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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_bugs_life_poster.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:300: [[TagLine An epic of miniature proportions.]]]]
3
4->''"First rule of leadership: everything is your fault."''
5-->-- '''Hopper'''
6
7Released on November 20, 1998, ''A Bug's Life'' is the second computer-animated film from Creator/{{Pixar}}. It's something of a twist on the [[Literature/AesopsFables fable]] "Literature/TheGrasshopperAndTheAnts" meeting ''Film/SevenSamurai'' with a bit of ''Film/ThreeAmigos'' thrown in for good measure.
8
9The story begins in a peaceful ant colony, which is terrorized each year by a biker gang-esque group of grasshoppers led by the intimidating Hopper (Creator/KevinSpacey), and the ants are forced to give them an offering of food. One year, an ant named Flik (Creator/DaveFoley) who's considered a nuisance by the rest of the colony due to his inventions, which often cause more trouble than they're worth, accidentally [[NiceJobBreakingItHero destroys the offering]]. Hopper forces the ants to create a replacement offering, twice as large, giving them until "the last leaf falls" to comply. The ants, who need that time to store food for themselves to survive the winter, fear that Hopper's demand could ruin the colony. Flik volunteers to redeem himself by recruiting "tough bugs" to fight Hopper and his gang. Seeing nothing more than an opportunity to get Flik out of the way so he doesn't mess anything else up, the colony's ruler-to-be, Princess Atta (Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus), gives him her blessing.
10
11Flik travels to "the city", a city of insects underneath a trailer, where he meets a bunch of recently-fired circus bugs. After seeing them perform, he mistakes them for warriors, and takes them back to the colony. The circus bugs are initially shocked when they find out why they're there, but eventually begin to love living in the colony, and agree to help Flik come up with a plan to defeat the grasshoppers. Will this be the invention which finally succeeds? Or will Flik's usual bad luck continue, leaving the colony to face the wrath of Hopper and his gang?
12
13''A Bug's Life'', like most Pixar films, was a critical and financial success, and, with its HilariousOuttakes, also started the CreditsGag tradition in Pixar movies. Despite its success, however, it's notable for being the only Pixar film from the company's first decade that never got a sequel (they wouldn't release another standalone film until ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', nearly 10 years later), leading to it developing something of a reputation as an overlooked gem.
14
15While it still hasn't gotten any sequels, Creator/{{Disney}} would eventually resurrect the IP (after a fashion) with ''A Real Bug's Life'', a nature documentary about insects produced in collaboration with Magazine/NationalGeographic, which was released through Creator/DisneyPlus in 2024. The documentary notably uses the film's logo and branding, and it was marketed as an official tie-in.
16
17This was Creator/RoddyMcDowall's last film, Creator/MadelineKahn's next-to-last film, and Creator/HaydenPanettiere's first film.[[note]]Although it wasn't the first to be released, as ''Film/TheObjectOfMyAffection'' - she plays the mermaid in the opening credits - came out several months before.[[/note]]
18
19----
20!!''A Bug's Life'' contains examples of:
21[[foldercontrol]]
22[[folder:A-G]]
23* ActorAllusion: As he pretends to be dying from the fake bird attack, Manny (Creator/JonathanHarris) cries out "[[Series/LostInSpace Oh, the pain!]]"
24* AdaptationalVillainy: If you consider this movie an adaptation of "Literature/TheGrasshopperAndTheAnts", then the grasshoppers are portrayed much more evil here. In the original fable the grasshopper was merely lazy and careless, but didn't want to harm the ants. Here, Hopper is a malicious thug who terrorizes the ants to give the food their collect to him and his fellow grasshoppers.
25* AdaptationExpansion: This film is essentially a retelling of [[Literature/AesopsFables Aesop's]] "Literature/TheGrasshopperAndTheAnts" spread out to full-feature-length. It's also something of a {{Deconstruction}} of the original fable; instead of starving to death when winter comes, normally the grasshopper mugs the ant and takes his stuff.
26* AerithAndBob: Most of the insects have odd names based on their species, an identifying trait, or just a seemingly random word, like Molt, Dim, Atta, and Heimlich. But then you also have a few insects with ordinary human names, like Francis, Dot, Manny, and Rosie. Bonus points for Gypsy and Manny for having names that are not only based on their species, but are also actual names.
27* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: In Japan, the film's image song is "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHzCbvdZ4QY STAND]]" by the Japanese band Hoff Dylan. It is also the first song on the Japanese version of the film's soundtrack.
28* AgainstTheGrain: The main protagonist Flik prefers creative thinking and inventions over gathering food the same way the other ants do. This makes him a pariah within the colony and his standing isn't helped when his latest invention accidentally destroys the ants' food offering to their grasshopper oppressors.
29* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: The grasshoppers come across as an insect version of this, with many of their actions and mannerisms evocative of an outlaw biker gang, such as travelling en masse with the beating of their wings sounding similar to motorcycle engines, and hanging out at a bar when not on the move. At one point when Hopper incites the others to get ready to fly, the other members of the gang open their wings in preparation for flight in a manner ''very'' reminiscent of a group of cyclists mounting and starting their choppers.
30* AllLowercaseLetters: The title of the film was promoted as such in marketing and on the title card.
31* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Due to their frequent issues with his inventions, Flik is treated like an outsider by the colony with Dot as the sole noteworthy exception. They actually cheer his departure, ''while he's still within earshot'' (though he thinks they're cheering ''for'' him), when he leaves at the start of the film to find warrior bugs in the city. This is averted by the end.
32* AlwaysABiggerFish:
33** Birds, which Flik [[ScarecrowSolution takes full advantage of]]... [[SummonBiggerFish twice]].
34** Double subverted with Dim. [[spoiler:At first, when Hopper commands his gang to squish the circus bugs, he cowers in fear despite being much bigger than any grasshopper. Come the final battle, and he scares off Thumper]].
35* AmicableAnts: The ants are depicted as hard-working and loyal, collecting food for both themselves and the grasshoppers who order them about.
36* AnimalsNotToScale: In comparison with one another, but particularly with the ants, which appear much larger than they should next to all the other insects (''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' got this right). All the other insect species should be ''far'' larger than the ants (with the exception of P.T. Flea); the grasshoppers, for example, are only about a head taller than the ants, when they should be at least ten times bigger.
37* AntWar: Naturally. [[spoiler: Once it openly starts, it ends rather quickly.]]
38* AnyoneCanDie: Played with in-universe in the form of the junior ants. First they make a painting of the good warrior bugs and bad grasshoppers battling, and they painted one of the good guys dead because their teacher said it would be more realistic that way. Then they perform a play of the battle, in which apparently everyone dies.
39* ArtisticLicenseBiology:
40** PlayedForLaughs when Heimlich makes it out of his chrysalis at the end - the only feature changed is that he now has wings... very tiny ones. Butterflies have 6 legs, 10 segment bodies, 4 eyes (2 compound, 2 simple), and a sucking tube rather than a mouth. Heimlich has 10 legs (which is also inaccurate for caterpillars which have 12), 11 segments (while caterpillars only have 10) and 2 eyes (caterpillars have 6), and a normal mouth. Not only that, being a BigEater Caterpillar is supposed to be a good thing: the larger a caterpillar gets, the larger the butterfly becomes, with their most distinctive feature being their large wings.
41** Insects in real life have six legs. The ants (and a few other bugs in the film) have [[FourLeggedInsect four limbs]]. The grasshoppers have six limbs, apparently to make them more alien and less sympathetic to human audiences. Some "good characters", such as Slim the stick insect, do have the correct six limbs, however.
42** The ants cowered in fear of the grasshoppers instead of dismembering them and eating them as they would have done in reality. This would make for a family-unfriendly (and much, ''much'' shorter) film, but the amount of spinelessness exhibited by the ants is ludicrous. At least it's justified since Hopper wants to keep them too scared to learn they easily outnumber his swarm 100:1.
43** The existence of male workers. At the very least, Flik should have been a winged male.
44** The queen ant doesn't look anything like a real queen ant. (''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' got this one right.)
45** Only Atta and Dot are portrayed as the Queen's children, when realistically she would be the mother of the entire colony.
46** Dot is portrayed as having wings, but only insects at full maturity have wings (with the sole exception of mayflies), and insects do not physically age once they get their wings.
47** With the exception of flies, all the bugs have human-like eyes (why the flies are, of all bugs, singled out to have realistic compound eyes is anyone's guess, aside from the fact that of all insects, flies are the ones best known for the two compound eyes characteristic of insects).
