Quick Overview

Codirector Andrew Stanton warmly calls this collector’s edition of A Bug’s Life the “Super Genius” edition (referring to another animated delight, Wile E. Coyote). That’s a better title, since this double DVD set is never as stuffy and ho-hum as many collector’s editions. On the second disc, which is jam-packed with details on how the movie was made, there isn’t a single boring snippet. There must be a creed at Pixar Animation Studios dictating everything must be fun. When Stanton, director John Lasseter, or any technician comes onscreen, there are jokes, camera muggings, and controlled insanity. But there’s a method to their madness. For example, the storyboarding process–sketching out the entire picture before cameras roll–isn’t just explained; it’s storyboarded itself. Another highlight is an early presentation of the film’s subject matter that takes on the flavor of a poorly dubbed Japanese film of the ’60s. There’s also a wonderful process using the DVD format’s rarely used angle feature that allows the viewer to go between pencil sketches, color drawings, and the finished project to see how the art progresses to the screen. The film, presented here in both widescreen and recomposed full-frame (the latter also explained on the disc), is the first DVD created by a digital source for the purest presentation possible. Whatever the presentation, this “Super Genius” edition certainly gives one pause to consider what super geniuses the folks at Pixar truly are.

Main Features:

Actors: Phyllis Diller, Dave Foley, Brad Garrett, Jonathan Harris, Bonnie Hunt
Directors: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton
Format: Multiple Formats, Anamorphic, Animated, Closed-captioned, Collector’s Edition, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Unknown)
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Disney-Pixar
DVD Release Date: May 27, 2003
Run Time: 95 minutes