One Villainous Scene - Hopper's Speech | Giant-Sized Genre Corner

[@MonsterfulMedia]

Whoa, where’d all these views come from?! You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad you guys found me and I hope you’ll stick around by subscribing, because I’ve got a lot of future videos coming down the pipe!

[@wilsonweiseng6485]

you kidding me? this is good stuff, keep on the good work!

[@zellosoli]

algorithm decided to shine a light

[@godhasabandonedme1643]

Yup

[@thirdgen377]

Scene had a huge impact on me too at 12 years old. The scene comes to mind every time our government lies, cheats and kills.

[@theandro1852]

We needed more of our socialist propaganda fix 😌

[@jackmack4181]

Hopper is a very smart villain, if he wasn’t the size of a bug and was given actual powers, he would be an actual threat. He knows the powers of numbers He know all it takes is one voice to break his chains He is extremely ruthless but also has a code of honor

[@bradleyadams5252]

Like president snow from the hunger games, voldemort from harry potter, the thing all tyrants fear is those that they oppress fighting back.

[@MetroXLR99]

You are now making wish for a movie where Marvel's Ant-Man fights Hopper after a Pym Particle makes the Grasshopper human sized, and becomes a supervillain.

[@Amoth_oth_ras_shash]

well...code of honor might be a bit of a stretch... but he does understand he must balance brute force with something to 'offer' one might say he knows he needs to have an..accord.. that others will vaule.

[@chris135x]

Hopper would be a politician if he was a human character.

[@Aflay1]

It's worth noting that a grasshopper changes into a locust, if, and ONLY IF, they become a swarm. It's a strange phenomenon, but grasshoppers have caused some of the flashiest invasions in history. They've been a threat even to the human beings within the ecosystem. Hopper is in a chilling, yet ironic position as a grasshopper, because grasshoppers in numbers are terrifying. *If given the opportunity...if Hopper and his clan lived long enough and multiplied....they might have actually been a threat to the entire ecosystem.*

[@turtswing]

You usually have bad guys that get defeated because of their arrogance or the false belief that nothing can stop them, making them overlook the one element that can seal their doom. But Hopper? He was completely aware that the ants could easily trump him and his gang if he allowed them to gain enough awareness of their strenght in unity and numbers, and did all he could to strike fear in the ants as much as possible, so to avoid any kind of rebellion from them. And indeed, even tho' Flik got intimidated by Hopper the moment he spoke up about the injustice the first time, it was enough to eventually spark in the ants the will to fight. Hopper's fears became true, despite everything he did. His modus operandi is scarily realistic, and this is why he's among the most disturbing Pixar Villains.

[@saphiriathebluedragonknight375]

In the end Flix barely beat Hopper. Flix knew of the bird and lead Hopper to it's nest. He was taking a risk cause the bird could have taken him instead of Hopper.

[@mrreyes5004]

@@saphiriathebluedragonknight375 I mean, on the other hand, Flik's method of beating Hopper was proof that Hopper truly wasn't any stronger than the ants. No matter how much Hopper thought he was above other insects, both he and Flik could never deny that none of them can overcome beasts even higher on the food chain than them - beasts like the bird. In a way, Hopper's death was the result of him refusing to accept that he could never truly be on top, since higher predators like the bird are proof that he objectively is no higher than even the weakest ant.

[@nickthepick8043]

It's true. Way back when, and even today's world, slave uprisings need to be put down quickly before they become a threat. Anyone ever work in retail? Don't let the paycheck sway you, it's mistreatment over coercion.

[@newfoundwisdom8532]

@@mrreyes5004 **"The world's smartest man, poses no more threat to me, than does its smartest termite."**

[@beastwarsFTW]

Ironically his savvy thinking was what lead to his downfall. Had he not tried to make an example by killing the ant queen the ants wouldn't rise up and him thinking the bird was a second fake bird was what killed him.

[@beastofedelwood1473]

the fact that Hopper's mom had to have him swear not to kill his brother is hilarious to me

[@And-ur6ol]

I find it more interesting that Hopper apparently loved his mother enough to keep his promise.

[@Yukooo333]

He maybe evil, but he respect the person who take care of him 😊❤

[@dont-hurt-me2519]

That one line made me wonder, how long have the Grasshoppers been exerting their power over the Ant Colony? Did Hopper take over this job from his Mother & this has been going on for generations? It would make sense given that older individuals in the Ant Colony such as The Queen & Cornelius are familiar with the situation.

[@KoopaXross]

​​@@And-ur6ol There are people in prison IRL that have done heinous shit that makes Hopper seem like a saint in comparison, that still swear by their moms.