48** The [[spoiler: baby birds at the end that devour Hopper are shown to be cute and fluffy, like baby chickens. In truth, the newly-hatched young of many songbirds are in fact [[https://www.thespruce.com/thmb/TeN6vqWdJwqSqJMQ6kKPqxi-cY4=/1500x1000/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/altricial-5a1d6cf0494ec900371d3348.jpg blind and featherless]], at least for the first few weeks. Also, the scene is supposed to take place early in the autumn, and by that time the nestlings should have already fledged.]]
49** The male mosquito asking for blood at a bar. Male mosquitoes only drink nectar. It's the females that drink blood because they need the extra nutrients for egg production.
50** Gypsy is a female gypsy moth that can fly. In real life, North American and European female gypsy moths can't fly at all, despite having a full set of wings. Japanese female gypsy moths are capable of flying, however, but this movie [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield presumably take place somewhere in North America]]. Additionally, real-life gypsy moths are not as brightly colored as Gypsy (males typically have plain brown wings with slight zig-zag patterns, while females have white wings with black spots and are more plump), and real female gypsy moths are more plump than Gypsy is.
51** At the end, Hopper tries to kill Flik by strangling him. Insects don't breathe through their mouth/nostrils, they have openings located all over their body known as spiracles which are used for respiration.
52* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Tuck and Roll speak complete gibberish. While their nationality is left ambiguous in the film itself, some promotional material refers to them as Hungarian. The closed captions for the DVD don't clarify, saying "Speaking Foreign Language."
53* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The finch, [[MouseWorld from the insects' perspective]]. Its snorts and squawks even sound a bit like Godzilla.
54* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: At the end of the film, The Queen gives her crown to Atta, thus marking her as the new queen of the colony, and Dot takes Atta's former "Princess Crown" for herself.
55* AxCrazy: Hopper, especially when he's pissed. Thumper in general.
56* BadBoss: Hopper goes to punch Molt near the start and [[BlofeldPloy punches out another grasshopper instead]]. Later, he crushes three of his own grasshoppers with the grain pile to make a point [[spoiler:about how the ants could rise up against them.]]
57* BadGuyBar: Hopper's gang of grasshoppers hang out in an insect-sized version of one--an abandoned sombrero in the desert.
58* BambooTechnology: All of Flik's inventions, including some complex gear-based devices, are done with twigs and grass and whatnot.
59* BatmanGambit: How Flik tricks Hopper into [[spoiler:getting himself killed]]. Also doubles as a KansasCityShuffle because Flik "looked left" and Hopper "fell right".
60* BattleDiscretionShot: A couple of Thumper's punches at Flik are replaced by the crowd flinching as the sound of punches are heard.
61* BattleInTheRain: With an interesting twist--because these are tiny bugs, the raindrops are enormous and fall like bombs, complete with actual bomb stock sound effects. They all scatter to avoid these while Hopper chases Flik and Atta.
62* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: Downplayed with Gypsy (Beauty), Atta (Brains), and Rosie (Brawn). Gypsy is the elegant performer who tends to be interested in her apprearance, Atta is the princess (later Queen) of the Ant Colony who thinks of ways to help them out and Rosie has a motherly nature but is also punkish and surprisingly skilled in battle.
63* BecomingTheMask: The circus bugs go from pretending to be warriors to fighting alongside the ant colony.
64* BeggarWithASignboard: in The City Flik encounters a bug holding a sign that reads "Kid pulled my wings off".
65* BigThinShortTrio: Heimlich (big), Slim (thin), and Francis (short). They seem to share acts in the circus together, and appear as a group on the circus flyer, like Rosie and Dim or Gypsy and Manny.
66* BilingualBonus: Heimlich doesn't just talk with a German accent, but actually speaks a bit of German at the end [[spoiler:when the circus bugs leave the ants]]. "Auf wiedersehen" is normally translated as "Goodbye", but more precisely would be "See you (again)!" [[note]]-- ''literally'' translated it'd be "Till we meet again" --[[/note]], which implies that the circus bugs hope/expect to see the ants again in the future.
67* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Pixar's most prominent example, particularly because Hopper is truly evil, without a FreudianExcuse or sympathetic motivations. Played with due to his considerably ''less'' evil brother, Molt [[spoiler: who even pulls a HeelFaceTurn in the end]] and completely averted in the HilariousOuttakes.
68* BluntYes: In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjjTb4GZh2A#t=23s outtakes.]]
69-->'''Hopper:''' Are you saying I'm stupid?\
70'''Atta:''' ...''YES''! Ah hah hah...\
71'''Hopper:''' ''(exasperated, close to tears)'' This is the ''fifteenth'' take, I ''cannot'' work like this. ''(walks off)'' [[AnimatedActors I'll be in my trailer]].\
72'''Atta''': I need a break.
73* {{Bookends}}: Opens and closes with shots of the ant island from a distance.
74* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: Flik and Atta break up when it's revealed that Flik was lying about the so-called warriors, but make amends in the end.
75* BrickJoke:
76** "Pretend it's a seed, okay?" It also doubles as a MeaningfulEcho.
77** "What's with the rock?" "Must be an ant/circus thing."
78* BringHelpBack: Flik ventures out to find warrior bugs to bring back to help defend the colony.
79* TheBrute: Thumper. He's so vicious the other grasshoppers have to keep him on a leash much of the time.
80* BullyingADragon: While the grasshoppers are much bigger than the ants, the ants are far more numerous, [[spoiler:and by the end of the film the ants are inspired by Flik to stand up to the grasshoppers, and force them to run]]. Hopper was cunning about this beforehand, bullying the ants to make sure they stayed intimidated, knowing that they ever learn the truth, then there would be nothing he could do about it. Sure enough, this happens in the climax [[spoiler:when Hopper pushes his luck too far by trying to make an example out of Flik, only for Flik to realize this in the middle of his beating with the rest of the colony watching]].
81* BurpingContest: Between Tuck and Roll in the HilariousOuttakes. It ends with a fart.
82* CainAndAbel: Hopper is the cold, stony Cain to his brother Molt's bumbling, somewhat friendly Abel. Hopper only seems to put up with Molt (and hasn't killed him yet) because of a promise he made to their mother. On her deathbed.
83* CameraAbuse: In the HilariousOuttakes, Molt knocks the camera over, and both Heimlich and P. T. Flea hit the camera with their faces.
84* CarnivoreConfusion: Tons. The spider and the praying mantis get along just fine with the other bugs, though all bugs are afraid of birds. The outtakes reveal that the bird shown in this movie is non-sentient ([[spoiler:because it's a giant mechanical prop]]), though it's unclear if the outtakes are actually canon to the story. The outtakes also show Slim (unwillingly) swallowing a bug.
85* CartoonyEyes: Averted realistically with the houseflies, but played straight for the other insects. For more information, see ArtisticLicenseBiology above.
86* CharacterCatchphrase:
87** Manny's "HOW DARE YOU!"
88** Tuck and Roll's "You fired!"
89** Molt's "Shutting up."
90* ChekhovsBoomerang: A '''three-way''' one with Molt's line, "And the birds eat the grasshoppers!" During the rest of the movie's runtime, the heroes get attacked by a bird, and then build a massive mecha-bird, [[spoiler:and ''then'' trick Hopper into getting eaten by a bird (the ''same one'' they encountered earlier, to be specific).]]
91* ChekhovsGun: P.T. Flea's "Flaming Death" trick is used early on to try and save the show, and then used later [[spoiler:to expose the bird as a fake, as he was unaware of the plot to use it to scare the grasshoppers away]]. See UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom below.
92* CityOfGold: A BlackComedy twist on the saying has P.T. Flea singing that "the streets will be paved with golden retrievers".
93* ClassicallyTrainedExtra: Slim laments that despite his rapier wit and debonair charm, he's always stuck playing a prop, to which P. T. Flea points out "You're a walking stick, it's ''funny.''"
94* ColorFailure: Heimlich turns pale when the ant children painted a bloody battle between the circus bugs and the grasshoppers and see that they made him the casualty to make the battle more dramatic.
95* CompanyCrossReferences: Flik says the ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' quote "To infinity and beyond!" in one of the outtakes.
