CNF Special Movie Talkback: Antz [11/26/04]

[Red]

http://fridays.toonzone.net/talkbacks/premiere.gifhttp://fridays.toonzone.net/talkbacks/movie.gif

Movie: Antz
Friday, November 26th, 2004


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It's Once Again Time For a CNF Talkback

Some Crazy CGI Ants on CNF Tonight! (All Times are EST)

Time: 8:00pm

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Synopsis

Central Park ant drone Z longs to be an individual of accomplishment, but Z's colony is a society that puts the value of the colony over personal achievement. Young Z sets his sites on the colony's Queen daughter Bala- who is uninterested until Z successfully mounts a revolution within the colony for the advancement of individuality.

Later Tonight: Reruns!
Next Week: KND and Puffy AND THE ED EDD N EDDY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL.

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NOTES





This is a premiere on Cartoon Network
Let's Begin!

[Obi]

I really hate this movie....


Why is it that the designs in this movie are so ugly? WHY?!

[Killtacular]

Antz is bland looking but better and funnier than Bugs Life.

I'm upset that BS&P wimped out after Iron Giant and editted Antz down to TV-G. Then again some edits would've been made no matter what. Antz was much closer to the Father of the Pride standards than Shrek's standards.

Example Edit: (paraphrasing) "I can't say I have a thing for drinking out of the anus of another animal". 'Anus' altered to 'caboose'.

[Mugen]

Antz is bland looking but better and funnier than Bugs Life.

I'm upset that BS&P wimped out after Iron Giant and editted Antz down to TV-G. Then again some edits would've been made no matter what. Antz was much closer to the Father of the Pride standards than Shrek's standards.

Example Edit: (paraphrasing) "I can't say I have a thing for drinking out of the anus of another animal". 'Anus' altered to 'caboose'.
I wonder if the TBS airing had the same edits.

[Youko Recca]

Why is it that the designs in this movie are so ugly? WHY?!
What are the key creatures in the movie?


I've always thought like this:

Antz is bland looking but better and funnier than Bugs Life.
....And I find this an enjoyable movie to watch every once in awhile. Not perfect by any means but just fun.

[Killtacular]

I still don't know why this movie is airing on Fridays and not Adult Swim in the first place.

[livingfruitvirus]

I still don't know why this movie is airing on Fridays and not Adult Swim in the first place.
Wasn't it touted as a family film?

[Zapages]

^I'm guessing the 3D animation is more toward the general audience which all teenagers and kids more than adults. :sad:

[Killtacular]

Wasn't it touted as a family film?
I don't ever recall that.

And it's not.

[Obi]

Maybe they just looked at the PG rating and decided to stick it on Fridays?


I mean, I know TV-PG = early Adult Swim territory, but movie-PG generally gives the impression that it's a kid's movie, even though it doesn't mean it necessarily is one.


Edit: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dreamworks_family_animated_movie_collection/about.php

"Dreamworks Family Animated Movie Collection"

"This box set features five animated hits from DreamWorks: SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON, THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, ANTZ, CHICKEN RUN, and THE ROAD TO EL DORADO. See individual titles for details."

[Scythemantis]

I don't really think Antz can be compared to bug's life. They're two completely different movies sharing only a theme and medium, and if you think that's enough to make one movie a knock-off of the other you're being dumb.

What are the key creatures in the movie?

But insects are pretty in real life and can be "cute" in animation. There isn't much excuse for the ants in Antz, which are just too eerily human around the face - same problem I have with the designs in "Shark Tale". At least they have the right number of limbs.

I think the other insects look great, though. The wasps have a VERY cool design, the termites are badass and I love some of the other minor characters. The housefly is my favorite (out of any animated bug movie, really)... wish I could find a decent image of him.

Some real termites do spray a glue-like substance from their foreheads, but only tropical species. They're peaceful creatures that never even set foot outside their colony but ants frequently raid and pillage from them unprovoked.


What does bother me though is that, seeing as they share a queen, Z and Bala are brother and sister.

[ktoriyama]

Hold on, has anyone considered the satirical nature of this whole movie. Right now a major theme seems to be the triumph of indvidiualism, the stupidity of collectivism, and the virute of being selfish, or in other words, Ayn Rand's philosphy?

I mean the whole story is about an invidual who leaves a collectivist mindset and realises an invidualism philosophy. This is the basis of so many Ayn Rand's books. Look also at the fact that people are assigned jobs on the whims of the few, without them choosing the jobs of their own free will. This is a really instresting satire. The head leader also displays elemnets of "Hitlerism", where he wants to cleanse the spieces and create a breed of superants, believing one kind of ants are superior to the next. Am I reading it right?

And I'll stop babbling now.

[Obi]

That CG water looks pretty good.

[Mugen]

Look at those credits go...

[Youko Recca]

I don't really think Antz can be compared to bug's life. They're two completely different movies sharing only a theme and medium, and if you think that's enough to make one movie a knock-off of the other you're being dumb.
No one said anything about rippoffs or anything, but I wouldn't put it past to call them rivals to an extent. I'm sure they came out around the same time and coincidently, when I was suppossed to see Bug's Life my mom accidently took me to see Antz.



But insects are pretty in real life and can be "cute" in animation. There isn't much excuse for the ants in Antz, which are just too eerily human around the face - same problem I have with the designs in "Shark Tale". At least they have the right number of limbs.
I never really stopped outside to look at insects. They seem....there. And infact are. I guess you are definatly right with what you say about the faces and such. But it's not like say....Inuyasha, where if you've seen one villager, you've seen 'em all.

[Red]

Even edited, that was still NOT appropriate for CNF. Its a good movie. But there was language and blood and stuff like that. This wasnt even appropriate for Toonami. Keep it uncut and throw it on Adult Swim. I'm sorry, but in a parents perspective, I'd be REALLY pissed at CN right now.

[wrenchien]

hey, at least cn can say ONE movie they've ever aired had woody allen in it.

i on one point, will state that they would have a very hard time airing 'sleeper' or 'bananas' on that network.. even if that 'pagemaster' and 'ozzy and drix' shenanigans managed to get past the 'border patrol.'

very much so. and for obvious reasons.

[youkai chris]

I saw this movie back in 9th grade.

I rememeber the class saying "aww no" when they saw Z and Bala didn't kiss at the picnic.

The general did remind me of Hitler.

The movie did have a few funny scenes.

[Black Arc]

Antz on As? Please, in that case they should toss in DBZ next.

I love this movie, I hadn't seen it in a long while. Can't believe they left the part with the war scene in though, and that one part with that ants head.

[Mek]

Meh.

I don't like this movie at all, but it's better than 'A Bug's Life'. XP

[Killtacular]

Antz on As? Please, in that case they should toss in DBZ next.
There's a difference between Antz and DBZ. One is adult and the other is pre-teen garbage. Unless you're trying to imply that Woody Allen is the new Ashton Kutcher and 9-14 years olds just adore his neurotic sensibilities. And I'm prety sure you're not, because that would be an idiotic implication.

[Discloner]

I think the movies alright. It isn't horrible, but at the same time it's far from good. It falls in that comfy "Meh" zone that so many a-movie have fallen into before it.

It kept my attention well enough, and there were moments that I smiled and liked. I didn't even know this movie was going to be on....did they advertise it at all?

Even edited, that was still NOT appropriate for CNF. Its a good movie. But there was language and blood and stuff like that. This wasnt even appropriate for Toonami. Keep it uncut and throw it on Adult Swim. I'm sorry, but in a parents perspective, I'd be REALLY pissed at CN right now.
I can respect your perspective to protect children from fowl language and slight blood use...but I hardly think Antz has any content in it that's horribly unsutable for younger kids to see, nor do I think it's a movie parent should get pissed over. Words like Damn, hell, and crap, are found in lots of show geared at the Friday's audience (The Iron Giant, Dexter, the list goes on), and I think the Powerpuff Girls probably has more blood content then all of Antz.

My problem with it airing where it did lies not with it's content. I just think the movie's plot and humor were geared more towards adults and probably flew over a lot of kid's heads.

Getting pissy over this movie because it has blood and extremely mild cursing would really just be a waste of effort, atleast in my opinion.

[Red]

But I mean, come on, 6-11 year olds block showing this. "Block" wise, its probably one of the most meant for kids right now. At least they coulda shown it out of a block on Cartoon Theater. Just not a 6-11 block.

[Kagetsu]

I agree with "meh". CGI has come a long way and this movie reminded me why I didn't like it in the beginning. I much prefer Bug's Life. I've always compared the two, same type animation, same insects, same time release. Now, I like subtle humour but that's almost placid. Bug's life was funny. The "bad" language I don't see as being a real problem for kids. It wasn't stuck in for shock value. This show was geared to adults. I don't think Blossom should use them but I don't think they should be edited.

[Eddy]

I wouldn't classify Antz as a kids movie... It doesn't exactly aim for children's humor.

I remember seeing this movie back in the theater. Sure, it's not perfect but it's still good.

It's too bad they made some of those edits. I noticed replacing "anus" with "caboose" and the removal of the word "tight-ass."

Antz > A Bug's Life

[ktoriyama]

Z's soldier friend, Buzzlecut or something, head was decapitated and Z was talking to it. Took me awhile to figure that out.
A line about erotic fantasies. Let's not go there and what guys who have em do.
Getting rid of the weaker element line, even thought used by a bad guy.
Drinking
Not too bad, but not 6-11 material. There might be others, but these are the ones that really stood out.

[Freedom Fighter]

I remember watching both when they came out in theaters, and how much similiar and different they were.

- Yes, they are both stories about bugs trying to protect their colonies.
- While Bug's Life seemed more upbeat and cheery, Antz slanted towards the darker side.
- Both may have been made for children, but Antz has elements that I would consider not appropriate for the young tikes. Older children maybe, but definitely not the Fridays crowd.

Good decision by CN to pick up Antz for airing. Bad idea to air it on Fridays.

As for the movie itself, it's okay. It starts off real slow, but gets interesting in the second half. It does feel like it skews older too, so maybe that's why at times I enjoyed it more than Bug's Life.

Though I would be more interested in a Bug's Life sequel before an Antz sequel, the premiere of "Antz" gets a decent score of 3 out of 4.

[raykremer]

I mean the whole story is about an invidual who leaves a collectivist mindset and realises an invidualism philosophy. This is the basis of so many Ayn Rand's books. Look also at the fact that people are assigned jobs on the whims of the few, without them choosing the jobs of their own free will. This is a really instresting satire. The head leader also displays elemnets of "Hitlerism", where he wants to cleanse the spieces and create a breed of superants, believing one kind of ants are superior to the next. Am I reading it right?
I don't know anything about Ayn Rand, but you've pretty much nailed Antz, yes. It's still a good movie though, just a little one-sided on the philosophy.

[Speedy Boris]

There isn't much excuse for the ants in Antz, which are just too eerily human around the face - same problem I have with the designs in "Shark Tale". At least they have the right number of limbs. About Antz's character designs: This is a tricky issue. On the one hand, I don't dig the look of the ants in Antz- they look too much like their human VAs and the dark brown isn't very appealing. On the other hand, a lot of the characters in A Bug's Life tended to look almost exactly the same- a roundish face, similar eyes and mouths- so originality was an issue there.

I actually liked all the character designs in A Bug's Life EXCEPT for the ants themselves. The grasshoppers? Fantastic. The circus freaks? Dynamite. The ants? Not so great.

[Numbuh 4]

I wasn't planning on watching this, was watching Smallville with my friend, but after it was over I turned on CN... the first thing I heard: "I'm your princess, dammit!" ...I was like "...ooookay..." I forgot it had swears. :sweat:
But I like this movie, mostly cause of the battle... which I missed... :shrug:
5/5
Bug's Life=teh funny
Antz=teh dark cool

Finding Nemo=teh funny
Shark Tale=um... gangsta power?

~:knd4:
+1post4me