[@And-ur6ol]

@@KoopaXross moms wield power, no doubt. one of my favourite anecdotes from history, is how a roman general (pre-Caesar) was about to march on Rome (he was in little asia at the time), and then the other senators got his mother to write to him, telling him that he could foget making himself dictator, after which he relented. I should add that before his mom, other senators had beeen writing him to stand down, but without luck. so the power of a mother saved rome a civil war.

[@TheAwesomeDarkNinja]

I always appreciated this movie's whole "power in numbers" message. I love how Hopper straight-up admits that the ants could indeed fight back and drive them off but they don't have the courage to.

[@copperdaylight]

Power in numbers. Vision of one.

[@kingtonsiljockey528]

"TWEET TWEET!!"

[@savagetv6460]

Mob violence is how some of the worst regimes in history took power

[@gusmc2220]

Kind of like the Kulacks in the Ukraine...

[@hueylong7989]

@@gusmc2220 what? Are you insane?

[@heyfell4301]

Can we just acknowledge how absolutely brutal this movie was? First with Hopper threatening to have a CHILD devoured in front of a crowd, then the three guys being crushed to death by the grains, and then at the end the villain get shredded to pieces by three birds. It's a type of animated massacre that I miss on newer movies, it's that kind of nightmare you learn to appreciate the more you rewatch the movie.

[@MonsterfulMedia]

Kids dig a little darkness sometimes.

[@heyfell4301]

@@MonsterfulMedia yeah. Funny to think I remember watching all these scenes as a kid and seeing nothing "wrong" with it, like: "hey, those three just died by being buried, the bad guy is really bad", and I only understand how violent this is nowadays. I honestly feel like what made older Pixar writers special was that they knew how little the children watching understood about what was going on at the screen, and how the visuals, directing and soundtrack were what really built the vibe that could make any thing more/less impactful. For instance, I was never shocked by the on-screen deaths in Bug's Life or The Incredibles, but the menacing atmosphere of the barracuda scene in Finding Nemo and the off-screen deaths that happen afterwards always terrified me beyond belief.

[@Susan-vn4ez]

Real life is cruel-er than movie so it only make sense. If hopper represents capitalist, not too far off, especially considering that irl companies traffic kids to clean knives and regularly come in contact with chemicals at the slaughter house.

[@heyfell4301]

@@Susan-vn4ez yes, that makes sense. Man, I wish more Disney and Pixar movies could depict this kind of horrifying realism nowadays, no wonder the scenes in the older films are shocking to us, it's just not what we've come to expect from those studios after so long.

[@noobmasterruben5167]

This is something Puss in boots 2 excelled at. They werent afraid to tackle PTSD & a villain with an intimidating presence and design

[@randallphillips2548]

"They come, they eat, they leave" will be in my brain forever.

[@MonsterfulMedia]

It's so eerie!

[@GlenLauderdale]

This may or may not have become my motto while working in the service industry.

[@bradleyadams5252]

@@GlenLauderdale They come, they eat, they use the wifi for 3 hours, they leave.

[@WelshGiraffa]

Anyone who works in a restaurant who sees a Karen on a regular basis and just pray they don’t cause a scene

[@magicman3163]

That’s how the Mongols ruled Asia with their Vassal states

[@dontsubcribedontlike673]

Hopper had an enormous effect on me as a child as well. I still remember hearing him tell the princess, "First rule of leadership: EVERYTHING is your fault." and even as a child I realized Hopper was different from other villains. Instead of being cartoonishly evil, he spoke harsh truths.

[@krofgninut5984]

Me too; that particular line always stuck with me as a fundamental truth about the realities of leadership.

[@tgbluewolf]

And just like in reality, he's hypocritical: HE'S a leader, but he doesn't take responsibility for the things that go wrong with his swarm.

[@skyereave9454]

@@krofgninut5984 Same. Helped that my father made that abundantly clear in regards to responsibility. It might not be your "fault" but is still your responsibility.

[@SnakeMan448]

@@tgbluewolf Instead, the instant he hears about dissent, he baits them by pretending to agree with them, kills them horribly to make a point and cows the rest into continuing with tormenting the ants. Fear doesn't fix the problems within the group; they just manifest again once the fear factor wears off via courage or something even scarier.

[@Wasserkaktus]

@@tgbluewolf When in the movie does things go wrong with his swarm other than the end, and when that happens, where does he deny responsibility? Disclaimer: This never happened.

[@Smilephile]

My headcanon is that hopper didn't kill The little girl but only threatened her because he didn't want the ants to get too angry at them and start to revolt. He knew to retain power he needed to only threaten her.

[@arianabell9351]

But he actually doesn’t kill dot…

[@screamingcactus1753]

@@arianabell9351 That's what they said

[@timothypeterson4781]

@@arianabell9351 I think he missed an "intend" so that Hopper never planned on killing her.

