Antz Review

Hey, this is Steve Blum and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Don't you want

your 8 -bit beer? Call me crazy, but I have a

thing about drinking from the caboose of another

creature. Suit yourself. Z was just another face

in the crowd. Until the day she came into his

life. I wanna dance? Absolutely. What on earth

are you doing? You know, why does everybody have

to dance the same way? You know, that's completely

boring. It's no fun. It's a ball of a... You're

a princess. When can I see you again? Never.

Bye. No, wait! You've got to switch places with

me. This is the only way I can see Princess Bala.

Oh, boy. Princess Bala! Princess Bala! Hey, it's

me! Pride first! We receive word that the termite

enemy has mobilized. This guy's crazy. I am proud

to send you into battle. I'm sorry, into battle?

Now... Destiny will make him a hero. One soldier

did make it back. You're the guy from the bar.

Worker, dance with my fiancé. Arrest him. Hey,

wait a minute! Let go of me! And it will take

him on an adventure... ...beyond his wildest

dreams. So he kills himself a hundred termites,

then bada -bing bada -bip, he bags himself the

princess. I can't believe you tried to pass yourself

off as a soldier. The trick is not to panic.

And he's about to discover that the challenges

of the outside world... Help me, Bob! ...are

the least of his problems. I've been kidnapped

by the village idiot. I know almost exactly what

I'm doing. We will spare no effort to bring her

back. Look out! One hand... Z, help me! ...will

rise above it all to prove that he's won in a

million. DreamWorks Pictures and PDI present.

It looks like this is it, just when I was starting

to like you. Hello and welcome to episode 38

of Tooncast Beyond, brought to you by the GeekCaster

Radio Network and Audible .com. I am your host,

TFJ and Mike, and joining me, returning from,

well, at... A few weeks ago, he returned from

TFCon. Steve Megatron, hello. Hello. How are

you? Good. Welcome to season two of Tooncast

Beyond, sir. How's it any different than season

one? We switched from superheroes to DreamWorks

stuff. So they went from superheroes to dreaming

about them? Essentially, yes. And of course,

we have the illustrious... TV's Mr. Neil! You

the ant! At least it was subject related. Oh

man. So yeah, today we're going to be continuing

on with the DreamWorks spotlight. Over the last

two weeks we did a Shrek spotlight with JT and

myself talking about the four Shrek films. And

now we move on to Ant Switch. I'm not looking

at the information. I could be wrong about this,

but I could have sworn this came out around the

same time as Pixar's A Bug's Life did. It was

very close, I think. I know it was before. I

don't know. Those two movies, I always, I know

they're not the same movie, but I think because

they came out in the same, like close to the

same time span, I always get the two confusing.

funnily enough i a almost like this better than

a bug's life i know it's probably sacrilege to

some people but necessarily i a book looks like

it's kind of forgettable to me this one is much

more memorable i think uh... So with ants we

have it is a 1998 American computer animated

action adventure film produced by DreamWorks

Animation it features the voices of well -known

actors such as Woody Allen Sharon Stone Jennifer

Lopez Sylvester Stallone Dan Aykroyd and Bancroft

Jean Hackman Christopher Walken and Danny Glover

as various members of an ant society some of

the main characters are Share facial similarities

with the actors who voice them Now correct me

if I'm wrong, is this the era when the whole

celebrity voiceover thing kind of took place

and boom and the animators tried to work in the

facial features into each voice actor or actor's

character? Actually I had just watched a special

on this and they said that they didn't try to

do that but the way that they animated the faces

it made It made the characters sort of resemble

the mannerisms of the actors themselves. And

that's why they kind of look that way. Specifically,

Stallone's character, Weaver, they said that

that was not intentional at all that he looked

like him. But once they had Stallone cast, then

they started to do his lips a certain way so

that he was doing the Stallone thing. But otherwise,

no, they really weren't trying to go for that.

I don't know because it just I mean I know not

all celebrity voiceover animated projects do

that It just seemed like to me that it was that

that type of film and that that kind of created

the boom for it because obviously You know Osmosis

Jones looks nothing like Chris Rock Plus a lot

of these guys are very very recognizable mannerisms.

