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A Look Back at Pixar: A Bug’s Life
One of Pixar’s lesser regarded films deserves a re-watch. A Bug’s Life was ahead of its time every step of the way, especially when it comes to depictions of women.
How long has it been since you’ve seen A Bug’s Life (1998)? How long has it been since you even thought about A Bug’s Life? I personally have historically had a positive opinion of the film, but it’s not something I would choose to watch from my shelf (or more recently, the Disney+ queue) over other animated features. I’d watch it if it happened to be on TV when I was channel browsing, but I wouldn’t seek it out.
Frankly, what a mistake — We’ve all been sleeping on this film.
Inviting the Audience into the World of Bugs
The opening image for A Bug’s Life appears to be a view of the sky from below. We see the sun, and a bird flies lazily past. Suddenly, a leaf enters the frame and ripples spread out from where it lands — The camera tilts up, revealing we had been staring into a clean, reflective puddle. The reality of the scene is immediately less blue; we are at the bottom of a mostly dried, cracked river bed done in light tans. On the grassy bank, is a tree. As bright, brassy music that would feel equally at home in An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) begins to play, the camera approaches the tree from below.
This is a truly interesting progression, as the audience is always and immediately seeing things from a bug’s eye view. We don’t approach the ants from above, leaving a human perspective to enter the ant perspective. We approach the ant colony in the way that a bug would.
This should be a familiar tactic to those who have seen Toy Story, where the audience is on the toys’ level from the beginning as well. Creators at Pixar likely employ this technique to create an instant bond and empathy for their central characters. The audience is connected to the characters because they are presented as their equals.