96* ConditionedToBeWeak: The grasshoppers' leader, Hopper, is aware that while they're individually stronger than the ants they extort, the ants outnumber them a hundred to one. Thus, Hopper keeps the ants in constant fear. [[spoiler:Sure enough, once the ants decide to [[TheDogBitesBack fight back]], they manage to overthrow the grasshoppers.]]
97* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Averting this trope underpins the entire narrative; Flik is well aware of the fact that even the mightiest grasshopper can't defeat one hundred ants, and one hundred grasshoppers can't defeat one ''thousand'' ants.
98* ConvenientCranny: The current 'gang' has to duck into a rather convenient bush to avoid a hungry bird.
99* CrossoverCameo: [[spoiler:[[Franchise/ToyStory Woody]]]] appears as the 2nd assistant camera in one of the outtakes.
100* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Hopper getting eaten alive by small birds]] is not a nice way to go.
101* DarkestHour: [[LaserGuidedKarma The colony brought it upon themselves]] by having Flik and P.T. Flea's entire circus exiled when the truth about the "warriors" was revealed at the worst possible time, leaving them unprepared for the grasshoppers' early return which allows Hopper to take over the island and the ants' winter food supply. Flik and the circus bugs aren't accepted again until they [[BigDamnHeroes return to save the colony]] (P.T. Flea's circus by putting on an act for the grasshoppers and rescuing the Queen from being squished by Hopper by way of Manny's magic act, and Flik by unleashing the bird he, the circus, and the rest of the colony built to try and scare the grasshoppers away).
102* DeadpanSnarker: Francis and Slim (helps from being voiced by Creator/DenisLeary and David Hyde Pierce respectively).
103--> '''Flik''': [''hanging off Slim's leg''] You can't go! I'm desperate!\
104'''Slim''': Really? I couldn't tell!
105* DecompositeCharacter: Depending on the adaptation, the Grasshopper ether dies from his lazy behavior or works with the ants and learns a lesson about hard work. [[spoiler:Hopper dies by getting eaten by the bird's chicks when he continues clinging to his delusions that he'll be able to cow the ants into submission, while his brother Molt pulls a HeelFaceTurn and works with the circus bugs in the end.]]
106* DescriptionCut:
107-->'''Atta''': The caterpillar's using himself as ''LIVE BAIT!''\
108'''Mr. Soil''': How brave!\
109'''Heimlich:''' AHHHH!!!!!
110* DidntThinkThisThrough: The colony exiles Flik and the circus bugs after their ruse is discovered, abandoning the plan they devised in the process. The problem being that the colony spent pretty much all of their time on this plan and didn't gather any food for the grasshoppers in case it fell through, leaving them with nothing to fall back on when Hopper arrives to collect. Atta is soon forced to admit that maybe abandoning their only plan just because Flik lied about one part of it wasn't the best move.
111* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler:The grasshoppers are revealed to be this when after spending the entire movie subjugating the ants, they flee in terror when they [[TheDogBitesBack finally fight back]]. Except for Hopper, who is outraged when his gang leaves him at the hands of the colony]].
112-->'''Hopper''': COME BACK HERE, YOU COWARDS!!! DON'T LEAVE!!!
113* DisappearedDad: Atta and Dot's father is nowhere to be seen, but it's {{justified|Trope}} because it's an ant colony.
114* DisappearingBox: A variation was used by Manny [[spoiler:to help the Queen escape]].
115* DisasterDominoes: The "Flaming Death" act, not helped by the fact that P. T. Flea blindfolded everyone [[note]]except for Slim, Heimlich, and Francis[[/note]]. First, Tuck and Roll get into a fight on the cannon's launch pad, which results in one smacking the other into P. T. Flea and causing him to drop the lit match into the trail of matches, prompting a BigNo from the latter. Rosie mishears this as "Go!" and starts spinning her safety web. Meanwhile, the pillbug twin who had been smacked stumbles into Manny and causes him to trigger the timer prematurely, leading to Dim jumping on the cannon and launching the other pillbug twin into P. T. Flea, who flies through the incomplete safety web and onto the lighter-fluid-doused flypaper. He escapes before the flames reach him, but the flypaper falls over and burns him anyway, though this doesn't give him anything worse than an AshFace.
116* DisneyVillainDeath: ''Averted.'' Hopper doesn't fall to his demise (and he probably could fly anyway), but is instead [[spoiler:fed to the bird's chicks by their parent]], though this is (thankfully) not shown on-screen.
117* DistressedDude: Flik twice during the climax. First about to be squished by Hopper and then almost flown away/kidnapped (again by Hopper). Princess Atta to the rescue on both occasions.
118* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Watch the first scene with Hopper and Atta. Go ahead, watch it as many times as you like. It will soon start sounding like a conversation between an abusive boyfriend and his scared-witless girlfriend.
119* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:Everyone on Ant Island rallies as one and turns the tables on the grasshoppers, after Hopper threatens to kill the Queen and, when that fails, beats and belittles Flik one time too many.]]
120* DumbassHasAPoint:
121** While he was talked into it by three other grasshoppers, Molt argues that going back to Ant Island makes no sense since the grasshoppers have more than enough food for the winter, and Hopper himself doesn't even like grain. [[spoiler:Indeed, the grasshoppers' final visit to Ant Island leads to Hopper's death.]]
122** Thumper aggressively tries to stop Manny from using the Queen for his next magic trick before Hopper calls him off. It turns out that the trick was a ruse to get the Queen away from Hopper.
123* DudeLooksLikeALady: Francis is constantly mistaken for a woman throughout the film, which he is very unamused about.
124* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
125** Unlike Pixar's later talking animal movies, humans are not featured and instead the animal society is made similar to human society. Later films used HumansAreCthulhu for the most part and showed reasonable differences in animal societies.
126** Pixar has come to be known for either avoiding BlackAndWhiteMorality when it comes to their antagonists, or having most of the more despicable ones still outwardly appear friendly on first inspection, so it may take some veterans by surprise to see a very no-frills traditional villain in this movie with Hopper. Unlike future Pixar villains, he is established as evil with no question at all from the very start, and wouldn't be out of place next to most of the classic Disney villains.
127* EatTheCamera: [[spoiler:Hopper's death at the end, wherein the chick he's being fed to "eats" the camera, seguing into the epilogue.]]
128* EnforcedMethodActing: {{Invoked}} in the HilariousOuttakes, wherein Slim, while using a berry to represent a bloodied, pecked-out eye, actually gets the berry juice in his eye.
129* EurekaMoment: Several from Flik:
130** When Mr. Soil tells him "Then help us: ''don't'' help us" after his last attempt spilled the offering, Flik fixates on the word "help", mutters to himself about "helpers to help us" and comes up with another crazy plan: to leave the island and find bigger bugs to fight the grasshoppers.
131*** The ant council approves this plan after a "Eureka!" Moment of their own: Atta dismissively says Flik "would be on that silly search for weeks", and the group realizes they can let Flik leave, allowing them to focus on rebuilding the offering without his interference.
132** From a discussion about birds:
133--->'''Atta:''' Not every bug would face a bird. I mean, even Hopper's afraid of 'em.\
134'''Flik:''' Yeah, well you know it was... ''({{beat}})'' Say that again.\
135'''Atta:''' I said, even Hopper's afraid of birds...\
136''(Flik sprints off, then sprints back to Atta)''\
137'''Flik''': Thank you. (''kisses her cheek and sprints off again'')
138** Also the moment during the big confrontation when Flik realizes exactly what Hopper had been hoping the ants would never put together:
139--->'''Flik:''' Ants don't serve grasshoppers! It's ''you'' who need ''us''! We're a lot stronger than you say we are... [[ExplainExplainOhCrap And you know it... don't you?]]
140* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Hopper may have loved (or at least respected) his mother enough to honor her dying wish that he never kill his bumbling, annoying and idiotic brother Molt.
141-->'''Hopper:''' I ''swear'', if I hadn't promised ''Mother'' on her ''deathbed'' that I wouldn't kill you, I would '''''kill''''' you!\
142'''Molt:''' And believe me, no one appreciates that more than I do.\
143'''Hopper:''' ''[[BigShutUp Shut up]]''! I don't want to hear another word out of you while we're on this island. Do you understand me? ''[Molt whimpers]'' I said, ''do you understand me''?!\
144'''Molt:''' Well, how can I answer? [[ExactWords You said I couldn't say another word!]] ''[Hopper growls with increasing rage and raises his fist]'' ''AAAH! REMEMBER MA!''\
145''(Hopper turns and [[BlofeldPloy punches out another grasshopper to the ground]] to vent his rage)''
146* EverybodyCries: Francis makes Dot and the other Blueberries cry by snapping at them over the tea party they were holding on top of him. Immediately, he feels bad over his actions and cheers the girls up with a juggling act.
