Funny / A Bug's Life

Settle into your role, and you'll come out of this one fine.

Funny moments in A Bug's Life.

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• At the beginning when Flik creates a new telescope for Atta so she can "oversee production." Then Flik demonstrates it by looking at Atta through the scope when she's standing about five feet in front of him!
  Flik: Hello, princess! My, aren't you lookin' lovely this morning! Not that you'd need a telescope to see that.
• After the two have an Argument of Contradictions, Flik attempts to give advice to Dot by saying that a seed has everything it needs to become a mighty tree except for time. However, Dot fails to understand the metaphor because she's unable to wrap her head around Flick using a rock to represent the seed.
  Flik: Seed. I need a seed. (Flik tries to get a seed from his harvester, but he can't reach it and ends up going around in circles. He finally gives up and picks up a rock instead and hands it to Dot.) Here, pretend that that's a seed.
  Dot: It's a rock.
  Flik: I know it's a rock, but let's just pretend for a minute it's a seed. We'll just use our imaginations. Now, you see our tree? (gestures to the huge tree above them) Everything that made that giant tree is already contained inside this tiny little seed. All it needs is some time, a little bit of sunshine and rain, and voila!
  Dot: This rock will be a tree?
  Flik: Seed to tree. You gotta work with me, alright? You might not feel like you can do much now, but that's just because, well, you're not a tree yet. You just have to give yourself some time. You're still a seed.
  Dot: (beat) ...But it's a rock.
  Flik: I KNOW IT'S A ROCK! DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW A ROCK WHEN I SEE A ROCK?! I'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME AROUND ROCKS!
  Dot: You're weird, but I like you.
• Hopper's Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas moment.
  Hopper: Now let me tell you how things are supposed to work. The sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food—
  Molt: And the birds eat the grasshoppers! Hey, like the one that nearly ate you? Remember? Oh, you shoulda seen it!
  Hopper: Molt!
  Molt: This blue jay — he has him halfway down his throat, okay? And Hopper — Hopper's kickin' and screamin', okay. And I'm scared, okay? I'm not goin' anywhere near, okay? (Hopper marches over to Molt) Aw, come on! It's a great story! (Hopper drags him by the antennae) Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
  Hopper: (pins him against the wall) I swear, if I hadn't promised Mother on her deathbed that I wouldn't kill you, I would kill you!
  Molt: And believe me, nobody appreciates that more than I do.
  Hopper: Shut up! I don't want to hear another word from you while we're on this island. Do you understand me? (Molt whimpers) I SAID, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!
  Molt: Well, how can I answer? You said I couldn't say another word! (Hopper growls with rage and raises his fist to punch him) AH! REMEMBER MA!
  (Hopper spins around and punches out another grasshopper who was standing behind him)
• Hopper murdering his own Mooks? Horrifying. Hopper's complete deadpan face? Priceless!
• When Flik first suggests leaving the island to find warrior bugs to fight the grasshoppers
  Queen: Why didn't I think of that? Oh, because it's suicide!
• Flik triumphantly soaring into the distance — and then slamming face first into a rock.
  Flik: [muffled] "I'm...okay!"
  • "...Your dad's right. He's gonna die."
    • A bit of Hypocritical Humor on that last bit, as the boy ant who said that is the son of the ant who thought Flik would die on the journey.
• Slim's Butt-Monkey status as a prop. This is partly funny because his voice actor, David Hyde Pierce, plays an important role in the popular sitcom Frasier, and Slim has quite a lot of lines in the movie, but in character he always gets lousy parts.
  Slim: What's the point of going out there? They'll only laugh at me.
  P.T. Flea: That's because you're a CLOWN!
  Slim: No, it's because I'm a PROP! You always cast me as the broom! The pole! The stick! A splinter!
  P.T. Flea: You're a walking stick. IT'S FUNNY! NOW GO!
  Slim: You parasite.
