In this entertaining computer-animated video set in an underground ant colony, Z (Woody Allen) is an unhappy worker who rebels against his socially designated role in a rigid caste system. His two best friends, Weaver (Sylvester Stallone), a soldier, and Azteca (Jennifer Lopez), a laborer, follow orders in the totalitarian colony. General Mandible (Gene Hackman) is a power-hungry individual who is secretly planning to destroy the worker ants and create his own perfect society. Even his aide, Colonel Cutter (Christopher Walken), is disturbed by the General's diabolical zeal. However, Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), who is to be the General's wife in an arranged marriage, is also a rebel at heart. When she and Z meet by chance and then wind up in a paradise called Insectopia, they are bonded together as adventurers in a world of new possibilities.
Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson are at the helm of this romantic-comedy adventure. Some of the most visually imaginative scenes take place outside the ant colony where Z and the Princess encounter two snooty wasps (Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin), a menacing magnifying glass, and sneakers worn by a human being. The American myth of individualism as an antidote to conformity comes across loud and clear in Antz. Here freedom is glorified as the central virtue of life.