147* EveryoneHasStandards: Flik and Atta have to cover their eyes in horror before even a monster like Hopper [[spoiler:gets eaten alive by a bunch of baby birds]].
148* EvilIsBigger: The grasshoppers are much bigger and stronger than the ants, which [[BigBad Hopper]] exploits to terrify the ants into submission.
149* ExactWords: Flik's response to Hopper.
150--> '''Hopper''': Well what's this? [[spoiler:Another one of your little bird tricks?]]\
151'''Flik''': Yep.
152* TheExile: When P.T. Flea exposes the truth, Flik and the circus bugs are exiled from the colony.
153* ExitPursuedByABear: [[spoiler:Hopper meets his fate via this trope.]]
154* ExplainExplainOhCrap: In a heroic sense, Flik has a EurekaMoment when he stands up to Hopper, even as he is greatly outmatched.
155* ExpositionCut: Played for laughs. Slim says that Flik can explain on the way. It then cuts to Flik finishing his explanation to...Tuck and Roll, who don't speak a word of English.
156* EyeCam: When Francis is chewing out the fly hecklers for assuming that he's a lady ladybug, there's a shot of him from the perspective of a fly's compound eye.
157* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath:
158** Hopper [[spoiler:crushing three of his gang members under a pile of grain to make a point.]] Even the other grasshoppers are stunned.
159** [[spoiler:Hopper getting fed to the goldfinch's chicks.]] The last thing he (and the audience, mercifully) sees is one of their ''gaping beaks'' rising up to meet him...
160* FantasticFaunaCounterpart: The Ant Queen keeps an aphid as a lapdog, while P.T. Flea uses millipedes as oxen to pull his circus train.
161* FantasticRacism: Hopper sees the ants as little more than slaves and has worked tirelessly to instill this sense of inferiority into those he has terrorized into submission. Heck, he seems to hold this view against all other bugs he meets, as he will not hesitate to order his men to squish them if he deems them a nuisance to himself.
162* {{Foreshadowing}}:
163** Hopper's speech to the other grasshoppers on why it is more important to control ants over rationing their food, especially since one ant (Flik) stood up to the grasshoppers:
164-->'''Hopper:''' If you let one ant stand up to us, then they ''all'' might stand up. Those puny little ants outnumber us a hundred-to-one. And if they ever figure that out, there goes our way of life! It's not about food; it's about keeping those ants in line.
165** Right before Flik and the circus bugs encounter a hungry bird, you can see that there are eggs inside the nest. Later on the film, they are shown to have hatched.
166* FlyInTheSoup: "Hey, waiter! I'm in my soup!"
167* FourLeggedInsect: Played straight with the ants, in order to appear more relatable and sympathetic to a human audience, and averted with the grasshoppers, who, as the antagonists, keep their six limbs in order to appear more alien to humans.
168** Zig-zagged with other species. Among the circus bugs, the flea, the ladybug, the mantis, and the moth have four limbs. Although his species would’ve been recognizable with four limbs, the walking stick has the standard six. The rhinoceros beetle, who’s not as anthropomorphic as his friends, keeps his six legs. The caterpillar and pill bugs are a downplayed example; they respectively have ten limbs instead of twelve, and eight instead of fourteen. Six of the spider’s limbs act as legs, and the other two act as arms.
169** When it comes to species represented by minor or background characters, there are multi-legged centipedes/millipedes, four-legged fireflies, mosquitoes, and flies, as well as six-legged roaches.
170* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling:
171** Molt is the Foolish Sibling to Hopper's Responsible.
172** Averted with Atta and Dot, though Atta is arguably more responsible due to being older than Dot.
173* FreudianTrio:
174** Flik, Atta and Dot, the three most important characters in the film, form one. Dot is the energetic and passionate Id who is eager to prove her worth by trying to fly before her wings grow in, Atta is the neurotic and easily stressed Superego who has a worry that she may not fare well with her new royal responsibilities, and Flik is the Ego, for he has purely good intentions and wants things to go well for the colony, but is very clumsy and often ends up creating bigger problems than before. [[CharacterDevelopment All of them experience significant growth as the movie progresses, however]].
175** This can also be seen with Francis (the aggressive and surly Id), Slim (the snarky and pessimistic Superego) and Heimlich (the Ego, who is a bit on the kooky side but more gentle-natured than Francis).
176* FriendToAllChildren:
177** Flik. Whenever Dot is threatened by Hopper, it's him, out of all the other ants, who speaks up and orders him to leave Dot alone. He also forms a fast friendship with Dot and use her and the Blueberries to fly the bird.
178** Francis is revealed to be this as well, as he saves Dot in the riverbed sequence and later becomes the Blueberries' den mother and forms a proper bond with them.
179* FriendlyNeighborhoodSpider: Rosie, the black widow spider, is the gentle TeamMom of the circus bugs.
180* FunnyForeigner: Tuck and Roll, also TheUnintelligible. [[GratuitousGerman Heimlich]], too.
181* FurryConfusion: P. T. Flea uses two millipedes to pull his circus wagon. They never speak, and are not anthropomorphized in any way. But there is also a millipede masseuse at the bar Hopper's gang visits.
182* GentleGiant:
183** Dim, the rhinoceros beetle.
184** Molt, Hopper's dim-witted brother. He might technically be on the bad guy's side but you never see him do anything but eat and make himself look like an idiot.
185* GetOut:
186** After Flik's deception is inadvertently revealed at the worst possible time, Atta is left with no choice but to tell the former to leave the colony for good. Predictably, it doesn't last.
187** Towards the end of the film, Atta tells [[spoiler:Hopper and the grasshoppers]] to leave their colony just before the ants' ZergRush.
188* GlowingFlora: How to light the ant's cave, and thereby show the action, without inventing some ludicrous ant tech? Plenty of conveniently glowing mushrooms!
189* GoodAnimalsEvilAnimals: Ants are good, grasshoppers are bad.
190* GoYeHeroesGoAndDie: The little ants make an anticipatory victory mural for the circus performers. It's...[[NightmareFuelColoringBook not as hopeful as expected]].
191* GrievousHarmWithABody: Slim, being a ''stick'' insect, is often used as a prop/weapon by the other circus bugs - both in and out of the circus. He's very unhappy about it.
192* {{Grimmification}}: Of "Literature/TheGrasshopperAndTheAnts". Here, the ants don't want to give up their food, not out of spite, but because the grasshopper is big enough to just take it anyway.
193* GrotesqueCute: The cute widdle fuzzy goldfinch chickies that [[spoiler:eat Hopper alive at the end]].
194[[/folder]]
195
196[[folder:H-M]]
197* HeelFaceTurn: Molt. At first it seems as though he's fleeing Ant Island with the other grasshoppers, but in the last scene he's shown to have become a part of P.T. Flea's circus as their strongman (it's been his dream ever since he first saw it perform during Hopper's failed attempt to oppress the ants).
198* HelpImStuck: Happens to Heimlich (he yells the trope name verbatim) when he gets stuck in one of the cracks during the riverbed sequence. With the bird coming at him.
199* HeroicBSOD: Flik before the climax.
200* HighVoltageDeath: Implied between the bug called Harry after his encounter with the bug zapper as Flik arrives at the city.
201* HuddleShot: Princess Atta and the council debating and ultimately deciding to let Flik leave the island.
202* HumongousMecha: The mechanical bird that the ants and circus bugs build could be considered one of these from an insect perspective, though certainly not a human one.
203* {{Hypocrite}}: Though the ants (particularly Atta) lie to Flik about needing to find warrior bugs just to keep him out of their way (and possibly sending him to his death), they still act indignant about his supposed deception and exile him once his ruse is revealed.
204* ICantLookGesture: Flik and Atta turn away in horror at the sight of [[spoiler:Hopper being fed to the mother bird's chicks]].
205* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Flik remains completely loyal to his colony and his desire to help and protect it. The only time he gives up is when he and the "warriors" are sent away by Atta, but he gets back on his feet.
206* InkSuitActor:
207** Flik has Creator/DaveFoley's wide elastic smile.
208** Atta has Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus' distinctive eyelashes.
209** Hopper has Creator/KevinSpacey's baggy eyes.
