Antz Antz

The large anthill in New York Central Park is divided into two castes: worker ants and soldier ants live there. Both are deprived of any choice: separation occurs immediately after birth. Workers work from morning to night, working on the Megatunnel project - the anthill area, which, according to the project of General Navoznik, will become a paradise recreation area. Navoznik himself, however, treats the workers with contempt, and in discussions of the Megatunnel he often mentions that his discovery "will wash away all the dirt." He asks his subordinate, Colonel Bark beetle, for a list of soldiers who are loyal to the Queen Queen, and then decides to send them into battle with an army of termites that were deployed near their anthill. Meanwhile, the main character, the ant Zed, who likes to philosophize and grumble (which makes him very different from all ants), considers his belonging to the caste of workers unjust. He is sure that heavy monotonous work is not what he needs, and that his work is far more important than the boring life of a worker ant.

His girlfriend, the working Aztec, is trying to convince Zed that at least for the workers themselves he is not separable, because they are all united in collective labor. Zed reflects on whether there is somewhere a utopia with a completely different life, where everyone can live as he wants. By chance in a bar, he learns from a drunken mosquito Grebs about the existence of a certain Insectopia, which is just such a utopia.

One evening, the Queen’s daughter and Princess Navoznik’s bride, who is dreary of living in the palace, penetrate into this bar incognito. She is interested in Zed, because at this moment all the ants are dancing harmoniously, and he is the only one sitting at the bar. She invites Zed to a dance and he gradually falls in love with her, and they themselves begin to dance an individual dance (all other ants dance only the same steps). Unfortunately, Zed attacks a soldier, and in the ensuing scuffle, Ball accidentally reveals his identity to Zed and, having kissed him, runs away. The next day, Zed arrives in euphoria and, having learned from the bartender that the royal inspection of army platoons has been appointed the next morning, comes up with a plan: he persuades his best friend, the ant soldier Weaver, to swap places with him. But during the march, Zeda does not notice the Queen before the Queen, and then Navoznik appears before the soldiers and, to Zed's horror, announces that they are going to war with the termites. During the battle, Zeda is saved by the ant-sergeant Barbatus, who is imbued with sympathy. But Zed ultimately falls into the pit and when he gets out, the outcome of the battle has already been decided: both sides are totally defeated and the only survivor is he. By chance, he finds Barbatus’s severed head, who, before his death, asks Zed not to repeat his mistakes: not to blindly follow someone’s orders, but to act on his own.

Dejected Zed returns to the anthill, where he is honored as a hero. At an audience with Koroeva, Zed’s acquaintance with Bala is accidentally revealed, because of which he sets up the Queen against himself (because the worker had no right to change places with the soldier) and Navoznik (because Bala is his bride). Zed hides behind Ball and involuntarily takes her hostage. She tries to break free and pushes him into the side of the garbage container, because of which they both fly out of the anthill. Soldiers sent to help Bala retreat when suddenly a human hand with a magnifying glass hangs over an anthill, and a focused sunbeam creates a burning wave. Fleeing from him, Zed and Bala escapes even further from the anthill, after which Zed decides to move to Insectopia, because he saw one of the landmarks indicating the way there. Bala considers Insectopia an invention, but agrees to go with him when Zed asks her if she is ready to return to the anthill to become the wife of Navoznik (whom she does not like at all), and at the same time promises to return her home if Insectopia really turns out to be an invention. On the way, Bala is gradually imbued with respect and love for Zed.

Meanwhile, in the anthill, the abduction of Bala is surrounded by such fables that Weaver, not restraining himself, reveals that Zed was not a soldier, but a worker. This leads to an unexpected effect: the thought that the worker ant showed self-will, instantly flies over the anthill, and the workers refuse to work, demanding that Zed be allowed to return. The cops suppresses the protest by inspiring them that Zed abandoned them and sends them on to build the Megatunnel. After seeing Weaver in the crowd of protesters, he calls in for questioning, where, using forceful methods, he demands from Weaver and the Aztecs (who by that time had fallen in love with Weaver) to tell where Zed could go. Weaver confesses about Insectopia, but unexpectedly the Copper admits that it is not a myth, and starts following the fugitives of Colonel Bark beetle, having previously ordered him to kill Zed. Meanwhile, Zed and Bala still get to Insectopia, but in the evening Bark beetle arrives there. He does not see Zed (because he was absent), and Bala is lying, just in case, that Zed is dead. Before Bark beetle forcibly takes her to the anthill, Bala (whom Zed had told about Barbatus’s death before) asks Bark beetle why he is following Navoznik’s orders, although she sees that his opinion is completely different?

