A Bug's Life Blu-ray Disc Review

Buy This Blu-ray Disc Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!

Title: A Bug’s Life

Media: Blu-ray Disc

Region: A, B, C

Genre: Animated Comedy Fantasy

Starring The Voices Of: Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louise Dreyfus, Hayden Panettiere, Phyllis Diller, Richard Kind, David Hyde Pierce, Denis Leary, Jonathan Harris, Madeline Kahn, Bonnie Hunt, and John Ratzenberger

Writers: Andrew Stanton, Don McEnery, and Bob Shaw

Based On A Story By: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Joe Ranft

Directors: John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton

Feature length: 95 minutes

Extras: A Bug’s Life – The First Draft, Filmmaker’s Roundtable, Geri’s Game Short, Director Audio Commentary, Behind The Scenes Of A Bug’s Life, Grasshopper And The Ants Walt Disney Silly Symphony, Outtakes, Digital Copy Of Film For Portable Devices

Languages: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Sound, and French and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf and Hearing Impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Single Size Two-Disc Blue BD Case Within A Cardboard Slip

Sound: DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 1998/Blu-ray Disc Release: 2009

Theatrical Distributor: Disney Pixar

Home Video Distributor: Walt Disney Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: G

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Pixar changed the way animated movies are produced for theatrical release for the most part as if it were evolution itself replacing cell drawn animation with CGI animation. Now even television cell drawn animation is produced with computers and mixed with CGI effects as can be seen in shows like Family Guy and Futurama. That is not to say that there will not be cell drawn features like the Disney classics, but in a little over ten years the quality of CGI animated features has gotten so good that the artwork can match anything a person can draw and the people behind the PCs have finally earned the respect of being true artists.

A Bug’s Life was Pixar’s second animated feature and I remember when the film was first released on DVD back in the days when most people still had tube TV sets in their homes and most of them were not widescreen, Pixar created direct digital to DVD copies of A Bug’s Life for both widescreen and full screen users in a way that the compositions were reset so that the four by three TV user of the time could watch the film and not miss any of the action left or right of the center as is the case with panning and scanning widescreen films. While the image was still reformatted from the original version to fit the TV screen, it was thoughtful alternative for full screen TV users who were adjusting to films appearing letterboxed on their screens.

The new Blu-ray Disc looks nothing short of incredible with a 1080p maximum resolution where available (2.35:1) widescreen image with colors that literally seem to leap out into our world. The English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is truly discrete and takes full advantage of the home theater system’s potential to create a three-dimensional world of sound in the user’s living room. French and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks are also included along with English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles encoded as options.

Extra value materials found within the menus of this Blu-ray Disc release include a feature length audio commentary with Directors John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton and Editor Lee Unkrich, the Academy Award® winning short Geri’s Game in high definition as well as the Disney Silly Symphony short Grasshopper And The Ants in high definition. There are various featurettes covering the film’s development that includes storyboard to film comparisons, abandoned sequences that never made it to final animation and much more. One-sheet art and two trailers for A Bug’s Life, the character interviews as well as outtakes and alternate outtakes that are very funny have been carried over to this release too. Also included especially for this Blu-ray Disc release are a filmmaker’s roundtable that discusses the film with ten years retrospect and a minimally animated short look at the first draft story of what would eventually go through great alterations to become A Bug’s Life. Both of these new featured materials are presented in high definition too. Also included on a separate disc is a bonus digital copy of the film for iTunes and Windows Media format users.

This is a must add addition to anyone growing library of Disney and Pixar films on Blu-ray Disc and is available now at retailers on and off line courtesy of Walt Disney Home Entertainment.

Return To The Previous Page

Buy This Blu-ray Disc Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!