210** Subtle, but Molt sports Creator/RichardKind's large, expressive mouth.
211** The Queen has Creator/PhyllisDiller's wrinkled face, her flower-crown looks like her distinctive hair, and throws her head back when laughing as she does.
212* InsectGenderBender: A film about a male worker ant, from a colony of male and female worker ants. (In real life, worker ants are all female.) Also, [[spoiler: Princess Atta gets together with said male worker ant, rather than a winged drone.]]
213* InsectQueen: The ants are led by one, the Queen of the Ants, who later her daughter Princess Atta who is given the crown at the end.
214* InsultToRocks: Hopper's prejudice against ants is so great, he considers calling Flik a piece of dirt ''an insult to dirt''.
215-->'''Hopper''': You piece of dirt... no, I'm wrong, you're ''lower than dirt''--you're an '''''ANT'''''.
216%%* IntergenerationalFriendship: Flik and Dot.
217* InterspeciesRomance: Manny and Gypsy. (A praying mantis and a [[MeaningfulName gypsy moth]], explicitly stated to be husband and wife.)
218* IntimateLotionApplication: At the end of the film, the Ant Queen flirts with her advisor Cornelius (who is holding a leaf to shade her from the sun) by telling him that he can rub lotion on her later, which prompts him to react with a "hubba-hubba".
219* IronicEcho:
220** Flik, whose desperation to prove himself has [[CharacterDevelopment slowly been turning into true self-confidence]], stands up against Hopper for [[spoiler:Princess Atta]] the way he did for Dot at the beginning of the movie. And this time, despite the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown he gets for it, he stays there. [[spoiler:And goes on to defend/inspire the entire colony.]]
221** Hopper instills his rules to the ants at the beginning:
222--->'''Hopper:''' Now let me tell you how things are supposed to work: The sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food...
223*** Near the climax of the movie, the ants hear Flik realizing Hopper and his swarm needs the ants more than the ants need them. Atta comes to defend Flik and the rest of the ants and bugs prepare to fight back, but not before she twists what Hopper said above and delivers this:
224---->'''Princess Atta:''' You see, Hopper, nature has a certain order. The ants pick the food, the ants ''keep'' the food, and the grasshoppers... ''[[PreAssKickingOneLiner leave]]''.
225* JerkassHasAPoint: Although Hopper kills three other grasshoppers in the process, he points out to his followers that letting one ant stand up might lead to them all standing up and gaining the upper hand.
226* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Francis. He really doesn't like being mistaken for being female, and comes across as crabby and callous quite a bit. Despite that, he's still good friends with the other members of the troupe, saves Dot's life and forms a bond with the Blueberries.
227* JustOneMan: Sensing his fellow grasshoppers' reluctancy (due to the coming rain), Hopper initially decides to forget about the food. But recalls Flik standing up to him. The others just laugh since it was only "one ant". Using their grain storage in a visual demonstration, he shows the other grasshoppers if one "puny" ant can stand up to them, soon all of them will eventually follow suit. He then tells them it wasn't about the food, it was about keeping the ants in place.
228* KarmicDeath:
229** Hopper gets his JustDesserts when [[spoiler:he becomes the meal of some hungry bird chicks]]. For extra points as he is a villain obsessed with intimidation, he is ''terrified'' of birds.
230** After spending the film lording the grasshoppers' superior size over the ants, [[spoiler:it's this superior size that does Hopper in, as the bird is more interested in serving ''him'' to her chicks than Flik]].
231* KidAppealCharacter: Little Princess Dot.
232* KidsAreCruel:
233** The young boy ants who constantly tease Dot and mock Flik's attempt to get help.
234** A short scene when Flik arrives in the city depicts a homeless cricket whose wings were torn off by a human child.
235* LargeHam: Manny ("Oh the pain!"). Helps his actor got famous playing one of the most famous hams in television, [[Series/LostInSpace Dr. Smith.]] Heimlich is quite hammy too.
236* LaserGuidedKarma: For both the ants ''and'' the grasshoppers.
237** Princess Atta and the Queen [[spoiler:have no choice but to exile Flik and the other bugs once they learn that they were from the circus, [[{{Hypocrite}} despite the fact that they lied to Flik earlier about wanting him to find "warrior" bugs]]. The result: they're not present to deal with the grasshoppers when they arrive early and decide to take over, leaving all the ants completely at Hopper's mercy]].
238** Hopper pushes his luck too far once [[spoiler:the [[ScarecrowSolution fake bird]] is burned. He orders Thumper to beat Flik up in front of the entire colony to send a message about how weak they are. It backfires when Flik stands up and declares that ants don't serve grasshoppers even after he's almost been beaten into the ground. This rallies the whole ant colony together to oust Hopper and his gang for good]].
239* LastVillainStand: After Flik leads the ants against his grasshoppers and chases them off, Hopper kidnaps Flik for revenge and ends up being chased by Princess Atta and the circus bugs.
240* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: After Flik is revealed as a liar, the queen insists that the colony hides all this and pretends it never happened, and the bugs were never here. [[DarkestHour It doesn't last]].
241* LiarRevealed: The film contains one of the most painfully PlayedStraight examples of this trope in animation history, but also [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs it]]. The played-straight part is when it inevitably happens to Flik once the colony discovers the truth about the "warrior bugs", resulting in him being kicked out and the plan to drive off the grasshoppers with the fake bird being abandoned; the deconstruction occurs shortly after when it turns out that the plan ''would'' have worked had they continued, while the time spent on developing it left the colony with no time to prepare an offering for the grasshoppers' second visit as originally suggested. This leads directly into the film's DarkestHour, until the fake bird plan is put into action and ''almost'' works.
242* LightIsNotGood: The bug zapper, seen just as Flik is arriving at the bug city.
243-->'''A bug:''' NO! HARRY! NO! DON'T LOOK AT THE LIGHT!\
244'''Harry:''' ''[entranced]'' I can't help it, it's so beautiful! ''['''[[HighVoltageDeath ZAP]]''']''
245* LongingLook: Flik gives twice such looks to Atta. She nearly notices [[https://i0.wp.com/img.screencaps.us/199/4k-bugslife/full/4kbugslife-animationscreencaps.com-5214.jpg?ssl=1 the first time]], thus Flik jump and hide hastily behind a leaf. [[https://i0.wp.com/img.screencaps.us/199/4k-bugslife/full/4kbugslife-animationscreencaps.com-5952.jpg?ssl=1 The second time]], it gave away his crush on the princess to the circus band, given how [[EveryoneCanSeeIt they suspiciously look at Flik right after.]]
246* LookingAMiffedAnimalInTheMouth: Near the end, Hopper chases Flik and Atta in a rage until he happens across [[spoiler:the same bird that Flik and the Circus Bugs encounter earlier in the film. Thinking it's another false bird puppet, he taunts it and gets its attention. The bird loudly chirps (or rather, 'roars') in his face, and the terrified grasshopper attempts to run away, [[JustDesserts to no avail]]]].
247* LoveEpiphany: It's implied that Flik has had a crush on Atta for a long time, but soon as the Circus Bugs save Dot from the bird, Atta begins treating Flik much more respectfully, talking with him about her own personal issues, realizing that perhaps they are more similar than she had thought, and apologizing for how she'd treated him in the past. Then she gives him his EurekaMoment, and he kisses her on the cheek before running off, leaving Atta wide-eyed and caressing the spot where he kissed her.
248* LovelyAssistant: Gypsy Moth is this to her praying mantis husband, Manny.
249* TheMagnificentSevenSamurai: Spoofed and subverted - the seven "heroes" are circus performers who think the ant hill wants to entertain their grasshopper guests. Also, there's nine of them (Rosie, Heimlich, Gypsy, Manny, Tuck and Roll the pillbugs, Dim, Francis, and Slim).
250* MatchstickWeapon: A literal example with P.T. Flea who sets the mechanical bird on fire using a matchstick and a pack of lighter fluid. Note that the matchstick is longer than P.T's body due to him being a flea.
251* MaybeEverAfter: It isn't made clear if Flik and Princess (now [[AwesomeMomentOfCrowning Queen]]) Atta end up together, though it can be interpreted as that from the way they hold hands as they wave good bye to the circus bugs.
252* MeanCharacterNiceActor:
253** In the HilariousOuttakes, Hopper is a perfectly nice guy who is reduced to tears when he can't seem to do his scene with Atta properly.
254** Also in the HilariousOuttakes, Thumper is a much less intimidating guy who asks if his screaming is okay.
