Inspired by Aesop’s fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” this is a 1998 computer-animated comedy adventure* film produced by Pixar.

    The hero is Flik (voiced by Dave Foley), the smartest ant in the colony*. As the other ants labor to pile up a mountain of food for tyrannical* grasshoppers, Flik perfects an invention to harvest grain more quickly. But he’s still basically just an ant; the film is more about the fate of the colony and not so much about individuals like “Antz.”

    There is a crisis. Flik spills the food mountain, and Hopper (Kevin Spacey), the leader of the grasshoppers, is not pleased. Hopper has the kind of personality that makes him talk with his hands, and since he has four, Flik gets the message: Rebuild the food mountain or face terrible consequences*.

    Flik feels bad because his clumsiness* caused the trouble. He apologizes to the Queen (Phyllis Diller), is encouraged by Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Mr. Soil (Roddy McDowall), and resolves* to fight back.

    Flik uses a dandelion pod as a sort of aircraft and flies off on a hopeful quest to find mercenaries* he can hire to defend the colony. He finds nine, including a walking stick named Slim (David Hyde Pierce), a praying mantis (Jonathan Harris), a caterpillar that looks military and sounds like a Nazi (Joe Ranft), a black widow (Bonnie Hunt) and others. How is he to know they aren’t really warrior insects, but simply discontented* performers from P. T. Flea’s Circus?

    The animators, led by director John Lasseter, provide rich images. A rainstorm feels like the colony is being water-bombed. A circus trick involves matches and flypaper.

    The Pixar animators, using new generations of the software that created a fresh look in “Toy Story,” have made a movie that is always a pleasure to look at: There are glistening, rounded surfaces, the sense of three dimensions and an eye for details. (SD-Agencies)