It's Tough To Be A Bug!
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''It's Tough to Be a Bug!'' was a
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. 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema and later experienced a worldwide r ...
based on
Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
's 1998 film ''
A Bug's Life ''A Bug's Life'' (stylized in all lowercase) is a 1998 American animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter from a screenplay written by Andrew Stanton, Donald McEnery, and Bob Shaw, and a story conceived by Lasseter, Stanton, and Joe Ran ...
''. The attraction first opened with Disney's Animal Kingdom on April 22, 1998, seven months before ''A Bug's Life'' debuted in theaters, and was 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 mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...
. A second version of the attraction opened with
Disney California Adventure Disney California Adventure is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. The park is themed after Disney's interpretation of California ...
on February 8, 2001, as part of the Bountiful Valley Farm area of the park, until A Bug's Land was built around it, and was housed inside the Bug's Life Theater. The attraction was Pixar's first presence in a Disney park. The film utilized theater lighting, 3D filming techniques,
Audio-Animatronics Audio-Animatronics (also known simply as AAs) are a form of Mechatronics, mechatronic animatronics puppetry created by Walt Disney Imagineering and Trademark, trademarked by The Walt Disney Company for use in designed shows and attractions at Disn ...
and various special effects and was hosted by Flik, an ant and the protagonist of ''A Bug's Life'', who lead an educational presentation on why insects should be considered an important part of the lives of humans.


History


Production

About a year before the 1998 opening of Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney Imagineers had decided to place a show inside the park's centerpiece, the
Tree of Life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...
, 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 ...
suggested a tie-in with the then-upcoming Pixar film ''
A Bug's Life ''A Bug's Life'' (stylized in all lowercase) is a 1998 American animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter from a screenplay written by Andrew Stanton, Donald McEnery, and Bob Shaw, and a story conceived by Lasseter, Stanton, and Joe Ran ...
'', and the creative team developed a story based on the characters from the film. Visual effects studio Rhythm and Hues was brought in to produce the 3D animated portion of the show, while Disney's special effects teams created the rest of the experience, including
Audio-Animatronics Audio-Animatronics (also known simply as AAs) are a form of Mechatronics, mechatronic animatronics puppetry created by Walt Disney Imagineering and Trademark, trademarked by The Walt Disney Company for use in designed shows and attractions at Disn ...
characters, wind, water, and foul smells.


Film

Directed by Chris Bailey and Andrew Schmidt, the film ''It's Tough to Be a Bug!'' was Pixar's first attraction presence in a Disney park. Dave Foley voiced the lead protagonist, Flik, in both the attraction film and the feature film, which was released seven months after ''It's Tough to Be a Bug!'' had opened. The feature film's screenwriter and co-director
Andrew Stanton Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is best known as the director and co-writer of the Pixar animated films ''Finding Nemo'' (2003), ''WALL-E'' (2008), ''Finding Dory'' (2016), and the upcoming ''Toy Story 5 ...
voiced Hopper in the attraction film, voice-doubling for
Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...
, who voices the character in the feature film.


Closure and replacements

''It's Tough to Be a Bug!'' closed at Disney California Adventure along with the rest of A Bug's Land on March 19, 2018, and was replaced by Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure, an interactive screen ride themed to
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...
, as part of the new Avengers Campus, based on the
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...
. In September 2023, at the Disney fan event Destination D23, it was announced that a new show based on
Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
' ''Zootopia'' franchise would be created for the Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom. ''It's Tough to Be a Bug!'' closed on March 16, 2025, and will be replaced with a new show, titled ''Zootopia: Better Zoogether!''.


Summary


Queue

At Disney's Animal Kingdom, the Tree of Life Theater was located within the park's icon, the
Tree of Life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...
. Many animals are carved throughout the exterior queue between the roots of the trees, which are not visible from other vantage points. Posters of various bug acts from the show were displayed before reaching the "underground" lobby area, where posters for all-insect parodies of Broadway musicals were also displayed, such as " The Grass Menagerie", " Barefoot in the Bark", " Little Shop of Hoppers" and "
My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...
bug". The lobby music overture consisted of insect renditions of signature Broadway musical numbers. Dr. Jane Goodall, who was a consultant in the development and design of Disney's Animal Kingdom, is honored just outside the doors that lead into the attraction's lobby on a plaque describing the origin of her achievements in primatology and
zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
, next to a larger-than-life sculpted likeness of Dr. Goodall's chimpanzee subject, David Greybeard. At Disney California Adventure, the queue passed through a replica of Ant Island, the colony where the main protagonist lives in, before heading "underground", where the column appeared the same as the one at Disney's Animal Kingdom.