  • Francis brandishing Slim at the Bar Brawl scene as his sword! Slim deadpans "Swish swish. Clang clang."
  • "Tra-la-la-la-la. Spring's in the air and I'm a flower with nothing interesting to say."
• Manny and Gypsy's introduction.
  • Manny and Gypsy's everything when not being Heartwarming.
    Gypsy: Manny, we're on!
    Manny: (long-suffering sigh) Yet again, it is up to me to rescue the performance. Gypsy, come! (strides dramatically offscreen)
    CRASH
    Gypsy: (mildly, without looking around) The stage is the other way, dear.
    Manny: (comes walking back into frame) Yes, of course.
  • During the act, Manny tries to do his trick but is heckled by the flies and gets berries thrown at him. Enraged, he shouts "INGRATES!" and walks away in a huff. And then he forgets to let her out of the "Chinese Cabinet of Metamorphosis".
    Gypsy: (muffled, from inside a Chinese takeout box) ...Manny? Manny...!
  • Manny overdramatically "dying" during the bird scene, and Gypsy wailing in equally hammy grief.
• Francis provides a lot of funny with his short temper.
  Slim: (holding Francis to one side, admonishing some flies) That's no way to speak to a lady.
  Francis: I heard that, you twig!
  • Francis is hilarious on a meta level, considering that he's a ladybug that is constantly mistaken to be a lady. And voiced by Denis Leary!
  • The Bluberries deciding to make Francis their 'den mother', much to his chagrin.
• FLAMING DEATH!
  "Burn 'im again!"
  • "Spinning a web of safety in less THAN 15 SECONDS!!!
• If you like some Black Humor...
  A bug: NO! HARRY! NO! DON'T LOOK AT THE LIGHT!
  Harry: [entranced] I can't help it, it's so beautiful! [ZAP]
• When Flik first enters the bar, a fly can be heard yelling "Hey waiter, I'm in my soup!"
• "Who ordered the poo poo platter?"
• The drunk mosquito bit. Especially with Retroactive Recognition; Rodger Bumpass would later use the very same voice only a year later.
  Mosquito: Hey, bartender! Bloody Mary! O-Positive! (gets "Bloody Mary" splashed in front of him) A-ha! (drinks himself bloated)
• The reaction of the Circus Bugs when they realize they're supposed to fight the grasshoppers and go out in a Heroic Sacrifice.
  Dot: We drew one of you dying because our teacher said it would be more dramatic!
  • For added hilarity, Heimlich (the one who's been killed on the poster, cut in half with guts and blood everywhere) has Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises and blanches.
  • Just the fact that the circus bugs are horrified by the kids' ants vs. grasshopper war play, even though the kids' acting is rather lousy and emotionless and not in the least bit scary. Dim is gaping in horror, Rosie is just faintly shaking her head, Slim is covering Heimlich's eyes, Manny is comforting Gypsy who is hiding her face in his shoulder, and Francis just stares in utter shock and horror at the play, before he promptly faints. Tuck and Roll, on the other hand, actually applauded at the lame performance.
• When the horrified Flik realizes the truth behind the "warriors" and tries to excuse himself from the meeting with several suspicious acronyms. Helps that almost all of it was improvised by Dave Foley.
  Flik: Oh, sure, I'd like to take credit for all of this, but, well, that wouldn't be right. Because it was you, Princess Atta. You believed in me and you sent me on my quest.
  (Atta gives an uncomfortable forced smile)
  Slim: (whispering to Rosie) Tell that ant that we need to talk to him right now.
  Rosie: Okay, okay, I will.
  Flik: Now, I know that I've made mistakes in the past.
  Slim: (whispering to Rosie) Go!
  Flik: And l And I hope that this will make up—
  Rosie: (taps on Flik's shoulder) Flik!