You got Christopher Walken in this movie who,

you know, just the way he talks, if you animate

someone doing his lines, he's going to start

looking like Christopher Walken. Yeah. When did

you first see this, Neil? I want to say early

to mid -2000s. I did not see this in the theater.

I don't even know why I got the DVD. I think

someone got it for me. I get weird gifts all

the time, but I watched it, and I was like, oh,

this is pretty nice. What about you, Steve? When

did you first see this, and what were your initial

impressions on it? Honestly, I don't remember

when I first saw it. Obviously, sometime after

it came out, I didn't see it in theater. I don't

know. I like most of the voice cast. That's something

cool. I'm not gonna, like, completely trash it,

but I like the 3D animated movies, like this

kind of stuff, but I'm not a big fan of the Bugs

stuff. Yeah, I'm not either, really. I can so

agree with you there. This kinda was okay. And

same thing with the Bugs life, and we'll get

to that in a future season of Tooncast Beyond,

but I just... Don't care for bug movies. I think

because they eventually worked in the facial

features of the actor It seemed more human like

to me But at the same time it's still you know

ants So do you guys have a favorite voice or

character in this one Steve I don't have any

particular favorite. No, I Of course, I like

time Christopher Walken's in something but that's

just because He's got the the walk -in voice

Yeah, what about you Neil? I'm gonna go with

Woody Allen just because you know, I'm so used

to hearing of voice actors impersonating Woody

Allen that I thought that's what it was and then

I saw the credits like oh it is Woody Allen and

I kind of I kind of like the the small Jewish

man as the lead character, this wussy kind of

hand -wringing guy who ends up saving the day.

I always kind of like that sort of story. Yeah.

I like Weaver only because it's Stallone. I did

like Z a bit, you know, and again, I mean, the

way the plot shapes up in this movie, It makes

it to be a very decent animated film, and it

has a decent plot. It's not, you know, it's a

little strange, but it's essentially, you know,

ant colony life, I guess. But the general plot

here is Z is one of those worker ants who...

Wants to be more than what he is is really the

like to boil it down You have anything you want

to expand on the plot? Well, I like I said, I

kind of I kind of like this character I like

the overall concept because it's very it's very

individualistic. It doesn't it Yeah, he feels

out of place in the colony. He doesn't want to

be a worker. He wants to be something else. So

he tries being a soldier and then he just basically

breaks free and not to get too far into the plot,

but he takes the princess with him. And it's

basically him doing what he wants to do instead

of being being assigned to something. And that's

what that's what I took away from the movie.

I suppose other people would find a different

theme, but it looks like it looks like the the

synopsis on Wikipedia actually came up with the

same overall conclusion. Yeah, I've never I've

never read and ran but I never cared you anyway,

but yeah, I could see where they would make that

connection Yeah The overall plot is good and

yeah, I do agree it is, you know pretty much,

you know One worker standing out trying to be

something more than what he is and wanting a

different station in life I guess you could say

When you saw this Steve, what did you think of

the overall plot? Not overly bad. I mean I It's

I Don't know You all right over there yes, okay

And of course, it has the thing of the evil general

who tries to kill the hero and take over, you

know, it's essentially, oh, I'm going to take

over the colony thing, which is, you know, pretty

predictable. Well, it's been done before. I mean,

if you look at the bugs life, and that's what

the funny thing is between DreamWorks and Pixar

is they're consistently paralleling each other.

I mean, you get, you know. The the Madagascar

to you know, the the whatever the other zoo animal

thing is you get yeah I mean every time there's

something similar in creature style like, you

know, you got ants you get a bugs life I mean,

it's and then the plot lines are almost pretty

much identical Yeah, they are and it's not really

but I mean, it's like it's not even identical

to each other it's so much that the ants plot

line is The plot line of any move not as his

animation, but it's the plot line of any film

you know Essentially Z is is an ant version of

Clark Kenton Superman I mean if you really want

to put it that way although although all those

he doesn't have superpowers But I mean it's the

same thing where he wants to step out of something

then what he is and whatever else and and you've

got this evil general saying oh No, I'm taking

over. You know it's a it's that same old I guess

another equivalency to it would be essentially

Z is Mario. And the general is Koopa. We're talking

video game Mario or the movie Mario? No, the

video game Mario. No, let's not even go there.