Attraction

Flik the ant, in audio-animatronic form, emerged from a hole in the theater's ceiling and welcomed the audience and began to explain that insects play an important role in humans' life that they cannot see and invited them to see his perspective on the matter, by donning the provided bug eyes ( 3D glasses). The show began with butterflies forming a curtain together before flying away, followed by the presentation of show's title card. Flik appeared onscreen to present the show's acts, beginning with Chili, a Mexican red knee tarantula (referred in the show as a Chilean rose tarantula), whose an expert quill shooter. A pair of acorn weevils, along with Weevil Kneevil, place a slingshot on the stage and launched acorns from it (triggering hidden air cannons). Chili was able to shoot the first acorn but failed to hit the second because Weevil held on to it, then taunts Chili, who chases after him. Flik presents the second act as a "soldier
termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...
who defends his mound by spraying intruders with acid". A piece of the set falls and the Termite-ator steps out, then shoots at a taunting flea, then the audience, sensing more intruders (triggering hidden water sprayers), despite Flik's protests, until he runs out of acid and leaves. The third act introduced was Claire de Room, a stinkbug who walked onto the stage to demonstrate her "silent but deadly" talent by targeting a flower that the acorn weevils placed in the far back stage. However, still fleeing from Chili, the Weevil re-entered the stage and crashed into the flower, causing it to move towards the audience. Claire then passed gas, which affects and disgusts both Weevil and the audience (triggering hidden smell cannons in the theater). With an explosion to the right side of the audience, Hopper the grasshopper appeared in audio-animatronic form, disgusted at Flik's compassion towards humans. He ordered a stag beetle to chase Flik off the stage, and four wasps hold up an extermination advertisement flyer. The wasps turn over the flyer and use it as a movie screen to show movie clips from old monster movies that feature giant insects as monsters. In an attempt to make humans experience the same torture that insects receive, a giant fly swatter attempts to flatten the audience. However, after discovering that the audience was still alive, Hopper declared war on them. The screen went black as a hand appeared with a can of bug spray, releasing the contents towards the audience (triggering a hidden fog machine above the screen). As the theater went completely dark, hornets stung the audience (triggering small pokers that tap everyone's back), and, at Hopper's mandate, several black widow spiders dropped up and down over the audience's heads, trying to capture and scare the audience, before disappearing to the theater's ceiling. Now onscreen, Hopper boasted about being unbeatable, but a chameleon appeared from the back of the stage and shot its tongue to eat him before fleeing. Flik reappeared onscreen and says he forgot to mention that reptiles do not care that it is tough to be a bug, which segues into the finale. Bees, dung beetles (The Dung Brothers), dragonflies and other insects sing the attraction's titular song and how insects actually help humans, before Weevil returned holding a moldy cupcake, followed by the entire cast of insects chasing after him. The butterflies came back to form a curtain once again, and Flik reappeared in audio-animatronic form from the ceiling to bid farewell to the audience. After the theater was lit up again, the theater's announcer requested guests to remain seated so other insects can exit, triggering hidden rubber wheels that roll at the bottom of the seats.


Voice cast

* Dave Foley as Flik, an
ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...
. *
Andrew Stanton Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is best known as the director and co-writer of the Pixar animated films ''Finding Nemo'' (2003), ''WALL-E'' (2008), ''Finding Dory'' (2016), and the upcoming ''Toy Story 5 ...
as Hopper, a
grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...
. *
Cheech Marin Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin (born July 13, 1946) is an American comedian and actor. He gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s with Tommy Chong, and as Don Johnson's partner, Insp. Joe Dom ...
as Chili, a Mexican redknee tarantula. * French Stewart as The Termite-ator, a
termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...
. *
Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...
as The Dung Beetle Brothers, two dung beetles. *
Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor and comedian. Over the course of his career he has received an Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for four Golden Globe ...
as Weevil Kneevil, an acorn weevil.


Music

The attraction's titular theme song was written by George Wilkins 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, 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 ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical conceived by Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is cent ...
'') *"Beauty and the Bees" (''Beauty and the Bees''), a parody of "
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
" (''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'') *"Tomorrow" (''Antie''), a parody of " Tomorrow" ('' Annie'') *"I Feel Pretty" (''Web Side Story'') a parody of " I Feel Pretty" (''
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...
'') *"Hello Dung Lovers" (''The Dung and I''), a parody of " Hello Young Lovers" ('' The King and I'') *"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


See also

* The Tree of Life * Muppet*Vision 3D * Mickey's PhilharMagic * List of Disney's Animal Kingdom attractions * List of Disney California Adventure attractions * 2018 in amusement parks


References

https://wdwnt.com/2025/03/zootopia-better-zoogether-to-reuse-existing-theater-effects-from-its-tough-to-be-a-bug/


Notes


External links


''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 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 2025 disestablishments in Florida 1998 computer-animated films Animated films about ants 1998 animated short films