullying and being the victim of a bully. It's a message that shouldn't be lost on anyone in the audience. The Verdict "The animation, storyline and voicing is perfect. This is one film everyone and not just children should see. There's some great messages within the storyline which are delivered at just the right pitch. "The Ant Bully" is a great opportunity for families to enjoy a good time together at the cinema. Later, while it is still fresh in everyones mind, parents should take the opportunity to reinforce the films theme that bullying is socially unacceptable and shouldn't be tolerated. "The Ant Bully" is very easy to recommend. 4 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "THE ANT BULLY" stars .......
Nicolas Cage ["Matchstick Men", "National Treasure", "Lord of War", "The Weather Man" and "World Trade Centre"]; Zach Tyler ["Entropy" and "Marci X"]; Lily Tomlin ["Tea with Mussolini", "Orange County", "I Love Huckabees" and "The Ant Bully"]; Ricardo Montalban ["Cannonball Run II", "Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams" and "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over"]; Paul Giamatti ["Confidence", "Cinderella Man", "Sideways" and "Lady In The Water"], Meryl Streep ["The Bridges of Madison County", "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events", "The Ant Bully" and "The Devil Wears Prada"] and Julia Roberts ["Sleeping with the Enemy", "America's Sweethearts", "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and "Closer"] as Hova.
"THE ANT BULLY" was .......
directed by John A Davis ["Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" and "Santa vs the Snowman 3D"]; screenplay by John A Davis ["Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" and "Santa vs the Snowman 3D"]; original story by John Nickle ["The Ant Bully"]; production design by Barry E Jackson ["Los Gringos"]; original music by John Debney ["The Passion Of The Christ", "Zathura: A Space Adventure", "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" and "Barnyard"] produced by John A Davis ["Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" and "Santa vs the Snowman 3D"], Gary Goetzman ["Silence Of The Lambs", "Devil in a Blue Dress", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "The Polar Express"] and Tom Hanks ["Cast Away", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", "Connie and Carla" and "Neil Young: Heart of Gold"]. Run Time 89 minutes Rated G [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Warner Bros - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved