Ultimate DVD
"[With] moments of inventiveness and wit..." 07/28/2006 p.E10Entertainment Weekly
"[T]he kind of life lessons that usually gum up the fun go down as easily as jelly beans in THE ANT BULLY, an effortlessly clever animated confection..." 08/04/2006 p.47 Sight and Sound
"Stirring classical music accompanies scenes of flying insects swooping in on the ants....The action should appeal to children." 09/01/2006 p.48 Box Office
"[T]he CGI-created earthbound universe that Lucas is dragged down into is a lively environment full of energy, excitement and cultural heritage..." 09/01/2006 p.112 Widescreen Review
"[The] details are very well resolved, with fine textures looking very realistic. Colors are vibrant and realistic..." 02/01/2007 p.67 ReelViews 6 of 10
The Ant Bully is a sore disappointment to anyone hoping for a turnaround to the recent downward quality spiral of animated films. In fact, this movie may represent a new nadir for 3D animation. Although it's pretty enough to look at (although nowhere near as exquisitely rendered as Pixar's Cars), the storyline - a cobbled-together stew of moralizing and pointless action sequences - is an insult to anyone with more than a second-grade education. Young kids may find The Ant Bully appealing, but nearly everyone else, including parents forced to sit through the movie, will understand the difference between a "family film" and a "children's film," and why this picture belongs in the latter category. How I long for the days of quality insect-oriented animated entertainment like Antz and A Bug's Life. - James Berardinelli
Variety 8 of 10
Following the mindset of so many recent CG kidpics -- the gabbier the script, the better -- "The Ant Bully" is lovely to look at but a headache to listen to. Visually dazzling cross between "Antz" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" follows a boy forced to live among insects, with extremely noisy and (there's no other word for it) antic results...Davis fluidly orchestrates the pic's games with perception and dynamic shifts in scale (an exploding firecracker, seen and heard first at ground level, then from a human's perspective, supplies more wit than anything in the screenplay). Project reteams the helmer with a number of his "Jimmy Neutron" collaborators, including editor Jon Price and composer John Debney, who wrote the memorably tuneful score. - Justin Chang
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