255* MeaningfulEcho:
256** "You lied to us!" - Francis when the circus bugs discover that Flik's "job" is not a circus performance for the colony. [[spoiler:The Queen says the same line when the ruse gets exposed]].
257** Early in the movie, Dot thinks she’s too little to do anything, so Flik tries to find a seed to motivate her with. He can’t, so instead picks up a nearby rock and tells her to “pretend it’s a seed”. Dot does the exact same thing to [[spoiler:motivate a downhearted Flik to come back home after she discovers Hopper’s plan. It works.]]
258* TheMillstone: Flik is this for most of the film, with a bit of AllOfTheOtherReindeer thrown in as well.
259* MinionWithAnFInEvil: Molt. Ironically, his toy figure actually makes him [[http://ronsrescuedtreasures.com/DISNEY-A-BUGS-LIFE-MINI-MINIATURE-MOLT-PVC-FIGURE-1-58-TALL-HOPPERS-BROTHER-P1578890.aspx seem menacing.]]
260* MisfitMobilizationMoment: [[spoiler:After Flik's beating, the ant colony unites against the grasshoppers.]]
261* MouseWorld: The colony is secluded on a very small "island" with a tree, but the bug city occupies trash underneath a trailer. As an example, the "bar" the troupe goes to after their failed show is actually a tin can.
262* MuggingTheMonster: Near the end, [[spoiler:Hopper mocks the bird Flik has led him to, thinking that it's another fake prop. [[KarmicDeath Predictably, it ends badly for him.]]]]
263[[/folder]]
264
265[[folder:N-S]]
266* TheNapoleon: P.T. Flea. The ringmaster of the circus bugs and the smallest of the lot (save for Tuck and Roll).
267* NeverSayDie: It is never used when the good guys are referred to (Flik asked Dim to "squish" him after he found out about the truth of the circus bugs and the grasshoppers deciding to "squish" [[spoiler:the Queen]]), but the words "kill" and "die" are used in humorous contexts.
268* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Flik confusing the circus bugs as heroes and selling them as such to his people before discovering the truth. And before that destroying the offering by accident. [[RuleOfThree And before that]] when we first see him and his invention causes the stalks of grain to land on Atta.
269* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Molt revealing Hopper's fear for birds is what ultimately gives the bugs a hint on how to scare the grasshoppers away.
270* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Near the climax, when Hopper lets Thumper loose on Flik, then finishes the job. It's so nasty [[EvenEvilHasStandards we even see his brother Molt flinching]].
271* NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech: Flik delivers this and TheReasonYouSuckSpeech both simultaneously, along with a NoYou, to [[spoiler:Hopper]] towards the end of the film.
272--> Who's the weaker species? Ants don't serve grasshoppers! It's ''you'' who need ''us''! We're a lot stronger than you say we are... and you know it, don't you?
273* NoNameGiven: The Queen
274* NoSell: Dot, during her final confrontation with Thumper, [[NotAfraidOfYouAnymore refuses to even]] ''[[NotAfraidOfYouAnymore flinch]]'' when he flares his body and shrieks at her. She even proceeds to DopeSlap him afterward!
275* NoYou: Flik, [[spoiler:as part of his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech at Hopper.]]
276-->'''Flik:''' [[spoiler:Who's the weaker species? Ants don't serve grasshoppers! It's ''you'' who needs ''us''!]]
277* NonActionGuy: All the circus bugs put themselves to good use during the fight with the goldfinch...except Manny, who just sits on Dim's back and then takes some of the credit for fighting the bird. He is also the only circus bug who has wings he can use and doesn't actually use them. However, he is one of the first circus bugs to pretend to be dying during the attack, and he ''did'' prove himself useful earlier with the DisappearingBox trick.
278* NonMaliciousMonster:
279** The bird that is constantly terrorizing the ants and any other bugs nearby it. Unlike the insects, it doesn't seem to have human-level intelligence and is really just doing what comes naturally.
280** [[spoiler:In an even more abstract example, the thunderstorm at the end is literally just a force of nature that nonetheless manages to foil the ants' attempt to fire Hopper out of a cannon by having the weight of the raindrops free him before it can be launched.]]
281* NonMammalMammaries: Atta's chest is curved in a way that resembles human breasts, as are several other female ants.
282* NoodleIncident:
283** Flik's Tunnel-Within-A-Tunnel Project.
284** Molt telling of Hopper's encounter with a blue jay.
285** "...And that's how my 12th husband died. So now I'm a widow. I mean, I've always been a ''black'' widow, but now I'm a [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment black widow widow]]."
286* NotAfraidOfYouAnymore: The ants, in the climax, towards Hopper's gang.
287* NotSoDifferentRemark: A heartfelt conversation has Flik and Princess Atta discover that they're more alike than they had thought.
288-->'''Atta:''' The whole colony... it's like, they're all watching me. Just... just...\
289'''Flik:''' ... waiting for you to screw up.
290* ObliviousGuiltSlinging:
291** Atta sends Flik out to find some bugs to fight Hopper, not expecting him to actually find anybody willing to defend an ant colony (as well as just to get Flik out of the picture). When Flik returns to the colony with the "warriors", Atta, though shocked by this turn of events, decides to go along with Flik's "success" anyway. During the welcoming ceremony, Flik sincerely thanks Atta for "believing in him" and Atta smiles awkwardly.
292--->'''Flik''': Thank you, Your Highness. Oh, sure, I'd like to take credit for all of this, but, well, that wouldn't be right. Because it was you, Princess Atta. You believed in me, and you sent me on my quest.
293** Later, Atta asks Flik if she can talk to him in private, leading to this exchange.
294--->'''Atta''': You don't think I've offended the warriors, do you?\
295'''Flik''': What? You? No!\
296'''Atta''': Oh, good. 'Cause you see, when you first brought them here, I thought you'd hired a bunch of clowns.\
297'''Flik''': Y-Y-Ya did? (''laughs nervously'')\
298'''Atta''': Don't tell them I said that.
299* OddballInTheSeries: It, for the most part, lacks the emotional plot lines signature of Pixar, as well as having BlackAndWhiteMorality for the heroes and villains.
300* OhCrap:
301** Flik's reaction as he helplessly watched the food offering tumble into the water after his harvester knocked it over.
302--->'''Princess Atta''': What did you ''do?!''\
303'''Flik''': Uh...it was an accident?
304** Flik's reaction after realizing that the warrior bugs he brought to the colony are actually circus folk.
305** "TWEET TWEET! TWEET TWEET!"
306** Heimlich when he gets stuck in the crack in the riverbed sequence, with the bird coming towards him.
307** When the circus bugs return to the ant colony...
308--->'''Slim''': We were invited by Princess Atta as a surprise for your arrival.\
309''([[{{Beat}} beat]])''\
310'''Hopper''': Squish 'em.\
311''(Slim and Francis gasp, while Dim tries to back away.)''
312** The Grasshoppers' reaction to the Constructed Bird, [[spoiler: and Hopper's reaction to the real one]].
313** The Blueberries and Flik's reaction after P.T. sets the bird on fire with them in it.
314** The Grasshoppers' reaction as they realize that the Ants are getting pissed off at last and are about to ZergRush them.
315** Flik when it starts to...
316--->'''Flik:''' RAIN!!!
317** A split-second one at the climax, where an injured Flik sees Hopper flying right at him in a rage.
318* OneGenderRace: Subverted with Francis, a ''male'' ladybug. Helps that Francis is voiced by Creator/DenisLeary.
319-->'''First Fly:''' ''(to Francis)'' Hey cutie! [[UnusualEuphemism Wanna pollinate with a real bug?!]]\
320''(Flies laugh. Francis flies up to them, eyelids batting, then...)''\
321'''Francis:''' SO! Being a Ladybug automatically makes me a GIRL! Is that it, fly-boy? HUH?!\
322'''Second Fly:''' YIKES!!\
323'''First Fly:''' She's a guy!
324* PanAndScan: Inverted with the fullscreen version of the film. The most noticeable example is the scene where they show two young ants climbing up a leaf; in the original widescreen version you couldn't see the second ant at all, but in the fullscreen version you actually do.
325* PaperTiger: The primary reason why the grasshoppers use scare tactics to keep the ants in line. The ants outnumber the grasshoppers by a significant margin and could run them off anytime. Sure enough, when they finally decide to fight back, the grasshoppers are sent flying for the hills, and had a rainstorm not occurred right as they were about to get rid of Hopper, his prediction would have been completely accurate.
