''It's Tough to Be a Bug!'' is a 9-minute-long

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pict ...

based on the 1998

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

· Pixar film '' A Bug's Life'', using theater lighting, 3-D filming techniques, audio-animatronics and various special effects. Flik, a character from the movie, hosts the show and educates the audience on why bugs should be considered friends. It was the first Pixar attraction to open in a Disney park. The attraction opened in

Disney's Animal Kingdom Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, it is the l ...

at the

Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake, Florida, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando ...

on April 22, 1998, a full seven months before the actual feature debuted in theaters, and is housed within the theme park's icon, the

Tree of Life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History ...

. A second version of the attraction debuted at the opening of

Disney California Adventure Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...

on February 8, 2001. The version at California Adventure closed permanently on March 19, 2018, and was replaced by Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure, an interactive screen ride based on the

Spider-Man films The fictional character Spider-Man, a comic book superhero created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and featured in Marvel Comics publications, has appeared as a main character in numerous theatrical and made-for-television films. Nicholas Hammond ...

set in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

. At Disney California Adventure, the Bug's Life Theater was located in A Bug's Land. There, the queue passed through a replica of Ant Island before heading underground, where the queue appeared the same as the one at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was originally part of the Bountiful Valley Farm area of the park until A Bug's Land was built around it.

Production

About a year before the opening of Animal Kingdom, Disney Imagineers had decided to place a show inside the park's centerpiece

, but struggled to find an acceptable concept. Disney CEO

Michael Eisner Michael Dammann Eisner (born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film st ...

suggested a tie-in with the upcoming Pixar film ''A Bug's Life'', and the creative team developed a story based around the characters from the film. Visual effects studio Rhythm and Hues was brought in to produce the 3-D animated portion of the show, while Disney special effects teams created the rest of the experience, including animatronic characters, wind, water, and foul smells.

Summary

Queue

, the Tree of Life theater is located inside the

. As the queue winds around the tree, visitors can glimpse animal carvings on the tree that aren't visible from other vantage points. The "underground" lobby area features posters of various bug acts from the show, as well as those for all-insect parodies of Broadway musicals, such as '' Beauty and the Bees'', '' Web Side Story'', '' Little Shop of Hoppers'' and '' My Fair Ladybug.'' The lobby music overture consists of insect renditions of Broadway musical numbers.

Attraction

After the theater doors close, an announcer advises the audience not to buzz, sting, pollinate or chirp during the show. Flik the ant, in audio-animatronic form, emerges from a hole in the theater's ceiling and welcomes the audience and tells them to put on their bug eyes (

3D glasses Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

). The show begins with butterflies, in formation as curtains, flying away. Flik now appears on screen to present the acts of the show after the title card is presented. Jungle music begins to play, and a Mexican red knee tarantula (referred to as a Chilean rose tarantula in the show) named Chili makes his appearance. A pair of

acorn weevil ''Curculio'' is a genus of weevils belonging the family Curculionidae and subfamily Curculioninae The beetle subfamily Curculioninae is part of the weevil family Curculionidae. It contains over 23,500 described species in 2,200 genera, a ...

s, along with Weevil Kneevil, place a slingshot on the stage and launch acorns from it (triggering hidden air cannons). Chili shoots the first acorn with a quill but fails to shoot the second due to Weevil holding on to it, then taunts Chili who chases after him. Flik presents the second act as a "soldier

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

who defends his mound by spraying intruders with

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

". A piece of the set falls with a rumble and the " Termite-nator" steps out, then shoots at a taunting

flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...

, then the audience, sensing more intruders (which triggers hidden water sprayers), despite Flik's protests, until he runs out of acid and leaves, saying that he will be back. Flik reappears and hopes the audience isn’t allergic to acid. The next act Flik introduces is a

stinkbug Stink bug or stinkbug is a common name for several insects and may refer to: * Any of several bugs in the true bug (hemipteran) family Pentatomidae **''Halyomorpha halys'', or brown marmorated stink bug **''Chinavia hilaris'', or green stink bug ...

named Claire de Room, who walks onto the stage. The acorn weevils place a flower as a target, Weevil re-enters the scene and crashes into the flower, causing it to move towards the audience. Claire then passes gas, which affects and disgusts both Weevil and the audience (which triggers hidden smell cannons in the theater). An explosion is heard as Hopper the

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

, in audio-animatronic form, appears. He orders a

stag beetle Stag beetles are a family of about 1,200 species of beetles in the family Lucanidae, currently classified in four subfamilies.Smith, A.B.T. (2006). A review of the family-group names for the superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) with corrections ...

chase Flik off the stage and four

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

s hold up an advertisement flyer for "Knock 'em Dead" exterminators. The wasps turn over the ad and uses it as a makeshift movie screen to show movie clips from old monster movies featuring giant bugs (''

Earth vs. the Spider ''Earth vs. the Spider'' (a.k.a. ''The Spider'') is an independently made 1958 American black-and-white science fiction horror film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, who also provided the plot upon which the screenplay by George Worthin ...

