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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: May 19, 2009 Distributor: Walt Disney Video Director: · John Lasseter · Andrew Stanton Cast: · Dave Foley · Kevin Spacey · Julia Louis-Dreyfus · Denis Leary · Phyllis Diller Grade: A-

In "A Bug's Life," the Pixar team took the classic tale of "The Seven Samurai" and brought it to the insect world. Inspired by the classic Disney Silly Symphony cartoon, The Grasshopper and the Ants, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Joe Ranft composed the tale of an ant colony terrorized by grasshoppers. When Flik (voiced by The Kids in the Hall's David Foley), the dreamer and inventor, accidentally destroys the colony's annual offering to the grasshopper, he sets out to the big city to gather a band of warriors to defend the colony. Unbeknownst to him, he actually recruits a circus troupe. And, unbeknownst to them, they're actually being called upon to battle grasshoppers.

In truth, the story bogs down in some places and even at a brief 95 minutes, it sometimes feels a little long. And there are a number of action sequences which prove too intense for small children (not least of which is the inevitable climatic battle). But in spite of this, "A Bug's Life" proves itself magical and delightful. But beyond that, the characters are unforgettable. Flik remains one of my favorite heroes in cinema. And Pixar assembled an excellent voice cast, which included Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Denis Leary, Phyllis Diller and David Hyde Pierce, to name just a few.

As you should expect from any Pixar disc release, "A Bug's Life" comes jam packed with bonus features. Along with all the features found on the original special edition release, this 10th anniversary edition includes a few new extras, as well. The original extras encompass the requisite Pixar "making of..." materials, hosted by Lasseter and Stanton (my favorites are always the storyboard-to-film sequences, and the storyboard-only "deleted scenes"). Also returning for an encore are the Pixar Geri's Game short, audio commentary by Lasseter, Stanton and editor Lee Unkrich, and the "outtakes" seen during the closing credits. New this time around are the aforementioned Silly Symphony cartoon (although it's a poor transfer), a filmmaker's round table (more on that in a minute), and a 10-minute reading of the original plot to the movie (before it was drastically rewritten) narrated by David Foley and shown in storyboard format. The round table, with Lasseter, Stanton, Darla Anderson and Kevin Reher looks back at the production of "A Bug's Life" and how heavily it weighed on Pixar, particularly as the sophomore offering following the smash hit "Toy Story." It plays like an audio commentary, featuring good friends, reminiscing and good times, recounting good stories, but with the added benefit of visual aides. A highlight is the discussion of them meeting the voice talent, including Lost in Space's Jonathan Harris, and a look at little Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) reading her lines.

Accompanying the Blu-ray disc is a digital download disc, but a standard DVD disc is missing from this collection.

Ten years later, "A Bug's Life" still holds up. In high-def Blu-ray, the scope and majesty really shines through and makes this set a must-buy for those who already owned a previous version on DVD. With hit and hit, and churning out classic after classic, it's hard to say if "A Bug's Life" remains my favorite of all Pixar movies (can't I love them all equally?) But I do love "A Bug's Life," and I dare say it's worth a second look for those who shunned it ten years ago.