326-->'''Hopper''': You let one ant stand up to us, then they ''all'' might stand up! Those puny little ants outnumber us a hundred to one. And if they ever figure that out, there goes out our way of life!
327* PlayingATree: Slim the walking stick is constantly cast as sticklike props in the circus acts, much to his annoyance.
328-->'''Slim:''' You always cast me as the broom! The pole! The stick! The ''splinter''!
329* PoorCommunicationKills: Almost literally in this case. Because P.T wasn't in on the plan with the fake bird, he blasts it with [[ChekhovsGun his "Flaming Death" act]] upon seeing it, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero not only nearly killing Flik and the girls, but also exposing the ruse to Hopper]].
330* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: Princess Atta is in her late teens to early twenties (at least in ant years) whereas her younger sister, Dot, is still in the single digits.
331* PrecisionFStrike: There's a scene between Flik and Atta where, as she's struggling to articulate how her subjects look at her, he says, in a tone that implies he understands how she feels, "Waiting for you to screw up."
332* PsychoForHire: Thumper is a deranged, almost feral grasshopper that works for Hopper. Though his boss keeps him in check, he looks only a second away from chowing down on the ants whenever he's on screen.
333* PunchClockVillain:
334** Molt is both this and a MinionWithAnFInEvil. When the food's collected and the circus is performing, he happily claps and plays along, rather like a child.
335--->'''Molt:''' The circus, the circus, I love the circus!
336** While the rest of the grasshoppers are malicious and have no problem with pushing the ants around, it's hinted at that they wouldn't go out of their way to do so if not under Hopper's orders.
337* PunctuatedForEmphasis:
338-->'''Francis:''' When your grasshopper friends get here, we are gonna KNOCK! THEM! '''DEAD!!!'''
339* PushedAtTheMonster: At the end, Hopper corners Flik and Atta, Flik tells her to stay hidden. Hopper grabs Flik, but as he's saying he'll return the next year with a larger swarm of grasshoppers, [[spoiler:the bird that attacked the heroes earlier spots him, and Hopper [[TemptingFate mockingly asks if it's another trick]]. When the bird "roars" in his face, Flik makes a run towards Atta's hiding spot, while Hopper, the bigger insect, gets captured and served to the bird's hungry chicks]].
340* RapidFireNo:
341** Flik when his invention destroys the ants' entire offering. He does another one later near the climax when [[spoiler:his mechanical bird inadvertently hits P.T. Flea's circus wagon, which leads to P.T. setting the bird on fire]].
342** Also by Hopper when he [[spoiler: finally meets his demise just before being EatenAlive by the real bird's chicks]].
343* RecycledInSpace: ''Film/SevenSamurai'' WITH BUGS!
344* RedRightHand: Hopper's discoloured right eye.
345* RelativeRidicule: Discussed; Flik is terrified of his children being mocked for being associated with him if people find out the "warriors" he brought to defend the colony were actually just circus performers.
346* RepulsiveRingmaster: Downplayed. While P.T. Flea isn't evil, he is certainly the most [[{{Jerkass}} jerky]] out of all the Circus Bugs.
347* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: [[spoiler:From the audience's perspective, the bird's chicks look cute as all heck. From the perspective of any of the bugs, however, you're bound to hear disagreement. Especially from Hopper.]]
348* RightHandAttackDog: Thumper to Hopper. He is also almost dog-like.
349* RightOutOfMyClothes: When the ants ZergRush the grasshoppers, Molt gets out of there so fast he leaves his "shell" behind (that is, he ''[[StealthPun molts]]'').
350* RoarBeforeBeating: The bird lets out a deafening screech [[spoiler:right into Hopper's face before preying on him.]]
351* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The Queen and Princess Atta both directly supervise the worker ants and give them directions when they don't know what to do. Princess Atta herself also becomes a WarriorPrincess later in the movie, putting her flying skills to use [[spoiler:against Hopper and his gang]].
352* RuleOfDrama: In-universe example. When the kid ants show a drawing of how they believe the battle between the grasshoppers and the circus artists will end, one of the kids explains that their teacher told them to portray a hero dying to add drama.
353* RunningGag: Everyone who doesn't know Francis well constantly refers to him as a girl.
354* ScarecrowSolution: The fake bird.
355* ScavengedPunk: It drifts into this trope during the city sequence. The city is built entirely out of discarded boxes and trash with a tipped over soup can doubling as a dive bar (the countertop inside the bar is a swiss army knife). The background of the entire sequence is scattered with numerous details like this.
356* ScoutOut: The Blueberry Scouts.
357* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: This trope applies to ''not'' Francis, ironically, but ''Flik''. For example; when Flik shrieks upon seeing all the food falling off the offering stone or when he notices he and the circus bugs are standing by a bird's nest.
358* SensoryTentacles: Hopper lays his antennae on Princess Atta's face, saying that she's not the Queen, "at least you don't smell like the Queen." This piece of realistic insect behavior is not shown anywhere else in the movie, making Hopper all the creepier.
359* ShipperOnDeck: The Circus Bugs are all for Flik/Atta.
360* ShootTheMessenger: {{Invoked}} and {{Subverted}} in ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', where three of Hopper's goons voiced their disagreement of returning back to Ant Island when they have the food for the winter and a concern of the raining season. They get Molt to tell Hopper by persuading him that he's "vice president" of the gang since he's Hopper's brother, and also Hopper would take his anger at him instead of them. Molt tells Hopper the plan but when he caved by his fury, Molt tells him that it was their idea, in which he MakeAnExampleOfThem.
361* ShoutOut:
362** The dumb, goofy GentleGiant, Dim. [[Literature/AClockworkOrange Dim being really dim...]]
363** In the HilariousOuttakes: "[[WesternAnimation/ToyStory1 To infinity and beyond!]]"
364** The background music in the bar includes piano renditions of "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me" (which Francis also namedrops to some actual bothersome flies) and "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider".
365** The (failed) attempt at intimidating the flies that attempted to harass Francis, which was the reason why Flik even mistakenly believed they were warrior bugs in the first place, was a spoof on Myth/RobinHood. Also, after they demolished the bar in their attempt to flee, Francis pulls Slim out in a parody of King Arthur pulling out Excalibur. The music that plays in that scene sounds similar to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QruZZdwQ4KE Master Sword theme]] from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''.
366** Hopper's demise bears some resemblance to General Woundwort's end in ''Literature/WatershipDown'', or Lewis's death from ''Literature/TheLostWorld1995''.
367** This quote from Hopper.
368--->'''Hopper:''' (to Atta) It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, Princess, one of those '[[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 circle of life]]' kind of things.
369** The fly's POV of simultaneous images of Francis yelling at him seen through his compound eyes is a nod to ''Film/TheFly1958''.
370** The "Casey Junior" animal cracker box that serves as the Circus Bugs' trailer is a clever nod to the train in {{WesternAnimation/Dumbo}}.
371** One of Flik's [[NoodleIncident previous disasters]] was his "tunnel within a tunnel", a clear reference to [[UsefulNotes/SteveJobs Steve Jobs']] infamous "store within a store" concept.
372** Dim's terrifying bellow that scares off Thumper audibly incorporates the T-Rex's iconic roar from ''Film/JurassicPark''.
373** The circus bugs include a [[Literature/TheVeryHungryCaterpillar very hungry caterpillar]] and a grouchy ladybug, both echoing titles of books by Creator/EricCarle.
374* ShutUpScaryThing: Dot is threatened by Thumper once again during the climax. As he snarls at her, [[NotAfraidOfYouAnymore she shows how much she's matured]] by slapping him on the nose and telling him "Bad grasshopper! Go home!" This just makes Thumper mad, but fortunately for Dot he gets scared away by Dim's roar.
375* SidetrackedByTheAnalogy: In the beginning, Dot really cannot wrap her head around the fact that Flik is pretending that the rock is a seed.
376* SinsOfOurFathers: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]]. Flik comments that his children's children will be eternally ridiculed if the colony finds out he accidentally hired circus bugs.
377-->'''Flik''': I will be branded with this mistake for the rest of my life! My [[LineageLadder children's children]] will walk down the street and people will point and say, "Look! There goes the spawn of Flik, the loser!"
378* SnipeHunt: The premise. Flik offers to find warrior bugs to help fend off the grasshoppers, though Atta only allows it just to keep him out of the way. Subverted in that Flik actually finds what he was looking for... [[MistakenForBadass after a fashion]].