  Flik: Not right now, Rosie. I'm making a speech. Now, I truly believe that these bugs are the answer to our— (Rosie whispers in his ear) No, there's no circus around here. So, I— Huh? (Flik turns to see the troupe juggling. Camera zooms into Flik, whose pupils shrink as he puts the pieces in place) Your Highness, the warriors have called for a secret meeting to plan for a circus—circumventing the oncoming hordes so they can trapeze—trap them with ease!
  Atta: Well, shouldn't I come, too?
  Flik: No! Sorry, no, no, you see, it's classified in the DMZ. Gotta go ASAP. You know, strictly BYOB. Bye! (he and the circus bugs start to leave) Sorry. Sorry I have to take the warriors away so early... but you know, uh, they have a they have a lot to get done, with the battle looming and all. So, uh, please, everyone enjoy the party.
  Atta: "BYOB"?
  • Then Flik talks about what will happen if the colony finds out he hired circus bugs by accident.
  Flik: Circus bugs?! How can you be circus bugs?!
  Circus bugs: WHAT?!
  Francis: Whoa, hey, hey, hey. You said nothin' about killin' grasshoppers, pal. You lied to us!
  Heimlich: Ja!
  Flik: Are you kidding?! Do you know what this is? This, my friends, is false advertising!
  Manny: How dare you! You, sir, are the charlatan in this scenario! Touting your wares as a talent scout! Preying upon the hungry souls of hapless artistes! Good day to you, sir!
  (The bugs begin leaving. Tuck & Roll come up to Flik, slap him twice, and roll away with the others)
  Flik: Wait! No, no! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! You can't go! You have got to help me! Give me some time! I'll come up with a plan!
  Heimlich: Just go tell them the truth!
  Flik: They can't! They can't know the truth! The truth, you see, is bad! I will be branded with this mistake for the rest of my life! My children's children will walk down the street and people will point and say "Look! There goes the spawn of Flik the Loser!" Oh... oh, oh, you know, all right, fine. Yeah, okay. Just go. But if you could just do me a little favor before you leave? If you could squish me. (puts Dim's foot over his head) That would be great because, uh, when they find out, I'm as good as dead.
  Atta: (in distance) Flik! Flik! I really do think I should be part of this meeting! FLIK!
  (Flik runs to the end of the grass to see Atta wearing a suspicious glare)
  Flik: Princess Atta! Wh-what a nice... surprise!
  Atta: Just what exactly is going on here? I'd like to speak with the so-called "warriors!"
  Flik: Y-You can't! I mean, they're in the middle of a top secret meeting right now and they really should not be disturbed... now. Right, guys? (he sees them marching away) Could you ex... pl... Uh, could you excuse me, please? (sprints after them) Wait, wait, wait! Please, don't go!
  Atta: I'm not going anywhere! What is going on? (moves aside the blade of grass; Flik's nowhere to be seen) Flik! FLIK! Oh, I knew it!
• Rosie... all the time.
  • "Drop the stick. Drop it!"
  • "Aaaand that's how my twelfth husband died...so now, I'm a Black Widow widow!"
• Slim freaking out when he sees Francis in danger from the bird: "FRANCIS FRANCIS FRANCIS FRANCIS FRANCIS FRANCIS FRANCIS FRANCIS FRANCIS FRANCIS!"
• Flik's plan to lure the bird away is to use Heimlich as part, with Slim given the unfortunate role of holding him up. ("I'm going to snap, I'm going to snap...). The plan goes slightly askew when they both drop in a hole to get to cover, only for Heimlich to naturally get stuck. When the ants from a distance comment on how brave he is, we get treated to the caterpillar screaming in pure mortal terror as the bird roars at him.
• It's subtle, but during the scene where the gang rescue Dot from the bird, you can hear an upright piano in Randy Newman's score playing several cheesy, silent movie-esque dramatic stings.
• When Flik bursts in on the 'hospital' scene with the entire circus troupe there. It's the contrast between how Flik's so excited with his "Eureka!" Moment, while Francis is (almost casually) making a statement that makes this so funny.