[@carpedm9846]

I think its not just because of the anger. Its a hostage situation, a vulnerability. If you have a hostage, you can threathen to harm them, but you cant threathen to kill them convincingly, because if you kil them you lose all your bargaining power. As long as the ants arent aware that he isnt going to kill her, the baby is useful to him. And after they do figure it out and the baby is no longer useful, he can always just kill then to stamp out that smidge of hope that "oh he isnt going to do that, we are safe".

[@Abebabe413]

I just wanted to say hopper seems like a man of his word, since he swore on his mothers deathbed he wouldn't lay a finger on his brother

[@krofgninut5984]

Lawful evil

[@Jenna_Talia]

He's probably the most lawful evil you can get. He knows he's in the wrong, he sticks to his word and upholds his end of the bargain, and he's fully aware that he can be bested but he keeps at it anyways. Edit: Did not even notice the other reply lmao, but it goes to show it's a common sentiment ig.

[@Abebabe413]

how many grasshoppers are apart of hoppers gang anyway

[@aceclover758]

Molt wasn’t originally Hopper’s brother but the writer thought it wouldn’t make sense if a non sibling would get away with al his foolishness in front of Hopper

[@bradleyhauertheedtruncanfa5020]

Abraham makes a point. The only reason Hopper isn't Pure Evil is that he is honorable, as he kept his promise to not kill Molt despite really wanting to do so.

[@quynlanvuorensyrja5484]

Hell, to look at it from a wider angle, Hopper isn’t even specifically a symbol of capitalism or big government, but the concept of exploitation in general, and that no matter who you are, there will always be people who will try to take advantage of you. That is a simple fact of life. What you must be able to determine is whether the other party is actually doing as they promised.

[@bagelxxbutter592]

It's a bug's life hermano

[@iggytheincubus]

Agreed. The politics don't really apply beyond oppressor vs oppressed, which is very basic and has no loyalty to any "party", despite what op seems to think

[@kdog3k]

This is accurate. OP brushes off the fact that the ants own all their shit and are actually having it stolen from them like it's not a legitimate talking point. Hopper is a Mob Boss not an entrepreneur

[@SoMuchFacepalm]

Hopper is a Mad Max villian with brains.

[@CHAPI929292]

@@iggytheincubus the oppressor vs oppressed perspective is the basis of Marxism tho

[@CACTINER]

The grasshoppers who got rained by that grain really begged for it to stop before silence. Godamn that is dark.

[@proantagonist5042]

That’s why you keep your mouth shut when you’re in a gang..

[@FalonGrey]

Eh, just sounds like they got knocked out, or too hard to hear rather than killed.

[@SaberRexZealot]

@@FalonGrey it’s a more powerful scene if they died.

[@oonwing]

Art and life, which imitates which???

[@russellmz]

@@proantagonist5042 they did keep their mouth shut by sending his brother, but hopper earned villain points by figuring out it out and punishing the appropriate bugs.

[@logan_jp3]

"GET. BACK. IN. LINE." Hoppers so assured of himself; his physical presence and confidence make hundreds of ants cower in the presence of one grasshopper.

[@ShwappaJ]

He reminds me of a teacher who once pulled that one on me when I cut the line at lunchtime

[@tomnorton4277]

Hopper's a good actor because he's not as confident as he pretends to be. He's aware that his power is an illusion but he's very good at maintaining that illusion.

[@bulborb8756]

@@tomnorton4277 yeah since Hopper act's more like a bully not only to the ants, but to his own goons as well to keep everyone in line and thinking he could get rid of them without a second thought

[@fighter5583]

Taking real life into factor, one grasshopper would get torn to pieces by a swarm of ants. Must be pretty hard to walk around with the balls Hopper is carrying.

[@judaihyuga]

Not gonna lie, Hopper was the only character from Bug's Life whose name I remembered. He's actually a really good villain in that he's not blind to obvious disadvantage of numbers. He knows the grasshoppers are bigger and more imposing than the ants, and uses it to intimidate them into line. Unlike the other grasshoppers, he knows what'll happen if the ants catch on, and he's determined to make sure it doesn't happen.

[@Jenna_Talia]

What I like about him is that most villains are either written to be sympathized with or they dance around being evil/writers make them so over the top shitty to others that it just becomes a joke. Hopper isn't like that. He's written like a real person - explosive, hot-headed, but he doesn't act like an asshole 100% of the time to get the point across that he's a villain.

[@nicolrb2210]

Also how can you not remember the name of *hopper* the grass *hopper*

[@drcoolcabbage]

There's an interesting detail at the start there when the grasshoppers break into the nest, one that shows how smart Hopper is as a villain. Who does he focus on when he gets in? He doesn't jsut kick around and yell at some random workers. No, he goes straight for the heirs to the throne, Princess Atta and Dot, both of whom he absolutely terrorizes. All the while, he completely ignores the actual queen. Hopper is intimidating the next generation into compliance.