379* SpringtimeForHitler: Letting Flik go to find help was only supposed to keep him out of the way...
380* StageMagician: This is Manny the praying mantis's role in the circus, and he takes much pride in his work.
381* StockSoundEffects: When Dim scares Thumper off, he uses the t-rex roar from ''Film/JurassicPark''.
382* SummonBiggerFish: [[spoiler: Flik "enlists" the aid of the Goldfinch to deal with Hopper once and for all.]]
383* SurferDude: One of the grasshoppers (the one that finds Dot's bandanna) speaks with this kind of voice.
384* SympatheticPOV: The grasshoppers are depicted as dreaded thugs against the ants for most of the film. A brief scene in the middle movie however shows them relaxing and getting along affably in their base, even considering [[PragmaticVillainy letting the ants off since collecting food is so tiring]], until [[BadBoss Hopper]] very bluntly intimidates them into going back to the ant hill, even killing some of his own men to get his point across.
385* SympatheticWince: While watching Thumper beat Flik senseless in front of the other ants and grasshoppers, Molt visibly winces, crossing over with EvenEvilHasStandards.
386* SwallowedAFly: In one of the HilariousOuttakes, this happens... to ''another'', larger bug.
387[[/folder]]
388
389[[folder:T-Z]]
390* TemptingFate:
391** Hopper assuming the bird before him is another of Flik's tricks. [[spoiler:[[JustDesserts It doesn't end well for him.]]]]
392** Earlier on, three of Hopper's fellow minions didn't learn to keep their mouths shut when they suggest that Molt question Hopper's motives for Ant Island.
393--->'''Axel:''' What if Hopper doesn't like it?
394--->'''Loco:''' Then at least the "genius" will get smacked, and not ''us''!
395** Also happens to Atta the beginning,
396--->'''Dot''': It's not ''my'' fault, she's so stressed out!
397--->'''Atta''': [''sighs in frustration''] I know! I know! I'm always acting like [[TheSkyIsFalling the sky is falling]].
398--->'''Random Ant''': LOOK OUT!!!
399--->''(A stalk falls, landing square on top of Atta)''
400* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Parodied and subverted with Francis, a male ladybug that has long eyelashes, full lips and a beauty mark.
401* ThirdPersonPerson: Dim refers to himself this way: "Dim don't wanna go."
402* ThrownFromTheZeppelin: Three grasshoppers try to convince Hopper (by using Molt) to not bother going back to collect food from the ants. Hopper makes an example out of them by crushing them under a pile of grain.
403-->'''Hopper''': Does anybody ''else'' wanna stay?
404* ToiletHumor: "Hey! Who ordered the poo-poo platter?" (a bunch of flies swarm over to it)
405* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: The "warriors", Flik, and Atta all work with the colony to devise their plan to scare off the grasshoppers once and for all.
406* TranquilFury:
407** P.T. Flea after being burned during the "Flaming Death" act. His line, "You're all fired" is said without him raising his voice, but you can tell by his voice just how pissed off he is.
408** [[spoiler: Princess Atta does this twice: first, on the trial against Flik and second, when banishing Flik once the colony finds out about his mistake.]]
409* UglyGuyHotWife: Manny and Gypsy, respectively. Not hard to see why, given that Manny is older than Gypsy and Gypsy is possibly the most attractive character in the film.
410* UndyingLoyalty: Alone among the colony, [[CheerfulChild Dot]] idolizes Flik and, instead of putting him down, feels that there is good in him through thick and thin. [[spoiler:After Flik is ousted from the colony for hiring circus bugs to defend them, she is not only [[FanOfTheUnderdog the only one who still believes in him]], but is also the one who, after hearing the Queen's life is in danger, tracks him down and snaps him out of his HeroicBSOD.]]
411* UnsettlingGenderReveal: Some (male) insects try some pick-up lines on Francis, taking him for a female, and react shocked when he answers them with his clearly male voice.
412-->'''Insects:''' ''Yikes!'' She's a ''guy!''
413* UnusualEuphemism: When one of the ants says the following (also counts as a ShoutOut):
414-->'''Thorny:''' [[WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}} Jiminy H. Cricket]]!
415* UnwantedAssistance: Due to Flik's inventions backfiring or malfunctioning, many feel this way to him. Because of this, when on trial for what happened to the offering, Flik mentions that he only wanted to help. Mr. Soil, a member of the council, then replies: "Then help us: DON'T HELP US!"
416* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: P.T. Flea does this twice: not only does he accidentally reveal the identity of the warriors, which gets them and Flik to be exiled by the colony, but later he sets the bird on fire, thinking it was the real deal -- however, that latter moment is subverted in that the beating Hopper dishes out on Flik in response, resulting in his RousingSpeech, actually rallies the ants into sending the grasshoppers packing for good.
417* UptownGirl: The ShipTease between Flik and Atta is this as the latter is the princess, and Flik a worker ant among the others.
418* VileVillainLaughableLackey: Hopper has this dynamic with his brother Molt. The former is cruel, cunning and dead-serious, the latter is bumbling, cowardly and overall very friendly.
419* VillainHasAPoint: An antagonistic variation. When several grasshoppers question Hopper's motivations to bully the ant colony, he points out (after [[BadBoss punishing the blabbermouths by death]]) that the ants have to be kept in line because if one of them recognizes the numbers advantage they collectively have over the grasshoppers, they'll turn on them without hesitation. [[spoiler:He was right to worry, because at the end, [[TheDogBitesBack they do thanks to Flik]].]]
420* VillainousBreakdown: Hopper breaks down when [[ZergRush the ants stand up to the grasshoppers]]. And he breaks down even more when his attempt to kidnap and kill Flik is thwarted (see YourLittleDismissiveDiminutive below).
421* VisualPun:
422** Flea circus, anybody?
423** Invoked by P.T. Flea with Slim the Walking Stick.
424--->'''Slim:''' You [[PlayingATree always cast me as the broom]]! The pole! The stick! The ''splinter''!\
425'''P.T. Flea:''' You're a walking stick! IT'S FUNNY! '''NOW GO!!'''\
426'''Slim''': You parasite.
427** When the ants rebel, [[MeaningfulName Molt]] ''jumps out of his skin''.
428* WelcomeToTheBigCity: Flik doesn't get mugged or attacked (it's hardly as if he had anything on him), but he does get mocked by a couple of street performers and runs into a cricket who's lost his wings; he also gets towered over by a daddy-long-legs.
429* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Played straight with most of Hopper's minions, as nobody knows where they went into hiding; averted with Molt, who joins P.T. Flea's circus as its new strongman, Tiny.]]
430* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: Evil/rude characters like the grasshoppers and the fly attendees of the circus do not look nearly so appealing or friendly as the ants and the circus troupe. On the other hand, a bird that looks normal and cute to the audience is actually a horrible monster to the bugs.
431* WhenIWasYourAge: The elderly ant with a cane Cornelius scoffs at the idea of Flik’s food collecting machine as he mentions that ants collected grain the traditional way back when he was a pupa.
432* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: Flik. [[spoiler: Also Thumper at the end when Dim roars at him.]]
433* WouldHurtAChild: Hopper has no compunction against threatening baby Princess Dot.
434* WrongGenreSavvy: Hopper when he sees the Goldfinch, not realizing that it's a real one, [[TooDumbToLive but thinks it's another one of Flik's tricks]].
435* YouNoTakeCandle: Dim uses this manner of speaking.
436* YourLittleDismissiveDiminutive: Hopper uses three of these in the same conversation when he [[VillainousBreakdown breaks down]].
437-->'''Hopper:''' (''seething with pure hatred'') You think it's over?! All your little stunt did was buy them time!\
438'''Flik:''' (''cowering'') No, please! Please, Hopper!\
439'''Hopper:''' (''grabbing Flik's throat'') I'll get more grasshoppers and be back next season, but ''you won't''.\
440''[the finch looms over them]''\
441'''Hopper:''' Well, what's this? [[TemptingFate Another one of your little bird tricks?]]\
442'''Flik''': Yep!\
443'''Hopper''': Are there a bunch of little girls in this one, too? Hello, girls!
444* ZergRush: Hopper fears the ants will realize their advantage in numbers and attack this way. [[spoiler:They do. [[VillainousBreakdown And he doesn't like it one bit.]]]]
445[[/folder]]

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