It's Tough to be a Bug!

It's Tough to be a Bug! is an an 8-minute, 3D movie and multimedia show, fun for big kids, teens and adults, performed in an air-conditioned movie theater embedded in the enormous root structure of The Tree of Life in Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park.

It's Tough to be a Bug! is hosted by Flik, everybody's favorite ant, and his grasshopper friend, Hopper, from the Disney-Pixar film A Bug's Life. The supporting cast consists of cute and creepy crawlers like spiders, termites, beetles, weevils and butterflies.

These amazing and amusing insects and arachnids invite the audience to be honorary bugs. Through 3D "Bug-Eye" glasses, get a fascinating and hilarious look into the animal kingdom that just might change your perspective enough to think: "It's Tough to be a Bug! Insects should be our friends." But Hopper reveals humans as bugs' biggest enemy, and suddenly it's a swarm of activity. Hornets go in for the sting and everyone's a-buzz, reacting to the startling, surprising (and possibly frightening for little grubs, er, little ones) in-theater special effects. Finally, Flik cues the finale and the show metamorphoses into its sweet spectacular finish. Gotta take it from an ant: from cocoon to curtain call, It's Tough to be a Bug!

Setting

The Bug's Life theater is located inside The Tree of Life. As the queue winds around the tree, visitors can glimpse animal carvings on the tree that aren't visible from other vantage points. The "underground" pre-show area features posters of various bug acts from the show, as well as those for all-insect parodies of Broadway musicals, such as Beauty and the Bees, Web Side Story, Little Shop of Hoppers and My Fair Ladybug.

Plot

In Disney's Animal Kingdom, a female bug voice says "Ten minutes till showtime." before the song "One" plays. After the song, "Tomorrow", the voice says, "Five minutes till showtime.". When "Tonight" is playing, the voice says "One minute till showtime." After the song, the doors open. The doors close, and the announcer tells the audience to never buzz, sting, pollinate and chirp. Flik pops up upside-down behind the butterfly curtains. Then, Flik talks and the butterflies fly away. The leaf is the title card and says "IT'S TOUGH TO BE A BUG!". Then, the little blue butterfly flies away and a millipede bites the leaf. Then, jungle music is heard, and a Mexican redknee tarantula (called Chilean Tarantula) named Chili walks to see Flik. Flik screams and Chili laughs. A pair of Acorn Weevils place a trident like item on the stage with a web. Chili shoots the acorn with a quill. Then, the acorn weevils get an acorn with Weevil Kneevil and Chili didn't shoot him. He misses the acorn and Weevil escapes and Chili chases him. The next guest is a soldier termite who defends his mound by spraying intruders with acid. A piece of the set (wood) falls and makes a loud rumble. The termite shoots at the flea and shoots at the audience. He ran out of acid and went away. A Stink Bug named Claire de Room walks to the stage and is silent. The acorn weevils place a flower and Weevil enters the flower; Claire passes gas and then walks away. An explosion is heard when Hopper jumps into stage. Hopper is mad at Flik. A Rhinoceros beetle chases Flik and four Acorn Weevils hold a poster of the movie, "Knock em Dead". The acorn weevils turn over the poster and show clips from old monster movies such as; a live boy screaming and a tarantula about to destroy his home, two soldiers shooting at a grasshopper in the park, a pair of Fireflies climbing up a building and two ants walking to the boat and a man hits the ant on the boat, and fly is hit by the fly swatter three times: The screen goes black and a hand appears with a Bug Spray. It's so dark and wasps poke the audience. Several Black widow spiders go up and down trying to capture the audience and go up and went up and are gone. Hopper says that nothing can stop him, but a chameleon eats Hopper and spits out Hopper and Hopper flies away. Some bug audience members talk at once while Flik said that he forgot to mention about reptiles. On the song, several bees start to sing, along with severalDung beetles, The Dung Brothers, several dragonflies and several ladybugs in the song. In addition, it frightens adolecenes to the point of tears. Weevil returns holding a cupcake and the bugs chase him. The butterflies come back to form as curtains and Flik says that a magnifying glass is for looking at little things, not for burning. He lets the little butterfly fly into the butterfly curtains and the show ends. The announcer says that audience members should be seated, so the beetles, maggots and cockroaches can leave the show safely. The bugs start to talk at once and the announcer says to pick up the grubby things before they exit. In the Animal Kingdom show, the female voice says to exit through the doors to the left, while the male voice says to exit through the doors to the right. The guests put their bugs eyes in the bins outside the theater and exit.

Soundtrack

The queue features parodies or renditions of songs from famous Broadway shows using bug sounds.

1. "One" (A Cockroach Line from A Chorus Line)
2. "Beauty and the Bees" (Beauty and the Bees from Beauty and the Beast)
3. "Tomorrow" (Antie from Annie)
4. "I Feel Pretty" (Web Side Story from West Side Story)
5. "Hello Dung Lovers" (The Sting and I from The King and I)
6. "Tonight" (Web Side Story from West Side Story)

Cast

• Dave Foley - Flik, a blue ant and the main protagonist in the show.
• Andrew Stanton - Hopper, a grasshopper and the main antagonist in the show. (Kevin Spacey- the voice of Hopper in the film- had a clause written into his contract stating that he would not be required to reprise his role for any A Bug's Life toys or theme park rides.)
• Cheech Marin - Chili, a Mexican redknee tarantula.
• French Stewart - The Termite-ator, a termite.
• Tom Kenny - The Dung Beetle Brothers, two dung beetles who only had singing roles during the show.
• Jason Alexander - unnamed bug.

Touring Tips

• You might not need to bother with a FASTPASS. The way the line is designed your wait will never be more than 30 minutes.
• You will receive a special pair of 3D "bug" glasses to wear while you view the show.
• There are scenes that may frighten children. If you have small children who might be scared, sit in the back of the theater. When the show grows intense, the special effects are less harsh in the back.
• This 3D movie has warning signs outside. HOWEVER, please use caution when bringing your children (and perhaps yourself) to see this movie. There are hairy bugs, spiders, and it is loud and dark with some intense scenes.
• Cast Members will park your strollers for you, so be prepared to take all your belongings with you. (Remember, they just park them, they don't watch them.)
• Each pair of 3D glasses is the same, so there's no need to switch them. Cast Members immediately remove those that you've put back and take them to be cleaned.

Facts

• Using theater lighting, 3-D filming techniques, audio-animatronics and various special effects, the show gives the audience an idea of what it would be like to be an insect.
• Flik, from A Bug's Life, hosts the show and educates the viewer on why bugs shouldn't be seen as pests, but more as friends.
• The attraction opened in Disney's Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort on April 22, 1998, a full seven months before the actual feature debuted in theaters.
• The theme song, "It's Tough to be a Bug," was written by George Wilkins with lyrics by Kevin Rafferty, and is available on Music from Disney's California Adventure.
• As the curtain closes, an announcer reminds the audience that ". . . honorary bugs remain seated while all the lice, bed bugs, maggots and cockroaches exit first."