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The Ant Queen (voiced by Meryl Streep)

The Ant Bully is nowhere near as politically sophisticated as, say, Antz, which satirized the strict regimentation of ant society and emphasized the need for both individual freedom and communal responsibility; but the new film's simpler approach is just fine for its younger target audience. More problematic, for some parents, may be The Ant Bully's regular gross-out gags and below-the-belt humor—for example, when Lucas finds himself trapped with some insects inside a frog's stomach, sitting in its digestive juices, or when a couple of insects fly up a man's pants in search of a vulnerable target. But while this sort of thing can certainly get annoying in some films, I find it easier to take in stories about creatures with bodies very different from ours, or in stories that take place at a microscopic level; the world God made is strange, fascinating, and often amusing, and kids do respond to that. (I have never cared much for the Farrelly brothers' brand of humor, but I am a huge fan of their semi-animated film Osmosis Jones, in which Chris Rock plays a white blood cell.)

The film also features some enjoyably witty and surreal moments, from a climactic scene involving a firecracker to a bizarre use of classical music. And there is an intriguing sequence involving the ants' religion. It's not as interesting or poignant as, say, the rabbits' mythology in Watership Down, but it's also not as jokey or dismissive as the squeeze-toys' reverence for "the claw" in Toy Story. And while some conservative theologians may quibble with the fact that the ants' god is, in fact, a goddess—an "Ant Mother" who is called "the Queen of Queens"—it is hard to imagine what else a species like this would have. The more important point here is that the film acknowledges that faith is an important part of our social fabric, and if the film has any moral lessons to pass on, it implicitly roots them in a spiritual foundation. And that, in and of itself, is another lesson worth passing on.

1. The bully says he is beating Lucas up because "I'm big, and you're small." Lucas then repeats these words when he torments the ant colony. Have you ever tried to feel "big" by treating "small" people in an unfair way? Are there advantages to being "small"
2. How should we treat animals? Do some animals deserve better treatment than others? How do we distinguish between them? Note the references in this film to feelings, families, and the ability to communicate—do traits like these make a difference
3. What is the relationship between individual freedom and collective action? How can you be free without going too far into an "every man for himself" direction
4. What do you make of the ants' religion? Is their "devil" tied perhaps a little too closely to exterminators like Stan Beals? If they defeat him, does that necessarily solve their problems? Do you think the film respects the faith of the ants?

The Ant Bully is rated PG for some mild rude humor and action. Some of the gags include a scene of insects sitting in a frog's digestive juices, ants swallowing drops of juice taken from a caterpillar's rear end, and an implied insect attack against an exterminator's crotch and rear end; Lucas is also naked at one point, but nothing is shown except his rear end, obscurely. The action scenes includes a wasp attack, a frog chase, a flood in the ant colony, and some bullying. The ants also have a religion of their own, with an Ant Mother who is called "the Queen of Queens," and a devil figure who seems to be based on human exterminators.

Photos © Copyright Warner Brothers

© Peter T. Chattaway 2006, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

The "ant"-agonist of John A. Davis's film The Ant Bully is a young boy named Lucas who takes out his aggression on a labyrinth of ants in his front yard. Fed up with persecution, the ants concoct a potion to bring Lucas down to bug-size and teach him about the consequences of his behavior.

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