[@SnakeMan448]

First, he walks around while all the workers back up out of his path, just to flex his domination. He even pauses and changes direction for the hell of it.

[@christianali5431]

Just like the leftists.

[@gustavoneridesouza120]

And he also comes up with the "external enemy threat"

[@tomnorton4277]

Hopper's very tactical in the way he employs intimidation. He thinks several steps ahead in regards to maintaining his power, so it's only when something that he couldn't account for, like the bird at the end, gets involved that he's defeated. Actually, even after his gang abandoned him, Hopper was still pretty damn dangerous. His power wasn't completely fake because when push came to shove, he was still quick witted enough to take advantage of the sudden rainstorm to not only escape from the cannon but go straight for Flick, the one ant who tipped the power balance. If not for the bird's intervention, he would have killed the only ant who was brave enough to stand up to him without an army backing him up. I'm sure Princess Atta would have continued to stand up to him, if only to honour Flick's memory, because she outright threw herself between Hopper and Flick before Hopper could crush him, but the rest of the colony don't have the guts to fight back unless they're attacking in a group. Granted, killing Flick would have been a bit of a gamble because it would have resulted in a martyrdom but it also would have robbed the colony of their hero. A detail I love is the blink and you miss it moment where Dim jumps away from a drop of rain and Hopper glances up at him. In just a split second, he comes up with a plan to get out of the canon by simply rolling underneath Dim before he lands which simultaneously shoots him directly towards Flick. Hopper can think several steps ahead whilst also being intelligent enough to come up with plans on the fly, so without the intervention of the bird, I don't think the ants could have defeated him. At best, they could only have caused him to retreat for a while.

[@gustavoneridesouza120]

@@tomnorton4277 a very precise noticement

[@spamviking]

I've had my own "Once they realise they outnumber us" moment in real life. A while working at a warehouse as a labourer we had one member of the office staff that really used to lord it over us that they were in charge, even though they literally weren't and our floor supervisor outranked them. But one day they rest of the office were out and they were put in full control and boy did they ever let us know it, hounding us and micromanaging and criticizing us all day. Just after lunch they got us warehouse staff together to tell us how were were reflecting badly on their abilities as (temporary) boss and how we're all too lazy to be anything decent other than labourers. Well that one line was the last straw for me and everyone else as ALL of us, unprompted, took a step forward at the same time to protest. And I guess the sight of a half dozen pissed off blokes advancing on them made that office worker realise they were VERY outnumbered, as they quietly apologised and quickly retreated to the office and remained there the rest of the day.

[@incognibro6669]

There's so much a person can stand Props to you guys for standing up!

[@Zetsuubou]

There are always "ants" willing to throw their fellow ants (you and your colleagues) under the bus, if it means getting their way - Very unpleasant..

[@nonamenoface3654]

@@Zetsuubou yep, specially when specific ants are promised to become a grasshopper after betrayal.

[@RainbowEssence-c3w]

Lol nice, kudos to you guys for standing up for yourselves! Sorry to hear you had such a bad boss though. I'm in a bit of a similar situation myself right now unfortunately, at my current job working in fast food (I won't say where exactly for privacy reasons). My old manager was so nice but then she got transferred and my new manager is just like your floor supervisor, constantly hounding me and micromanaging and criticizing me for not doing things perfectly or exactly the way they want me to. I can't stand it, I dread going to work now. I come home exhausted not only from the demands of the job itself, but also the constant eroding of my self-confidence by my manager. It's hard to explain exactly, but there's something about constantly being "corrected" and talked down to that's somehow physically draining in addition to being mentally taxing. It's like I'm being sapped of my will to live. I plan on getting out soon, as soon as I can find another job, but for now it really sucks and I think it's a shame because the place where I work used to be a pretty decent place as far as fast food restaurants go.

[@spamviking]

@Silent Solitude Would it make the story more realistic if I added that this person went right back to their old habits the next day and continued to be a dickhead for the remainder of their time at the company?

[@lordsiomai]

Man, Hopper's a really good villain. He wasn't just your bland, full of hubris, want all the power type of villain. He actually has the brain to know and admit that they are outnumbered by the ants and can beat them any day of the week. He knew how to use his menacing character to exude fear and power to those under him, not just for himself but also for the survival of his species. In other words, he's quite a deep villain and I love that. Glad to see more people now appreciate him and this movie.

[@Maxi-Gonz.]

Hopper discovering the power of humanity it's something terrific that works at the same time. Just imagine if one day, animals start to think beyond themselves like we humans did hundreds of millions of years ago.

[@Susan-vn4ez]

I think its just very realistic depiction of the "elites". They know, they know they're dividing the masses, manipulating them into believing this is what we workers are meant to do, they're here feed the rich. Thats why big companies are so afraid of employees starting unions.