  Flik: Hopper's afraid of birds!
  Francis: And I don't blame him!
  • Just before that, Flik just sprints after Atta inadvertently gives him the bird idea.
• At Hopper's hideout in the desert, two thugs try to convince Molt into telling Hopper that going to Ant Island is pointless.
  Axel: [W]e get all the way back there and it starts to rain... We might as well be suckin' bug spray!
  Molt: Whoa, don't even say that! Ya know something? You're making a lot of sense; I mean, why take the risk? You should tell Hopper!
  Loco: Good idea...but, you know, it's really not our place. I mean, you're his brother; that makes you like — the Vice President of the gang.
  Molt: Wow! It kinda does, doesn't it? Okay, I'll tell him. [starts to leave] Boy, I should talk to you guys more often.
  Axel: What if Hopper doesn't like it?
  Loco: Then at least the genius will get smacked, and not us!
  • Then when the idea (predictably) infuriates Hopper, who's in the middle of a massage.
  Molt: This is a thought and it was mine: Why go back to Ant Island at all? You don't even like grain.
  Hopper: WHAT?!
  Molt: You're right! I didn't think it was such a good idea myself! Actually, it wasn't even my idea! It was Axel and Loco's! They talked fancy to me! I GOT CONFUSED!'
  Hopper: Hmmm....
• "P.T., look! MONEY!" "Where? Where?"
• The Circus Bugs arrive as a distraction for the Grasshoppers:
  Slim: Ladies and gentle bugs! Larvae of all stages! Rub your legs together for the world's greatest bug circus!
  (The circus wagon arrives with the circus music playing)
  Hopper: WAIT A MINUTE! (music screeches to a halt)
  Heimlich: I think I'm gonna wet myself!
  Francis: Steady.
  Hopper: What's going on here?
  Atta: Well, uh...
  Slim: We were invited by Princess Atta as a surprise for your arrival.
  Hopper: Squish 'em.
  (Slim and Francis gasp; the grasshoppers advance on the circus bugs. Dim backs into the cannon launching Tuck & Roll out of it. They dance in front of the grasshoppers, singing their usual gibberish; then get into a fight)
  Hopper: Now, that's funny! (grasshoppers sit back in their seats laughing hysterically) I guess we could use a little entertainment. Looks like you did something right for once, Princess.
• As the show continues, the clowns put on a particularly funny sketch...
  Heimlich: (wearing a leaf as a diaper and a baby bonnet made of flower petals) Ba-ba all gone! Baby wants PIE!!
  Francis: (flying in with a pie) Pie? He asked for it! Should I give it to him?
  Molt: (over the other cheering grasshoppers) Yeah! Give him pie! Give him pie!
  (Francis throws the pie in Heimlich's face, causing all the grasshoppers to get splattered with berry juice)
  Slim: (his face also covered in berry juice) Thank you, gentlemen. Always an intellectual treat. (juggles a few berries) Say, how many roaches does it take to screw in a light bulb? Can't tell. Soon as the light goes on, they scatter! (Rimshot)
• Hopper's hilariously uncharacteristic reaction to Flik's fake bird:
  Hopper: *frantic* BIRD! IT'S A BIRD!...Don't let it get me, DON'T LET IT GET ME!
• "Oh, this was SUCH a bad idea!"
• When the ants charge the grasshoppers, Molt is so terrified that he literally jumps out of his skin, making it look like a duplicate spawned out of him.
  • Also, the first thing we see Molt do is shout "Boo!" when he pops into the colony through one of the holes that the grasshoppers make- and then Molt goes right into scaring the ants like the rest of the gang.
• Dot taunting Thumper, prompting him to roar at her, and then Dim shows up, roars (with the exact same roar taken from the T-Rex in Jurassic Park) and scares him off. And Dot just stands there with a "You are screwed" face.
• "I'm...the only...stick...with....eyeballs!"
