Studio: DreamWorks
SKG
Production Company: DreamWorks SKG / Pacific Data
Images
Producers: Aron
Warner, Brad Lewis, Patty Wooton
Executive Producer: Carl Rosendahl
Directors: Eric Darnell, Larry Guterman, Tim Johnson
Screenwriters: Pau & Chris Weitz
Cast:
| Z-1948: Woody Allen
Princess Bala: Sharon Stone Weaver: Sylvester Stallone Azteca: Jennifer Lopez General Formica: Danny Glover Mandible: Gene Hackman Cutter: Christopher Walken Wasps: Dan Aykroyd & Jane Curtin Drunk Scout: John Mahoney The Queen: Anne Bancroft |
 |
Running Time: 77
minutes
Awards:
Domestical Release Date:
October 2, 1998
Grossing: $ 90.6 million
Story:
There are many professions that encourage individuality
and personal expression. Being an Ant isn't one of them.
This fact could not be more true-or disheartening-than it is for Z-1948, a Central
Park inhabitant and misfit worker who longs to be an individual in a society
that is only interested in the good of the colony. Undaunted by the ant caste
society, Z sets his sights on the beautiful princess Bala, the spoiled daughter
of the queen. But she has no use for just an ordinary drone, and Z is clearly
out of his league. When a remarkable twist of fate turns Z from a worker into
an unlikely hero, he soon finds himself leading a revolution that becomes a
celebration of individuality in the face of overwhelming conformity.
Comments:
Antz marks DreamWorks' first animated full-feature coproduction with PDI since the companies announced their relationship in May 1996.
The project has been done with PDI computers
and staff, with art direction and design from DreamWorks.
DreamWorks and PDI used a combination of Silicon Graphics "O2" desktop systems;
Origin200 servers with dual CPUs to be
used for rendering; and Origin2000 servers for media
storage and file serving.
Tim Johnson likened working on Antz to painting little pieces of a
jigsaw puzzle' and revealed
that one of the movie's best sequences features central characters Z and
Princess Bala getting stuck to the gum on a
human's shoe. The scene is in keeping with the
theme of the film, according to the director: We realized this was not a
movie about how small the ants are ... This is a film about how big the world
is.
Antz was expected to be released in theaters on Spring '99, after Disney's
insect movie A Bug's Life but finally it was released 6 months
before, on October '98.
Antz was premiered in The Toronto International Film Festival at their
closing night gala on September 19. Antz was also screened at the Ottawa
International Animation Festival on opening night, September 29.
Test Screenings:
In Oregon, 800 folks were treated to the first ever screening of Antz. Here you have 3 reviews:
First review by B.Dog:
Fresh from a test screening of ANTZ (ok, it
was last night, but I needed time to collect my thoughts and sleep, not necessarily
in that order) and I wanted to share my reactions with the good AICN folks.
First and foremost - I had a great time! This was my first ever test screening,
and as such I wasn't sure what to expect. The movie isn't due out for a few
months, so I figured it would still be in pretty rough shape, and that was right
on target. About 60% (at a guess) was in complete form, but the remainder was
either very basic animation (not much detail, just a few characters and little
background), or in some cases just the storyboards (this was true of most of
the last 10 minutes or so). The voices were all done, so even the parts with
storyboards were easy to follow (I think at some points the rough drawings made
some of the humorous scenes even funnier). The soundtrack was bits of other
movies slapped in there (I recognized ID4, Apollo 13 and First Contact), so
it'll be interesting to see what they have in the final version.
So in any case, a rough product, but I really enjoyed it. Woody Allen was
a perfect choice for the over-talkative, slightly hyper "Z", our hero, and Gene
Hackman did lots of fun scenery chewing (as it were) as the devious General
Mandible. Sharon Stone didn't impress me a whole lot in her role as the love
interest, Princess Bala, but I'll see if she grows on me in the final version.
Also watch out for Christopher Walken, Sylvester Stallone, Danny Glover and
Meryl Streep in smaller parts (Walken's ant character had some perfect Walken
facial expressions - made me laugh).
The story is pretty straightforward, nothing exceptionally original, but
there's plenty of humor and some exciting moments along the way. What was complete
of the animation was very impressive, especially the "wide-angle" shots of the
whole colony - quite amazing.
All in all, a really fun night out! It should be a really entertaining and
enjoyable movie once it's completed. I'm really looking forward to the finished
product!
B. Dog
Second review by Jalapeno:
DreamWorks Picture’s new fully animated film
Antz was shown for the first time ever at Lloyd Center Act III Theatre in Portland,
Oregon yesterday, July 6th. The audience was drawn from those present at Friday’s
10:15 premier of Armageddon. When I called to RSVP for the show, I was first
put on hold for over eight minutes, then told that they had filled up everyone
in my age group, and if I wanted to come I would have to bring two children
12 or under for every adult. The person on the other end of the line finished
with “So why don’t you make some calls, then call me back.” I was then promptly
hung up on. After reviewing the sheet given out at the Armageddon show, I noticed
it said specifically not to bring children 12 and under or infants, so I called
back. There was no answer. Interestingly enough the sheet also said that anyone
who “is dirty, inappropriately dressed or will otherwise interfere with the
viewing of the film for others will not be admitted.”
