Animators around Hollywood must've had ants in their pants in 1998, which would explain two similar movies about the tiny insects debuting within months of each other. Though Pixar's A Bug's Life had a wider, more kid-friendly appeal, DreamWorks' Antz  explored complex themes of individuality, conformity and war.

A bustling ant hill in New York's Central Park goes along its daily business, with each ant knowing his place and job, except for Z, a neurotic loner, who longs for free expression and a change of pace. Z convinces one of his soldier friends, Weaver, to switch places with him but instead of the harmless military drills Z was expecting, the colony's army marches off to fight a neighboring termite society. Under the orders of the bloodthirsty (or whatever ants have instead of blood) General Mandible, the whole ant army is wiped out except for Z, who survives by pure luck.

Z manages to get closer to the object of his affection, Princess Bala, but in a moment of desperation takes her hostage and ventures beyond the colony, searching for the mythical 'Insectopia,' a Shangri-La of bugs. Bala comes to sympathize with Z and together they journey to a trash can, overflowing with garbage: the insects' paradise, Insectopia.

Back at the colony, Z's bid for freedom has spurned the other worker ants to rebel and make demands on the ruling hierarchy. General Mandible maligns Z and his accomplishments and promises big rewards if the works will build a "Mega Tunnel," a construction project based on his own plans. Secretly, the General finds out Z's whereabouts by torturing his friends, soldier Weaver and worker Azteca, and sends out his assistant to recover the Princess and kill Z.

Princess Bala is taken back to the colony by force and Z leaves the luxurious Insectopia to rescue her. He discovers that General Mandible's plan for the Mega Tunnel is to dig to a nearby body of water and drown all the worker ants in the colony; the General can then establish a better ant society without the workers he despises. Organized by Z, the workers are able to avoid the mass drowning and the General is killed. Z is then free to wed the Princess and lead a new type of ant society, with liberty and freedom for all.

Antz was chock full of celebrity voices: Woody Allen lent his whiny tones to Z; Sharon Stone voiced Princess Bala; Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Lopez were Z's friends, Weaver and Azteca; Gene Hackman voiced the menacing General Mandible and Christopher Walken voiced the General's right-hand ant, Colonel Cutter. Notable cameos included Dan Aykroyd as Chip, a drunk wasp, Anne Bancroft as the Queen of the ant colony and Danny Glover as Barbatus, a soldier ant.