[@JP-rf8rr]

Honestly, the most apparent connection wasn't marxism or libertarianism. It was something like Attila the Hun. A foreign force people invade another and the invaded have to pay off their invaders to spare themselves only to encourage additional invasions. Like you said, the ants own the means of production. The actual monarchy analogy or 1% lives in there but as the queen and princess. While the Grasshoppers are a completely separate group from the already existing society with its own class structures. The Grasshoppers are their own people with no connection to the ants. They don't manage or directly rule them. They just occasionally show up and muscle around demanding to be paid off to leave or else.

[@dragonfell5078]

Also reminds me of the Viking raids and the practice of paying them off with the Danegeld to avoid being plundered

[@lioraselby5328]

I see it more as a metaphor for imperialism tbh.

[@JP-rf8rr]

@@lioraselby5328 If the Grasshoppers stayed I could see that but it doesn't appear that they actually care about taking over the place or even running it. The ants royal family runs everything and still has luxury and servants, but they have to keep paying off the Grasshoppers or else.

[@lioraselby5328]

@@JP-rf8rr that’s literally how imperialism worked irl though! British India is a good example. Many Indian nobles were still allowed to rule their local kingdoms as long as they bent the knee to the Governor-General. And those princes definitely still lived in luxury. In fact some of them even were entitled to cannon salutes from the British military!

[@JP-rf8rr]

@@lioraselby5328 But the east Indian company stayed put. Built base of operations. And while many princes were allowed to rule, they had british overseers within India to react towards anything they did. If the Grasshoppers Kept a fraction of their people at the ant colony permanently (their own houses and everything) watching the queen and her progress THEN it would be a good analogy.

[@radrno7]

Something that I really love about Hopper is that he isn't bad because he's wrong. He's worse because he's absolutely right. The power of a group can outweigh that of others. But Hopper is also fully aware that it's not just the masses that make the difference, because they come from somewhere: individuals. In Men In Black, agent K explains to the new recruit why people couldn't handle truth. One person is smart, the hurd is dumb. People being free to think for themselves get ideas to defy the big power, the crowd just follows like a bunch of animals. The same way Flick managed to motivate the ants to fight back, Hopper did it to control them, so even on opposite sides, both still fall on the same position, just different messages. It gets even more complex when you consider Flick's journey, because he was the lowest outcast, seen as the pariah and banished by the highest individual of the society, which only answered to one higher power: Hopper. The fact Flick was banished to eventually create a solution against Hopper shows that him being an individual in his own colony defied its own power, where both Hopper and Flick basically changed who rules the ants. So... if you think about it, Hopper basically forced the group to accept this individual, almost congratulating him for not being like them. The idea of fear spreaded the grasshoppers, while the idea of bravery united the ants. I ain't even talking about politics or any sort of sociological ideology. These are just what happened in the movie, simply amazingly deep adult writing for a kids animation.

[@zeehero7280]

An individualist message like that would never be in a movie made today sadly. It's also going a bit far to compare it to a marxist uprising. for one thing the chance of a lasting improvement resulting from that are always 0.00% If you eat the rich, it's the equivalent of eating the entire worlds food supply for lunch. you destroy the job creators, and organizers who had set up companies and infrastructure to make the world work. things might seem better for up to a week but you just bought yourselves a century of dark ages. If you don't want to feel oppressed by those you work for, then support seperation of private business and politics. lobbying and the crazy agenda of certain politicians are how it got as corrupt as it is now.

[@acolossalangrybook3169]

is that osama bean laden

[@CrowTR0bot]

@@zeehero7280 The rich don't create jobs, they just vacuum up the wealth and create pointless vertical hierarchies to justify their obscene paychecks while their workers starve. Meanwhile, the people who actually know how the orgainization works are stuck at the bottom living on scraps. And that's not even taking into account that most of the big name "Marxist" uprisings were hijacked by authoritarians who turned their nations into State Capitalist nightmares. Stalin and Mao ultimately ran their respective countries like corporations with the Politburo as the Board of Directors. There were still clear vertical hierarchies and a handful of fat parasites getting fat off of everyone's hard work. Not to mention their penchant for genocides runs counter to the intersectionality Communism and Socialism need to thrive.

[@BladeValant546]

Ehh it's not an individualist message it's a humanist message about using unity to overcome oppression. I hate this false dichotomy of individualism and collectivism we can and should have both.