I arrived a full hour and a half before the show was supposed to begin. Waiting
in line the movie preview staff didn’t seem to care who was who or what age
anyone was. There was no cost for the show, but personal information was collected
from each audience member. At forty-five minutes to start almost every single
seat in the theatre except for those reserved was filled. The show got going
when a spokesman for the Preview Company played a short film explaining that
what we were about to see was a work in progress, and was not ready for release,
along with an explanation regarding the incomplete scenes.
Incomplete scenes in the film were in different stages of production. The
most primitive scenes were in penciled sketches shown about 10 to 15 a minute.
I got the feeling that the scenes that they wanted to be a surprise for even
this audience were purposely left as storyboards. The other incomplete scenes
were primitive objects of the characters covered only drab unlighted textures.
In many scenes there were fully rendered and lighted foreground characters,
but the background objects weren’t textured. About two-thirds of the film was
fully rendered. Highly detailed screens such as the beer dripping down Weaver’s
face or the flood sequences were left in low detail rendering or none at all.
The fully rendered animation for the film was really amazing. The gooey movement
of the ant larva to the flexing muscles of the solider ants along with highly
detailed scenes of consisting of thousands of moving ants moving sequentially
or in different directions made the animation the best ever to hit the big screen.
Music and sound was good, but I was more enticed by the visuals. The most
beautiful still would probably have been when Baala is on the back of a Praying
mantis. I remember its eyes being this shimmery rainbow. It was gorgeous. I
wish I could describe it more. I really liked Jennifer Lopez’s New York accent,
and Barbatus was the perfect sounding veteran for Z. Woody Allen’s whiny voice
was a bit annoying at times, but a lot of the lines sounded like they could
have come from his mind.
The content of the film is definitely mature. Things such as alcohol use,
obvious intoxication presented as comedy, (which I found extremely funny,) severe
animated violence such as dismemberment, sexual overtones, death of celebrated
characters, and hopelessness all contribute to a PG-13 movie NOT for kids.
After the film, the audience was asked to fill out a survey which inquired
about what parts of the movie were good, bad or funny. Whether the ending was
good, etc. A friend of mine who also viewed the film commented. “I thought it
was average. I don’t think it was original, besides the fact that it took a
generic plot and replaced everything with ants.” This negative review comes
from a guy who wrote “I have diseases,” for no particular reason, on his survey.
I found the movie quite cool, the reason I posted it here is because I remembered
a feature about “Ain’t it Cool News” on CNN, so naturally, I had to review it.
Rage Against the Machine. I probably wouldn’t, just so DreamWorks could have
a clean release, but the company who did the preview was so rude, I wanted to
‘get back at them’?
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my review, and are now raving to see the finished
product. I know I am.
This is Jalapeno signing off.
Third review by Skintaco:
Monday night we went to lloyd cinemas (a big
theatre complex in portland). my friends had gotten a flyer when they saw armageddon
there last wednesday. The flyer asked for your name, address, etc., explained
that the movie was a rough cut, and gave a little blurb about it.
So we're waiting in line and are constantly set upon by suited ushers and
such, taking our flyer, giving us a ticket. Lots of movie theatre etiquette
one liners/pointers.
We get in and find some good seats, as the auditorium fills. Several seats
here and there (the last 2 rows, some aisle seats on our row) were taped off...
for what exactly, i was not sure. The audience was mostly filled with kids,
and their silly stereotypical parents. 800 seats in there i'm told. all filled.
So me and my pal are chillin', waitin' for our friends to get in, when this
red-faced energetic dude (named kevin it turns out) in a suit walks over and
asks us our names. grills us on how many movies we've seen recently. my pal
fails miserably (more of a business geek), but i've seen every one he mentions.
He says that the editors will be around after the show and could we stick around
to answer some questions. so we got to grinnin'.
(but after the show he says "The editors decided not to do it, so he doesn't
need us after all." frown. grumble. sigh. Was it my cologne? lack thereof? No!
It must have been my friends!)
Some people fill the taped off seats just before the lights went down. the
two closest had some strange stuff. one had a glow-in-the-dark pen & a notepad,
and the other had some kinda box attached to a cord, with a simple red dial
on top. WTF? i've no idea.
So the energetic guy inna suit (names kevin it turns out) walks out and addresses
the crowd, thanks us all for coming, etc. tells us we're the first audience
to see the film nation wide. (wee) Then begins to explain that the movie is
still very rough,and runs us through a few examples on video tape.
Skintaco.
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