‘Inside the Ant Hill’

One of the most fascinating parts of A Bugs Life isn’t what happened on screen, it’s actually what happened behind the camera, the production of A Bug’s Life wasn’t without controversy, a public feud erupted between DreamWorks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Pixar’s Steve Jobs and John Lasseter. Katzenberg worked at Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994 and was one of the figureheads responsible for the Disney Renaissance, turning out classics such as Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. Katzenberg was also a key player in creating the relationship between Disney and Pixar. In 1994, the position of President of Disney Animation became available and Katzenberg felt the role was his! However, CEO Eisner didn’t agree and decided not to give Katzenberg the position.

In response, Katzenberg left and he formed DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen and planned to rival Disney in animation. It’s important to note that during this period Pixar had still not released Toy Story, however, John Lasseter was so enthusiastic about the future success of the project had already started work on a second feature-length film, a film we would go on to know as ‘A Bug’s Life’. Katzenberg stayed in touch with Lasseter after he left. In October of 1995, Lasseter who was overseeing post-production of Toy Story dropped by Dreamworks to see Katzenberg. Katzenberg asked him what he was working on next and Lasseter went on to describe A Bug’s life in detail, Lasseter trusted Katzenberg and felt he was useful for creative conversations.

So, you can only imagine how Lasseter and others at Pixar felt when they found out that Katzenberg's first project at Dreamworks would be called Antz. By this time, Pixar’s project was well-known within the animation community, similarly, people working were deep into the project. Feeling incredibly betrayed, Lasseter called Katzenberg and asked him if the news was true. Katzenberg later confirmed that it was. Katenzberg, however, denies that Antz was a stolen idea, he instead stated that the film came from a 1991 story pitch by Tim Johnson that was relayed to Katzenberg in 1994.

Katzenberg decided to push forward the release of Antz to from Spring of 1999 to October of 1998, which meant it released a month before A Bug’s Life.

David Price writes in his 2008 book The Pixar Touch that a rumor, “never confirmed”, was that Katzenberg had given PDI “rich financial incentives to induce them to whatever it would take to have Antz ready first, despite Pixar’s head start.

Steve Jobs was furious and called Katzenberg and began yelling. Katzenberg made an offer: He would delay production of Antz if Jobs and Disney would move A Bug’s Life so that it did not compete with The Prince of Egypt. Jobs believed it “a blatant extortion attempt” and would not go for it, explaining that there was nothing he could do to convince Disney to change the date. Katzenberg casually responded that Jobs himself had taught him how to conduct similar business long ago, explaining that Jobs had come to Pixar’s rescue by making the deal for Toy Story, as Pixar was near bankruptcy at that time.

As the release dates for both films approached, Disney executives concluded that Pixar should keep silent on the DreamWorks battle. Regardless, Lasseter publicly dismissed Antz as a “schlock version” of A Bug’s Life. Lasseter, who claimed to have never seen Antz, told others that if DreamWorks and PDI had made the film about anything other than insects, he would have closed Pixar for the day so the entire company could go see it. Jobs and Katzenberg would not back down and the rivalling ant films provoked a press frenzy. “The bad guys rarely win,” Jobs told the Los Angeles Times. In response, DreamWorks’ head of marketing Terry Press suggested, “Steve Jobs should take a pill”.