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Faces in the crowd: crowd animation software brings life to background characters in The Ant Bully.
Shortly after finishing his film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, director John Davis received a copy of the book The Ant Bully from Tom Hanks. Though Davis and Hanks had never met, the actor/producer thought that Davis would be a good choice to develop the story, which he'd been reading to his son, into a CG film. Davis liked The Ant Bully, and devised a potential take on it within a few days.
There was a possible drawback: "To be honest, when I first looked at it, I thought, Oh, why did it have to be ants again?" says Davis, referring not only to the 1998 movie Antz, but to rival CG "insect movie" A Bug's Life, which came out the same year. "But the more I thought about it, I said, 'So what? It's got as much to do with The Incredible Shrinking Man as it does the other bug movies.' It's a completely different story. I looked at it as a challenge."
An Ant's Life
In any case, ants and their way of life turn out to be central rather than incidental to the film's plot, which pivots around issues of teamwork, cooperation, and helping others. The Ant Bully is based on the book of the same name by John Nickle. Its main character, 10-year-old Lucas Nickle (voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen), is a new kid in town with no friends and a mostly unsupportive family. The one peer who does pay attention to Lucas is the neighborhood bully, who only makes his life more miserable. Lucas begins taking out his anger on the ants in his backyard, stomping out their hills and blasting them with a hose.
Meanwhile, members of the tiny community under his feet are making plans to protect themselves. Eventually the ant wizard Zoc (voiced by Nicolas Cage) uses a magic potion to shrink Lucas to ant size. The now-tiny Lucas must learn to cope in the ant community, where he experiences the incredible complexity of their society, and also their concepts of teamwork and loyalty.
The Ant Bully was directed and produced by Davis, who, with Keith Alcorn, owns the Texas-based DNA Productions, which created the movie. The film, produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman of Playtone, was presented by Warner Bros. Pictures in association with DNA Productions and Legendary Pictures, a Playtone Production. The Ant Bully also came out simultaneously in IMAX 3D.
Cleaning Out the Pipes
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...like moral lessons. Davis, the tall, bearded...animated movie "The Ant Bully," points behind the...peasants of feudal Japan. Davis fell in love with him...But, on this day, Davis isn't up for much flying...that worked on "The Ant Bully," which opened July...
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...for it, ``The Ant Bully'' is the summer...director John A. Davis. Davis, best...Obviously, ``The Ant Bully'' is going to contain...Antz.'' But Davis has turned out a...dailynews.com THE ANT BULLY - Three and one half...Director: John A. Davis. Running ...
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...Interactive Entertainment. "The Ant Bully is a highly anticipated film...From director John A. Davis, of the Academy Award...Gary Goetzman, John A. Davis and executive produced by Keith Alcorn, The Ant Bully is an animated family adventure...
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...this context, "The Ant Bully" doesn't cover...director John A. Davis ("Jimmy Neutron...the yard with "The Ant Bully." +++++ TWO...STARS TITLE:"The Ant Bully" RATING: PG for...directed by John A. Davis (based on a book...
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...picture book "The Ant Bully," writer-director John A. Davis--who should know...terrifyingly generic in Davis' film. Instead...version of "The Ant Bully" settles for a prefab...lemmings. 'The Ant Bully' (star)1/2...directed by John A. Davis, based on the book...
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"The Ant Bully" director John Davis didn't have to...originally approached Davis about turning his...into a film - the "Ant Bully" script found its...CAPTION: John Davis, (above), director of `The Ant Bully,' got a big push...