[@Daehpo]

@@zeehero7280 I think you're over estimating the importance of the rich & conflating them with organizers. The rich are predatory/parasitic by nature, if they weren't they wouldn't be rich. They need to extract more value than they put in to profit, that's basic economics. They claim ownership of ideas & land, and use their resources to legitimize the claims. They destroy the lives of others to enforce their rule(whether weeding out competition or thru exploitation) & sometimes just because they can. Organizers are important to help manage this increasingly complex world, but they are not always the rich. Organizers need to be kept in check, because they are inherently in a powerful situation. Power with no repercussion, inevitably leads to abuse. People have lived on Earth for a lot longer than we've had civilization. The way we live today isn't eternal, nor should we expect it to be. You're right tho, in that political reform would lead to a more stable transition. However, it's precisely because its the safest option for the people that it is hemorrhaged the most by those in power.

[@aprilmichel7816]

This particular scene made me rewatch the movie so many times my sibling shudders at the mention of it. The look on Hopper's face as the grain falls is just... so good. I like that he is actually written as smart and competent, but too egoistical to cut his losses and leave before it's too late.

[@bobi200samatar6]

Something tiny and not really that significant that I still love is that Flik and Hopper both come to the decision to use a small object as a metaphor for small things eventually becoming important. For Hopper, it's this scene, when he uses the grain as metaphor being powerful in their numbers. For Flik, it's when he uses a rock as a metaphor for a seed growing into a tree, which is also a metaphor for Dot growing into a queen. These two don't really interact much, so small things like this can work on giving them a connection. They both understand things the same way, but also very differently. I love it when heroes and villains have things in common like that.

[@MonsterfulMedia]

That is an excellent observation!

[@christianali5431]

I’ve been saying that for years. The scene shows you that flik and hopper are both as clever as each other. They both know how to imagine things and tell their story to those around them using those imaginary concepts. It’s setting up the fact that anything that hopper can think of, flick will eventually think of himself. So if Hopper knows that the ants are more powerful than the grasshoppers, eventually flik Will know it too.

[@strawberrysangria1474]

That scene is brilliant in every way. Hopper swears to his mother that he won't kill his brother, but it doesn't stop him from killing "lesser" grasshoppers or other bugs. Not even the tyrant respects his fellow tyrants. I hate that problems like this are considered "too political". It's the reality of our world and we should talk about it, not just as rich vs poor, but as the self-serving vs the protective. Right now we're seeing this the workplace, in healthcare, and on a global level. Even better, other grasshoppers are supporting the ants against those keeping them tied down. It's a nice change of story.

[@eagle162]

It's not the reality of our world, The Grasshoppers really don't benefit from the ants and the ants own the means of production, arguably it's the poor versus the rich story in reverse to an extent or it could just be seen as a simple anti-bullying message. But more on that larger numbers doesn't automatically mean an Advantage most of the time,also with the whole rich vs poor narrative well there is abuse that does happened another problem is not teaching the poor how to take care of themselves, how to manage money and getting the maximum benefits ect.

[@DevoutSkeptic]

"No offense but... that sounds like some fucking commie gobbledygook." - Norm McDonald

[@TheCabalOnMars]

Oh for sure there's quite a few reeeeal greedy grasshoppers out there, some real stinkers, but then there's these grasshoppers over here that never really did anything wrong... they just dressed up like a jester and danced for a bit while the ants willingly threw them food, then there's the grasshoppers that shoveled right alongside the ants and did better, then got more food because they were exceptional workers. Some ants sit there and get free food by doing nothing, while others do very little. Other ants try to find faults with the ants around them, and blame said faults on what species of ant they're looking at, or even what insect they're looking at. Some very stupid ants get the idea that doing so takes down the grasshoppers specifically, when in reality it only helps that species of ant get more food for no reason. If society's issues were just "ant v grasshopper" then they would've been solved already.

[@minutemansam1214]

@@eagle162 The poor are poor because the system is designed to produce poor people as wealthy people take advantage of poor people. Teaching the poor how to budget doesn't actually solve anything.

[@wildfire9280]

@@TheCabalOnMars Way to miss the point by a thousand miles.

[@ethribin4188]

I loved that scene! It signe handedly and logically explained why rulers can be cruel or do 'stupid' things that just upsets people. "Its not about food. Its to keep these ants in line!"

[@Warrior-Of-Virtue]

My theory on how this started is that at some point, probably generations before the film, the Grasshoppers were a mercenary army that the Ants hired to defend their territory in exchange for a share of their harvest and overtime this relationship grew increasingly exploitative to the point that the Ants were effectively enslaved. This is the fate of damn near every nation that relied on mercenaries to protect them instead of raising their own army.

[@zeehero7280]

And if your nation has necromancers you can raise that army in more ways than one!

[@gamechanger8908]

This sounds like it came from Metal Gear Solid.

[@ultimateloser3411]

@@gamechanger8908 and sounds like what the Senator would say

[@NTKM-om9vn]

@@ultimateloser3411 Could have gone pro

[@hidayatmusroni]

Like what happen in the middle east, the us basiclly got them by the ball just because their people ask for help.