Oh god, that's a few years down the line that

we'll be visiting that. uh... but now the the

overall plot is good for the story that it tells

and at the time i thought it was a really good

film it's not something i would watch over and

over and over again uh... something i can you

know what i find now it's so weird you know i've

got basic classic cable which is channels two

through ninety nine so varying channels like

ABC family or Disney or You know TN, you know

all these basic cable channels will end up showing

sometimes a lot of these animated movies like

Disney Channel shows finding Nemo all the time

and Wally and same thing with ABC family they

all show all these Animated movies and it's like

a lot of these movies with the exception of like

the major ones I can just you know catch on TV

like oh, yeah, I remember this But it doesn't

seem like it's something that I have to own to

be able to see like, oh, I have to watch this

every six months or whichever. Yeah. You know,

it's just one of those things where I like the

film at the time when I watched it, you know,

and looking back on it, having watched it before

doing this podcast. Liked it still there wasn't

like too much because there really isn't so much

you can nitpick on these some of these films

I mean, I'm sure the animation style might not

be some people's cup of tea, but you know neither

is You know mysterious cities of gold is not

some people's cup of tea animation style either

you know it's just one of those things where

I Think it's a decent family film Again, I wish

both Dreamworks and Pixar and Disney would stay

away from trying to tell bug stories because

I'm just not into that You're gonna love a B

-movie You know the funny thing is I actually

do like that. Oh wow, but it's only because It's

only because it's Seinfeld So all right getting

into the the box office here. The film topped

the box office in its opening weekend earning

17 million, just north of 17 million dollars

for a $7 ,021 average from just south of 2500

theaters. The overall, the film's widest release

was 2 ,929 theaters and it closed on February

18, 1999. The film altogether picked up 90 million

dollars. Wow. Domestically. Wait a second. This

film had a 60 million dollar budget so it only

made like it only made 30 million over its budget.

That's not much of a I mean I okay in in you

know us that have never seen a million dollars

I'm sure that's a lot of money but If you look

at those numbers, if it had a $60 million budget

and your only profit is $30 million more, that

doesn't seem like a really good profit margin

to me. Well, it wasn't very well received. Like

again, A Bug's Life was out around the same time.

And then on top of it, there were other movies

people were more itching to see than this. Yeah,

the total worldwide was 171 .8 million, but the

total U .S. domestic was 90. That's a little

strange. Alright, so we are the IGN crew. 1 to

4. Steve, what do you give it? I'd give it a

2. Yeah, I can agree with that. I'd give it a

2 as well. What about you, Neil? I'd give it

a three. It's not the best DreamWorks movie,

but... And I'm not sure... I can't see my sister's

kids watching this, but, you know, it's okay.

Yeah. I mean, it's... Like I said, it's one of

those movies where it's okay if you catch it

somewhere, like if you catch it on TV or if,

you know, something like that. But is it something

that I'm going to walk over to a DVD shelf and

say... I really want to see this movie. No. It

did surprisingly receive very positive reviews.

On Rotten Tomatoes reports that 95 % of critics

have given the film positive review based on

85 reviews with an average score of 7 .7 out

of 10. The critical consensus is wonderful animation

backed by humor and the vocal talents of its

cast make for an entertaining movie. prominently

featured on the DVD. It says two big thumbs up

from Cisco and Ebert. Yes. Yeah. It's nobody

cares what they think. They're critics that paid

to like movies. I know. I mean, seriously, critics

from that that said, oh, I like that movie because

it was great. No, you were paid off. Stop lying.

I have to see a movie that's that's been my general

consensus is because most critics, including

in the newspaper or news or whatever, if they're

a part of any well -paid organization. They're

full of shit to their ears because most of the

movies they rate are crap. I think we need to

have a Geekcast radio episode or MWIRE episode

on film critics. It would be on either one of

those podcasts because this is a whole discussion

we can get into further. What were you gonna

say, Neil? I said I don't really put much stock

into Ebert. I just thought it was funny that

that was so prominently featured on the DVD case.

Yeah. It did win the Top Box Off... No, it won

the 1999 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

for the Harvey Griggs and Williams and John Powell

score Top Box Office Films. uh... it's been nominated

for a bunch of stuff but also won a uh... golden

real award uh... so that's that's interesting

there are three video games based off of this

thing ants ants racing and ants extreme racing

i don't know what to say to that boo boo and

more boo I just love that it's ants extreme racing.

