Antz (1998)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1997
Running Times: 79 mins (Spain, UK)     80 mins (Netherlands)     83 mins (Japan)      87 mins (USA)
Format: Technicolor     35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: DTS     Dolby Digital     SDDS

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: DreamWorks SKG/Pacific Data Images
Executive Producers: Penney Finkelman Cox, Sandra Rabins, Carl Rosendahl
Producers: Brad Lewis, Aron Warner, Patty Wooton
Production Managers: Patty Bonfilio, Jane Hartwell, Denise Minter
Production Supervisor: Lisa Atkinson

SCRIPT
Script: Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Story: Chris Miller
Technical Writer: Nik Gervae
Creative Consultants/Story Consultants: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio
Story Consultant: Zak Penn

DIRECTION
Director: Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson
Additional Sequences Director: Lawrence Guterman
Supervising Technical Director: George Bruder
Lead Technical Director: Eric Salituro

ANIMATION
Animation Production Supervisor: Triva von Klark
Supervising Animators: Raman Hui, Rex Grignon
Character Designer: Raman Hui
Lighting Supervisors: Jean M. Cunningham, Janet Rentel, Craig Ring, Paul Wang
Senior Lighting Animator: Bert Poole
Layout Artist: Bertrand Ong

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Stan Webb
2nd Editor: Steve Bloom
1st Assistant Editor: Devon Miller
Assistant Editor: Lorelei David
Post-Production Executive: Martin Cohen
Post-Production Supervisor: Erica Frauman

MUSIC
Music: Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell
Additional Music: Gavin Greenaway, Steve Jablonsky, Geoff Zanelli
Songs: Johnny Nash (I Can See Clearly Now); Sammy Cahn, James Von Houson (High Hopes); Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe (Almost Like Being in Love); John Lennon (Give Peace a Chance); Pete Seeger, Julian Orbon, Jose Fernandez Dias, Jose Marti (Guantanamera)
Songs Performed By: Neil Finn (I Can See Clearly Now); Doris Day (High Hopes); Woody Allen (Almost Like Being in Love)
Music Performed By: Frank Ricotti (bass marimba); Brian Gulland (crumhorn); Oren Marshall (elephant and antelope horns); Jonathan Snowden (flute solo); Skaila Kanga (harp); Ryeland Allison, Bob Daspit (percussion loops); Louis Jardim (percussion); Phil Todd (saxophone solo); Chris Lawrence (solo bass)
Orchestrators: March Dicterow-Vaj, Elizabeth Finch, Steven Fowler, Walt Fowler, Yvonne S. Moriarty, Jack Smalley, Bruce L. Fowler, Ladd Macintosh
Executives In Charge Of Music: Todd Homme, Marylata Jacob
Music Executive Producer: Hans Zimmer
Score Recording: Nick Wollage
Percussion Recording: Steve Orchard
Score Mixers: Steve Maslow, Alan Meyerson
Supervising Music Editor: Adam Milo Smalley
Music Editors: Jennifer Nash, Brian Richards
Temp Music Editor: Mark Jan Wlodarkiewicz
Conductor: Gavin GreenawayChoir Conductor: Rupert Gregson-Williams
Music Copyist: Tony Stanton
Orchestra Contractor: Tonia Davall
Orchestra Leader: Perry Montague Mason

SOUND
Sound: Mark Jan Wlodarkiewicz
Sound Recording: Frank Fleming
Assistant Engineers: Gregg Silk, Bruno Roussel
Sound Mixer: Gregg Landaker
Supervising Sound Editor: Richard L. Anderson, Elliott Koretz
Sound Editor: Julia Evershade
Supervising Dialogue Editor: Avram D. Gold
Sound Effects Wrangler: Steve Lee
Foley Artist: Dan O'Connell

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Pacific Data Images

VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects Supervisor: Ken Bielenberg
Visual Effects Co-Supervisor: Philippe Gluckman
Visual Effects Associate Production Supervisor: John 'JR' Robeck

DIGITAL EFFECTS
3-D Character and Environment Digitizing and Modeling: Viewpoint Datalabs International
Digital Artist: Lee Lanier
Digital Modeler: David B. Mooy
Render Wrangler: Michael C. Walling

DESIGN
Production Designer: John Bell
Art Director: Kendal Cronkhite
Concept Artist: Peter Chan
Story Artist: Tom Sito
Storyboard Supervisor: Randy Cartwright
Storyboard Artist: Mike Cachuela

MISCELLANEOUS
Assistant To Steve Orchard: Matt Palmer
Assistant To Nick Wollage: Jack Jackson

CASTING
Casting: Leslee Feldman

VOICES
Woody Allen (Z-4195)
Dan Aykroyd (Chip)
Anne Bancroft (Queen)
Jane Curtin (Muffy)
Danny Glover (Barbatus)
Gene Hackman (General Mandible)
Jennifer Lopez (Azteca)
John Mahoney (Grebs/drunk scout/additional voices)
Paul Mazursky (psychologist)
Grant Shaud (foreman)
Sylvester Stallone (Weaver)
Sharon Stone (Princess Bala)
Christopher Walken (Colonel Cutter)
April Winchell (additional voice)
Jim Cummings (additional voice)
Jerry Sroka (bartender/additional voices)
Janet Mooney, Nicole Tibbles (wasps)
Kenny Andrews, Marcos D'Cruze, Michael Dmitri (Antz Go Marching voices)

Worker ant Z-4195 questions the communal way of life in his ant-hill and his place in it. His feelings are complicated when he meets and falls in love with Princess Bala who echoes his anxieties and fears. Hoping to meet her again, Z swaps places with his soldier ant friend Weaver and finds himself drawn into the treacherous plans of the evil General Mandible who plans to lead his soldier ants into a devastating civil war against the worker ant population...