[@heartless2147]

Hopper is one of my favorite villains due to how shockingly true to life his actions are. The whole reason he believes in what he does is due to a traumatic event in his life, he was almost eaten by a bird and he never wants to feel powerless again, so he bullies people smaller and weaker then him to feel empowered. How many people in real life are similar to Hopper? They felt powerless earlier in life so they become a try hard pushing others around to feel empowered, it's a never ending cycle. Even his really brutal death is poetic in itself, once again he's in the mouth of a bird only this time he's not getting out alive. All that effort to feel empowered by pushing around smaller beings, just to be effortlessly picked up and killed by things bigger then him, Hopper really is an underrated villain.

[@tomnorton4277]

I actually feel bad for Hopper at the end. Can you imagine how terrified he must have been? Being eaten alive would be horrifying on its own but in his last moments, he was no doubt remembering the bird that scarred him. It's a horrible way to die and they got away with it in a children's movie.

[@fusionspace175]

I always much preferred this movie to Antz, I was working at a video store when they hit home release, and the public felt the same way. They would sadly rent Antz, only if a Bug's Life was all rented out. Good analysis.

[@MonsterfulMedia]

Thank you so much!

[@SaberRexZealot]

Both films are entertaining but yeah, I’ve always preferred A Bug’s Life. The characters are a lot more likeable and the general art direction is stronger. Antz can be a pretty mean spirited film by contrast.

[@fusionspace175]

@@SaberRexZealot A lot of Woody Allen's work is that way. It's a cynical new yorkers perspective, neurosis was like his catchphrase. Only worth revisiting now if you're studying film history, tbh. But darkly funny, too.

[@coldstuff9784]

I don't think it even needs to be said, of course everybody preferred this movie over Antz. Personally though, I hated Bugs Life as kid.

[@Jenna_Talia]

It's funny that at one point Disney was the one getting the short end of the stick when releases coincide.

[@carpedm9846]

I think hopper is a good example of "sometimes an understandable villain is more effective". It doesnt mean the villain has to see themselves as the hero. I particularly liked the sentence "if he even has that frame of mind", because it is very clear at least from what I got that Hopper doesnt see himself as a villain or hero, because he just. Doesnt think of that. Hopper is perfectly understandable. He is internally consistent, has explanations for the things he does, yet at no point does the story need to go "hopper thinks he is right". A character does not need to see themselves as the hero to be understandable. A character just needs to have clear goals and personality traits that are well explained without going into "I love skinning puppies and poverty lol." because then it feels too forced, and lose a lot of the impact.

[@Zeno11Salazar]

I think the feral grasshopper was just that, a feral, insane member that they keep around as an attack dog. It's kind of a sad thought when Pluto is just a normal dog and Goofy is more human like Micky or Donald.

[@oneandonlysound3453]

Yeah, I don't think it was like the Disney thing at all. The whole atmosphere of how he acted, how it made scenes feel darker, it was like they'd been humanized, albeit as a cannibalistic monster.

[@nicholasfarrell5981]

He's Pixar's version of Ed, a dangerously violent and practically brain-dead member of the species.

[@alpheusmarshall4670]

Not to nitpick but isn't it canon that goofy is a cow

[@coldfrost3]

@@alpheusmarshall4670 nah their both dogs

[@Zeno11Salazar]

@@alpheusmarshall4670 Honestly I don't know, there's like no official word by Disney, mostly just a lot of connections that I would call him a bull. A hornless bull at that.

[@vadernation1233]

I also dig how hopper takes out those 3 guys to prove his point. He uses seeds, the very things he gets from the ants. By dumping all of those seeds down on the ground it leaves them exposed to the elements and it’ll probably waste a lot of them. Shows hopper doesn’t actually need the food from the ants and has more than plenty and just uses it to continue to control the ants.

[@dontsubcribedontlike673]

One of my favorite shots in all of Pixar's animation, although it only lasts it about half a second, is that shot at 7:10 right after Hopper yanks out the plug but before the 3 grasshoppers are buried, the seeds are pouring out at such speed that Hopper is completely obscured by the waterfall of seeds and even has to step aside for them. A tiny visual reminder that Hopper's power is nothing compared to what the ants can do.

[@aishutoon4553]

I remember hopper was one of the only Disney villains to genuinely scare me as a kid, and I never realized why until now…

[@pnyhmsmx]

Yeah, me too. All this time I assumed that the Spanish dub made him scary due to superb performance of the VA, not the brilliance of the script

[@0g0dn0]

“The one with the alleged sex pest?” “No, the other one with the alleged sex pest.” I swear to god, that actually just occurred to me as I clicked on this video. It started with me thinking “wait, wasn’t Kevin Spacey the villain in Antz? No, it’s Gene Hackman, Spacey played the villain in the other film…heeeeeyy…”

[@nicholastosoni707]

And they're both Lex Luthor.

