A Bug's Life (Disney Gold Classic Collection)

A Bug's Life (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
There was such a magic on the screen in 1995 when the people at Pixar came up with the first fully computer-animated film, Toy Story. Their second feature film, A Bug's Life, may miss the bull's-eye but Pixar's target is so lofty, it's hard to find the film anything less than irresistible.

Brighter and more colorful than the other animated insect movie of 1998 (Antz), A Bug's Life is the sweetly told story of Flik (voiced by David Foley), an ant searching for better ways to be a bug. His colony unfortunately revolves around feeding and fearing the local grasshoppers (lead by Hopper, voiced with gleeful menace by Kevin Spacey). When Flik accidentally destroys the seasonal food supply for the grasshoppers he decides to look for help ("We need bigger bugs!"). The ants, led by Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), are eager to dispose of the troublesome Flik. Yet he finds help--a hearty bunch of bug warriors--and brings them back to the colony. Unfortunately they are just traveling performers afraid of conflict.

As with Toy Story, the ensemble of creatures and voices is remarkable and often inspired. Highlights include wiseacre comedian Denis Leary as an un-ladylike ladybug, Joe Ranft as the German-accented caterpillar, David Hyde Pierce as a stick bug, and Michael McShane as a pair of unintelligible pillbugs. The scene-stealer is Atta's squeaky-voiced sister, baby Dot (Hayden Panettiere), who has a big sweet spot for Flik.

More gentle and kid-friendly than Antz, A Bug Life's still has some good suspense and a wonderful demise of the villain. However, the film--a giant worldwide hit--will be remembered for its most creative touch: "outtakes" over the end credits à la many live-action comedy films. These dozen or so scenes (both "editions" of outtakes are contained here) are brilliant and deserve a special place in film history right along with 1998's other most talked-about sequence: the opening Normandy invasion in Saving Private Ryan.

The video also contains Pixar's delightful Oscar-winning short, Geri's Game. Box art varies. --Doug Thomas
Customer Review: I NEVER RECEIVED IT!!!
VERY UPSET I ORDERED THIS PRODUCT WELL OVER A MONTH AGO AND HAVE NEVER RECEIVED IT!! I ORDERED A CD THE SAME DAY AND WHEN I RECEIVED THAT, IT DID NOT WORK!
Customer Review: good movie, but too much "yelling"
I bought this movie to add to our "in van" collection of VHS tapes for a long car trip. I had seen this movie before, and liked it. However, for in the car, there is too much yelling in the movie! Every moment is a crisis that warrent's screaming by the characters. Not a good soundtrack for a car trip, but ok for home (although it may be overstimulating in any environment, depending on the audience).


Forest of Pipes: The Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ
Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall is a stunning piece of architecture whose curved metal skin is known worldwide. The hall's rich wood interior allows musicians and listeners to dwell inside an instrument of exquisite craftsmanship. The centerpiece of the auditorium is a skewed arrangement of organ pipes located behind the stage. This organ represents the culmination of 16 years of design, planning, and construction, and it has been a reverberating success since its inaugural concert in the fall of 2004. Forest of Pipes includes fascinating interviews with key figures in the organ's design and construction, including organ designer Manuel Rosales, organ builder Caspar Glatter-Goetz, as well as Gehry himself. Illustrations include drawings, construction photos, and magnificent portraits of the finished instrument by photographer Grant Mudford. World-famous organists describe their experiences performing on one of the most significant new organs built in the last 100 years.
Customer Review: An exciting gift
We were so excited about the book about Disney Concert Hall, and its accompanying CD, that we sent copies to several of our organist friends. They were thrilled with it!
Customer Review: They, um, pulled out all the stops!
It's only the Gehry Organ, but I like it. It is in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, in Los Angeles. Yes, it is called, "a forest of pipes." Or a "log jam of pipes." Or "french fries." Or "a startling array of cockeyed organ pipes." And one detractor said that "it will set back organ building a hundred years." In this book, we see photos of early study models, with metal pipes, then with a façade of straight but angled wooden pipes, and then with the trumpets at the top, and finally with the curved and angled wooden pipes and the trumpets below. The longer pipes are indeed wooden (and used as part of the façade), with pipes behind the façade being made of alloys of tin and lead. We often measure the size of an organ by the number of pipes, or by the number of sets of pipes that produce a given timbre, called "ranks." These ranks are controlled by the organist using "stop controls" (generally tabs or knobs) at the keyboard. Originally, the proposed cost was one million dollars. But Manuel Rosales pointed out that this would only be enough for a small organ, of about 25 ranks. Finally, a budget of 3 million dollars was agreed on. It took $999,509 just for the materials, shipping, and insurance. Anyway, the budget was used, and the result was a 4-manual organ with 72 stops, 109 ranks, and 6125 pipes, the longest being 32-feet (which has a frequency of 16 Hertz). How does this compare with other pipe organs? I'll mention twelve others to compare it with to give you an idea. The organ I remember best is the one in MIT's Kresge auditorium, where I heard E. Power Biggs practice. That has 3 manuals and 41 stops. What about other concert hall organs? The Dallas symphony orchestra has a 4-manual organ with 65 stops, 84 ranks and 4535 pipes. It was built a little before the Gehry organ. The Cooper Organ in Philadelphia's Kimmel Center is 4-manual, with 111 stops, 125 ranks, and 6938 pipes. It was built a little after the Gehry organ. The organ in Sydney's Opera House has 5 manuals with 131 stops, 205 ranks, and 10,154 pipes. The Royal Albert Hall organ in London has 4 manuals, 147 stops, 177 ranks, and 9997 pipes. Other pipe organs are even bigger. The Los Angeles First Congregational Church organ has 5 manuals, 265 stops, 346 ranks and about 22,000 pipes. In Szeged, Hugary, the Fogalmi Templom organ is 5-manual with 171 stops and 9040 pipes. Washington DC's National Cathedral has a 4-manual organ with 155 stops, 186 ranks and 10,650 pipes. The Sydney Town Hall has a 5-manual organ with 126 stops, 160 ranks, and 8756 pipes and has a longest pipe of 64-feet. The Mormon Tabernacle organ, in Salt Lake City, has 5 manuals, 170 stops, 206 ranks and 11,623 pipes. The very biggest organs are the 6-manual Wanamaker Grand Court Organ in Philadelphia (386 stops 461 ranks and 28,482 pipes) and the 7-manual Convention Hall Organ in Atlantic City (852 stops, 452 ranks, and 33,112 pipes, and with a 64-foot longest pipe). In this book, we see comments from several of the people involved in producing this organ and first using it. Organist Cherry Rhodes calls it "an experience-and-a-half!" As she says, when you play on the upper console, the sound is "quite immediate." But when you play on the smaller remote console, on stage, there's a delay due to the distance that one has to take into account. Anyway, she found the organ easy to use. In particular, she liked the sequencer button, that allows the organist to progress through the succession of registrations from the beginning to the end of the piece. This book, by Jennifer Zobelein, is a fine tribute to a superb musical instrument.