12 Blatant Copycat Movie Pairs (And Which Was Better)

In October 1998, DreamWorks’ Antz was released promising film fans a fun animated comedy about a rebellious ant who faces up to his oppressors, falls in love with a princess, leaves the confines of his colony to do some intrepid, plot-propelling sh*t and returns a hero.

If that didn’t take cinemagoers’ fancy, they could always wait a few weeks and see Pixar’s A Bug’s Life instead which was about a rebellious ant who faces up to his oppressors, falls in love with … well, you can probably guess the rest.

But creative coincidence this was not, and there was a bit of drama going on behind the scenes. You see, DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg used to work for Disney and left on rather acrimonious terms but kept in touch with former co-worker and A Bug’s Life director John Lasseter who perhaps unwisely discussed future Disney Pixar projects with him.

You can imagine Lasseter and the rest of Pixar’s reaction when DreamWorks announced their upcoming and suspiciously similar movie Antz and rushed it into an early release.

Which One Was Better

Even though Antz might be the result of industrial espionage, it’s the slightly better film of the two. A Bug’s Life might have better animation going for it, but it’s typically cutesy and kid-friendly in a Disney kind of way whereas Antz has the advantage of a more adult, satirical tone.