In the anthill they lead her to Navoznik and it turns out the following: he is obsessed with the idea of ​​creating a new colony with a strong “useful” population, whom he considers a soldier and considers workers to be the lowest primitive creatures. The Megatunnel is actually a trap: at this very moment, all the workers of the anthill, led by the Queen, are supposedly in it at the opening ceremony, but the structure itself passes under a large puddle and when the last barrier is destroyed, the Megatunnel will be flooded with water. Balu is going to be left alive so that it gives rise to a new colony of ants. Zeda manages to get to the Anthill using the Chip Wasp and rescue Balu from captivity. At the same time, the Copper pushes speech at the Megatunnel and, leaving, gives the order to block all exits from it. At the last moment, Bale and Zedu manage to get in there and warn everyone about the danger, but the last barrier is already broken and the tunnel begins to flood. Zed comes up with the idea of ​​building a living staircase from ants and digging a tunnel out through the ceiling. When he first crawls to the surface, he is confronted with the Coprinus. Upon learning that the workers were able to build a ladder out of themselves, the soldiers' belief in the words of Navoznik about their worthlessness begins to hesitate. Suddenly, Bark beetle, who, due to Bala’s words, is also in doubt, repels Navoznik, who furiously rushes at him, about to throw him into the opening. Zed repels Bark beetle at the last moment and flies down with the Coprinus. The manock is broken against the root, and Zed falls into the water, but is later saved by the Bark beetle.

All the workers, along with the Queen, are dragged to the surface. In the epilogue, Zed says that he and Bala got married and rebuilt the colony - from now on, every ant in it is valuable and is an individual.

Work on the cartoon began in May 1996. This was DreamWorks' first experience in producing animated film using computer graphics. In creating the image of the protagonist of the studio, Woody Allen was invited, invited as a voice actor ^[3] . In particular, Woody Allen made changes to the script and changed the monologues of the character, adapting them to his comic style. Other well-known actors worked on the voice acting of the cartoon, among which Christopher Walken , who was so impressed with the creators of the cartoon, especially stood out that they decided to significantly expand the role of his character.

The creation of the Ant Antz cartoon took place against the backdrop of fierce competition between DreamWorks and Walt Disney . At the same time, Walt Disney is announcing its animated film “ The Adventures of Flick ”, also dedicated to the life of insects with the ant in the lead role. A conflict broke out between the studios, which escalated when Walt Disney employees did not respond to DreamWorks’s request to discuss rental dates for similar cartoons. As a result, DreamWorks postponed the premiere of the animated film Ant Antz from March 1999 to October 1998, and both projects were already competing in cinema halls ^[4] .

The film was dubbed by the ABC Studio commissioned by ORT in 2001.

Roles Duplicated

• Dmitry Filimonov - Zed / vocals
• Maria Ovchinnikova - Princess Bala
• Natalya Gurzo - Queen Queen
• Oleg Kutsenko - Barbatus / Weaver
• Alexander Gruzdev - General Navoznik
• Tatyana Bozhok - Aztec
• Boris Bystrov - leader
• Rudolf Pankov - Colonel Bark beetle

• Guantanamera - a song to which ants dance in a bar.
• The song sung by the rally in support of Zed is “ Give Peace a Chance ” by John Lennon performed by Yoko Ono .

Based on the cartoon, the following products were created:

• Antz and Antz Racing - games for Game Boy Color
• Antz Extreme Racing is a multi-platform computer game.

• Review and criticism of the movie Roger Ebert
• Ant Antz on the Internet Movie Database