Argentina
Video Distributor: Argentina Video Home

Germany
DVD Distributor: Universal (includes: an audio commentary by Tim Johnson and Eric Darnell; behind-the-scenes featurette; a look at the basics of CGI animation and the early design process (1999)); Dreamworks (84671 (1999))

Portugal
Theatrical Distributor: Lusomundo

Spain
Theatrical Distributor: United International Pictures y Cía. S.R.C.

USA
Theatrical Distributor: DreamWorks Distribution L.L.C./UIP/Red Feather Photoplays
Laserdisc Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID 5915 DW)
DVD Distributor: Dreamworks (84199 - includes: an audio commentary by Tim Johnson and Eric Darnell; behind-the-scenes featurette; a look at the basics of CGI animation and the early design process (1999)); Dreamworks (84671 (1999))

Argentina
Rating: Atp

Australia
Rating: PG

Belgium
Rating: KT

Brazil
Rating: Livre

Finland
Rating: K-8

France
Rating: U

Germany
Rating: 6 (bw)

Ireland
Rating: PG

Italy
Rating: T

Netherlands
Rating: AL

Portugal
Rating: M/6

Spain
Rating: T

Sweden
Rating: 7

Switzerland
Rating: 7

UK
Rating: PG

USA
Rating: PG (for mild language and menacing action)

1999
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards, USA
Top Box Office Films (Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell) - winner

Annie Awards, USA
Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production (Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson) - nominated
Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production (Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell) - nominated
Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production (John Bell) - nominated

British Academy Awards, UK
Best Special Effects - nominated

Golden Satellite Awards, USA
Best Motion Picture - Animated or Mixed Media (Brad Lewis, Aron Warner, Patty Wooton) - nominated

Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA
Best Sound Editing - Music - Animated Feature (Brian Richards (music and scoring editor), Adam Milo Smalley (supervising music editor)) - winner
Best Sound Editing - Animated Feature - nominated

1998
September
19: Canada - shown at the Toronto Film Festival

October
2: USA, Canada - theatrical release
29: Australia, New Zealand - theatrical release

November
5: Germany, Singapore, Slovakia - theatrical release
6: Austria, Brazil, Iceland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland (German speaking region), UK - theatrical release
7: South Korea - theatrical release
11: Belgium, France - theatrical release
12: Argentina - theatrical release
13: Norway - theatrical release
14: Japan - theatrical release
20: Denmark - theatrical release

December
3: Hungary, Israel - theatrical release

1999
January
7: Netherlands - theatrical release
8: Indonesia - theatrical release in Jakarta
14: Slovenia - theatrical release
15: Finland, Italy, Sweden - theatrical release
18: Kuwait - theatrical release
19: Estonia - theatrical release

March
23: USA - DVD release (Dreamworks (84199))

July
6: USA - DVD release (Dreamworks (84671))

August
10: USA - laserdisc release (Image Entertainment (ID 5915 DW))

2001
March
22: Germany - DVD release (Universal)

Every ant has his day.

Actual Size of the Next Big Star

Ants - working title
'Z' la formica - Italian title

SEE ALSO
A Bug's Life (1998)
Caddyshack (1980)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Hoppity Goes to Town (1941)
Independence Day (1996)
Logan's Run (1976)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Metropolis (1927)
Starship Troopers (1997)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
CyberWorld (2000)

WEB LINKS
www.pepsi.com/antz/#

MAGAZINES

Empire June 1999 p.143 (UK)
review (by Andrew Collins)

Empire December 1998 pp.24-25 (UK)
illustrated review

Entertainment Weekly no.453 (9 October 1998) pp.54-56 (USA)
review (We Are Colony by Lisa Schwarzbaum)

Entertainment Weekly no.471 (12 February 1999) pp.84-85 (USA)
review (Adults Only by Stephen Whitty)

Film Review December 1998 p.19 (UK)
review (by Terry Richards)

NEWSPAPERS

A Capital 6 November 1998 (Portugal)
review (by Rui Brazuna)

A Capital, Guia TV 21 May 1999 (Portugal)
review (by Rui Brazuna)

Correio da Manhã 6 November 1998 (Portugal)
review (by Vitoriano Rosa)

Diário de Notícias 6 November 1998 (Portugal)
review (by Eurico De Barros)

Diário de Notícias, DNmais 7 November 1998 (Portugal)
review (by José De Matos-Cruz)

Expresso, Cartaz 6 November 1998 (Portugal)
review (by Manuel Cintra Ferreira)

Svenska Dagbladet 15 January 1999 (Sweden)
review (Roliga myror såsom i en spegel by Jan Söderqvist)

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008