How extreme could it be? Well, they don't move

any faster than people, so let's see. Oh, man.

It's like millipede speed. It's millipede. It's

millitime. Yeah, they get drunk and then they

drive. Ants drunk drag racing. That's a game

I would play. You'd hear mostly splat, splat,

splat, splat, tree, splat. Yeah, foot. You know,

like we've said, Ants is a decent animated movie.

For us, it's probably not something that none

of the three of us are going to watch on a regular

basis. It just didn't overly connect with me.

When I watched it back, I was like, oh, I saw

that plot line coming. Saw that plot line coming.

Oh, yeah, the general. Of course, he's the villain.

You know, yeah, the villain is kind of really

simplistic. I mean Nick Yeah, they kind of beat

you over the head with like I just praised that

the individualism a couple minutes ago But they

do kind of beat you over the head with like he

actually says well that shows the folly of individualism

and I'm like, oh geez Everything I was good.

Everything good. I was just saying about this

movie just kind of went down a point and it's

like I mean the The lumberjacks in fern gully

were better villains than this general guy You

know they just weren't I think for me what what

what takes it down and in my overall opinion

of it is the fact that It's a movie with bugs

and that's that's really where it lies. So Shut

up Waspinator. Waspinator does not like bugs.

You are a bug. Bye. Junecast will be back after

these questions. Kid. Yes. Shut up. Beyond the

Night is the GCRN's latest review podcast. We

are covering everything in the Knight Rider television

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in Beyond the Night only on Geekcast Radio Network.

You can find Beyond the Night in iTunes and on

www .geekcastradio .com. Yes, Michael. Just keep

driving. Hey Chuck, what's up, right? You know

how we talk about doing a podcast? Glad some

ideas run past you. Yeah, what do you got? I

thought we should base it on comics. Well, there's

thousands of podcasts about comics. You kind

of want to narrow it down a bit. Well, what about

Star Wars? Still, there's a ton of those out

there. What else you got? We could always do

G .I. Joe comics. There's still a ton of those

out there. What about the 80s franchises? There's

already a few of those as well. Then let's forget

about comics. Let's focus on toys and action

figures. Dude, then we're back to thousands of

podcasts. Well, is anyone covering all those

things I mentioned in one podcast? No one would

be crazy enough to do that. Then that's what

we'll do. Are you serious? Yep. Come and listen

to Star Joe's podcast. You can find us at starjoes

.com or find us on iTunes. We cover comics, TV

shows, and movies based on Star Wars, G .I. Joe,

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comm slash geek cast radio All right, Neil. What

do you guys over there at the alcoholics aficionados

got going on? Well, we got a an episode coming

up about 70s Hanna Barbera, we've got I believe

this week we have an episode about bleach We

got a whole bunch of episodes in the in the can,

but I can't remember all of them We just did

a live episode yesterday about cartoon censorship

Yeah, check in the coming weeks. We got a whole

bunch of stuff coming up Cool cool What do you

got going on, Steve? What are you up to these

last few weeks? Well, besides going to TFCon,

I've made a bunch of contacts via TFCon. Some

that I knew, some that I didn't. I got to BS

with Scott McNeil, which was awesome. And then,

of course, the Dark Glass project that we're

working on is pushing forward. And we actually

found another voice for fan voice for the the

video which we scouted at the script reading

oh cool and Pursued him right after so So yeah,

so a lot of cool crap's been going on with that

and then of course new changes to keep cash radio

will be coming soon of They're not major, but

they're their new additions. Yes, very very awesome

Be sure to head over to GeekCastRadio's RSS feed

because I interviewed Chuck Duran and Stacy J.

Aswad from VioBuzz Weekly. That was a very interesting

and fun interview. Love those two. They're a

barrel of laughs. Thank you for joining us here

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We hope you enjoyed this episode of Tooncast

Beyond and wish you'll join us next time when

we'll be continuing on in the season of DreamWorks

with Chicken Run. Oh, Gibson is a chicken. That

just doesn't compute. For now, I am TFG1Mike

with... Steve... Megatron Philips. And TV's Mr.

Neo. Thank you for listening, until next time.

Snicked.