• This exchange between Flik and Hopper when the bird appears and Hopper believes it to be another trick:
  Hopper: Well, what's this? Another one of your bird tricks?
  Flik: (with a knowing smirk) Yep!
  Hopper: Are there a bunch of little girls in this one too? (tauntingly) Hello, girls!
  (Bird roars at him, precipitating an exquisite Oh, Crap! expression)
• By way of Crossing the Line Twice, Hopper's death scene, Gory Discretion Shot and all. Those chicks just look so cute!
• Tuck and Roll are always funny, but plucking one of Hopper's antennae is especially funny.
  • The way Tuck (or Roll) reveals the antennae is funny too. Even though we can't understand them it almost seems like they're saying, "What are you laughing at?! He got away!" "Not all of him..." *Produces antennae from behind his back*
• "Must be an Ant thing." ... "Must be a circus thing."
• When Heimlich turns into a butterfly.
  "I'm finished! Finally, I'm a beautiful butterfly!"
  • Then he emerges and looks exactly the same... just with a slightly different color, and itty-bitty wings.
  • "And from way up here, you all look like little ants!"
• The Hilarious Outtakes. All of them.
  • Hopper completely failing to get Atta and Molt to take him seriously, resulting in every take being ruined by fits of laughter.
  Hopper: Are you saying I'm stupid?
  Atta: YES! (points at Hopper, bursting into laughter)
  Hopper: (near crying) This is the fifteenth take. I cannot work like this. I will be in my trailer.
  Atta: (recovering from her fit of laughter) I need a break
  • On the third take with Molt, Hopper just groans and rolls his eyes upward in resigned defeat as Molt, dying from laughter, leans on him. Hopper's expression just screams, "I am so done."
  • "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!"
  • Dot forgetting the line "It's a rock."
  • "Spinning a web of safety... IN LESS... THAN FIFTEEN—!" *bumps into camera and is knocked out*
    • P.T. even leaves a smudge on the lens!
    • Which is hilarious in a meta sense too: not only is there no lens, there's no camera!
  • The skyward shot of Dim carrying Heimlich down ending with Heimlich's face squashed against the camera.
  • The animatronic bird breaking down in mid-shoot.
  Heimlich: Ooh! Does this mean we can break for lunch?
  • "I think I swallowed a bug!"
  • The one involving Thumper.
  Thumper: [in Squiggy's voice] Ah... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, c-can we cut? It's... It's just that I don't feel like I'm coming across. Hmm... Oh! Oh! I know! I know! I could lather up a bunch of spit! Ooh, ooh, that's good! I got it, J.L. Alright, one more for me!
  • Tuck and Roll trying to jump on each other. Second take, Roll misses Tuck entirely and falls on his head. Third take, Roll jumps so high that he gets stuck on the ceiling and never comes down.
  • The belching contest between the two of them—which ends with one of them ripping a fart.
  • The queen's pet aphid pees on her. It appears to have been on purpose too, given the enormous grin on the aphid's face.
  • Woody makes a cameo.
• On a similar level, the "Character interview" that was made to promote the movie:
  • Hopper is conveyed as a Small Name, Big Ego type of actor who claims to have had many roles in previous classic films:
  Flik: Actually they were all B Movies.
  • The interviewer once again infuriates Francis by referring to him as "Miss".
• Towards the end of the credits, a "Filmed entirely on location" credit can be seen.
• In this commercial for McDonald's that tied in with the film's theatrical release, the announcer tries to advertise Chicken McNuggets with a limited edition apple cinnamon dipping sauce, when Heimlich eats the film, which Flik scolds him for.
  Flik: Heimlich! Look what you've done!
  Heimlich: I was hungry!
  Flik: How am I gonna get us out of this one? Hmmm?
  (Flik leaves and Heimlich licks his hand.)
  Heimlich: Mmmm! Who says there's nothing good on TV?

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