'', '' Beginning of the End'' and ''

Empire of the Ants "The Empire of the Ants" is a 1905 short story by H. G. Wells about the littleness of humanity and the tenuousness of the dominion ''Homo sapiens'' enjoys on Earth. A 1977 film, '' Empire of the Ants'', was loosely based on Wells' story. Plot ...

''). Hopper wants to make humans experience the same "medicine" and a giant fly swatter attempts to flatten the audience. After Hopper discovers the audience is still alive, he declares war on them. The screen goes black as a hand appears with a can of bug spray and sprays it at the guest (which triggers a hidden fog machine above the screen).

Hornet Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by th ...

s sting the audience (which triggers a small piece of rubber tubing that pokes each guest's back) and several black widow spiders go up and down, trying to capture and scare the audience. Hopper, now on screen, boasts nothing can stop him, but a

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

appears and tries to eat him, making Hopper flee. Flik reappears and says that he forgot to mention the

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s, which segues into the finale.

Bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

dung beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night. Many dung beetles, known as ''rollers'', roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding cha ...

s (The Dung Brothers), dragonflies and other bugs sing about how insects help humans and about how "it's tough to be a bug". Weevil returns, holding a moldy cupcake and the bugs chase him. The butterflies come back to form a curtain and Flik reappears in audio-animatronic form from the ceiling, to wrap the show. After the theater is lit up again, the announcer requests the guests to remain seated so the beetles, maggots, and cockroaches may exit safely. The bugs start to talk all at once as they exit (which triggers hidden rubber wheels to roll at the bottom of the seats). The announcer then tells the audience to gather up their personal belongings and take their "small grubs" by their "grubby little hands" as they exit.

Cast

The cast includes: *

Dave Foley David Scott Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer and writer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of television, stage and ...

as Flik, an ant. * Andrew Stanton as Hopper, a

.(Stanton reprises the voice doubling for

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolades ...

, who originally voiced the character in ''A Bug's Life'') *

Cheech Marin :''The surname'' Marin ''is of Spanish language origin. In Spanish, it is spelled'' Marín'', with an acute accent on the'' í. Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin (born July 13, 1946) is an American actor, musician, comedian, and activist who gained ...

as Chili, a

Mexican redknee tarantula Mexican redknee tarantula is a common name for several spiders and may refer to: *''Brachypelma hamorii ''Brachypelma hamorii'' is a species of tarantula found in Mexico. It has been confused with '' B. smithi''; both have been called Mexican re ...

. * French Stewart as The Termite-ator, a

. * Tom Kenny as The Dung Beetle Brothers, two

s. *

Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor, comedian, host and director. An Emmy and Tony winner, he is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series '' Se ...

as Weevil Kneevil, an

Music

The attraction's titular theme song was written by

George Wilkins George Wilkins (died 1618) was an English dramatist and pamphleteer best known for his probable collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre''. By profession he was an inn-keeper, but he was also apparently invol ...

and Kevin Rafferty and is included in the disc "Theme Park Classics" of the Disney Classics compilation box set. The show's score was composed and conducted by

Bruce Broughton Bruce Harold Broughton (born March 8, 1945) is an American orchestral composer of television, film, and video game scores and concert works. He has composed several highly acclaimed soundtracks over his extensive career and has contributed man ...

, while much of the queue music was arranged by Wilkins. The queue features parodies or renditions of songs from famous Broadway shows using bug sounds. *"One" (''A Cockroach Line''), a parody of "One" ('' A Chorus Line'') *"Beauty and the Bees" (''Beauty and the Bees''), a parody of " Beauty and the Beast" ('' Beauty and the Beast'') *"Tomorrow" (''Antie''), a parody of " Tomorrow" (''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'') *"I Feel Pretty" (''Web Side Story'') a parody of "I Feel Pretty" (''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

'') *"Hello Dung Lovers" (''The Dung and I''), a parody of " Hello Young Lovers" (''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childre ...

'') *"Tonight" (''Web Side Story''), a parody of "

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

" (''West Side Story'') mixed with Flight of the Bumblebee

References

External links

Walt Disney World Resort – ''It's Tough to be a Bug!''''It's Tough to Be a Bug'' Photo Gallery
* {{Disney's Animal Kingdom Disney California Adventure Walt Disney Parks and Resorts films A Bug's Land Disney's Animal Kingdom Discovery Island (Disney's Animal Kingdom) Pixar in amusement parks Amusement rides introduced in 1998 Amusement rides introduced in 2001 Amusement rides that closed in 2018 Audio-Animatronic attractions Films about insects 3D short films 4D films Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions 1998 establishments in Florida 2001 establishments in California 2018 disestablishments in California 1998 computer-animated films