[@0g0dn0]

@@nicholastosoni707 Ha! Maybe that’s why I was confused. You know, despite being a shitty human being, I do firmly believe that Spacey was by far the best live action Lex Luthor we’d ever had.

[@willmorton8006]

I love how they never explicitly mention that the three minions were murdered. For years I thought that they managed to get out of the way

[@capncake8837]

I thought they got hit by grain, but eventually climbed out later.

[@beastmaster0934]

@@capncake8837 Same. I thought they’d climb out, all beaten and battered or something. But NOPE, they dead.

[@alfredoangel2359]

They’re grasshoppers that got hit with some grain. They definitely lived, grain isn’t heavy or hard especially to a grasshopper.

[@montanajackson3713]

I too always assumed they just got knocked out cold, but eventually climbed out later.

[@Rytonic69]

"Why are the youth so radicalized?" My brother in Christ, we had this on VHS

[@JT5555]

i love the "it's tough to be a bug" attraction at disney world. you go inside the tree of life and are given ant glasses to become "honorary ants" while flick shows off some of the ways different bugs survive (with mixed results such as the termite shooting acid at you) but then hopper comes along and actively tries to murder you with hornets and black widow spiders while in a cloud of bug spray until a chameleon comes along and eats him. flick gives his closing remarks and all the bugs crawl past your legs before you leave. it's a great show and always the first thing i do whenever i get to the animal kingdom.

[@MonsterfulMedia]

That sounds awesome! I’ll need to check that out!

[@JT5555]

@@MonsterfulMedia i highly recommend it (if you have a bad back,though be sure to lean forward a little when the hornets start attacking because they attack from the back and hit pretty hard).

[@saphiriathebluedragonknight375]

I went on that in high school. I was terrified. Never again!

[@kraziiXIII]

I love that attraction too! idk if California Adventure still has it's version of that attraction still but every time we'd get a two day hopper pass we'd go to both the Honey, I shrunk the Kids show (in Disneyland) and the Bug's Life one (in California Adventure). They are always great places to cool off in the summer!

[@arianabell9351]

Word of warning: There’s stuff in the seats that poke you in the back that are supposed to be stingers and it WILL scare the crap out of you.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Don't let this distract you from the fact that Hopper has his own special incredible audio-animatronic for a show called It's Tough to be a Bug at Disney's Animal Kingdom (it used to be at DCA too but it was demolished to make way for Avengers Campus). I saw it when I was ten. When he shows up, it truly is a horrifying experience (you are given a taste of your own medicine when a can of bug spray is sprayed to show what it's like to be attacked by humans), but that's the point. The message of the show is it's not easy being a bug, but they're just as important to the ecological balance as everything else. The Imagineers who designed him really did his movie justice. I mean he's not the best of the Disney villains, but he was given the audio-animatronic treatment...can't say the same about other villains

[@takeshikujo2909]

Hopper is without a doubt one of Disney’s best villains! And with one of the most gruesome and kind of graphic death. Yikes. 😳

[@sissysovereign1294]

Right imagine getting viciously eaten alive

[@lapiscake1211]

@@sissysovereign1294 not even chewed up, he was swallowed alive

[@jasonrichter1645]

@@lapiscake1211 unlikely,baby birds will fight over the food effectively ripping it into multiple pieces

[@shorewall]

@@jasonrichter1645 I imagine that scene from Jurassic Park 2 where the T Rex couple rip that guy in half.

[@AntiNihilist]

Not much competition considering the last few Disney movies haven't had many good villains at all

[@saberpat7]

Hopper was also keeping his own people in line, he didn't have any power structure beyond his word so he couldn't take any challenge to it, he has sort of a standard operating procedure that works on both the grass hoppers and the ants He uses the nebulous unreal threat of other bugs taking advantage of the ants to justify his own protection racket to the ants and then he uses the threat of the ants rebelling to justify his orders and foreign policy He basically explains to his own men that his own power is an illusion over them but since he gives them someone else to take their fear out on and turns the ants into the boogeyman he gets away with it

[@capncake8837]

Honestly, this movie could just be used as a symbol of oppression in general. After hearing Hopper’s speech for the first time in years, it actually made me think of slavery.

[@lordpessimism]

That's why the term "wage slave" exists.

[@samneibauer4241]

Slavery is simply another mode of production with an unjust hierarchy such as feudalism and capitalism. In other words, it's a form of exploitation.

[@capncake8837]

@@samneibauer4241 What would a mode of production without an unjust hierarchy look like?

[@samneibauer4241]

@@capncake8837 Worker's ownership of the means of production in an economy void of profits. In practice, this means the workers democratically deciding what to produce, how to produce, where to produce, and how much to produce. Instead of having single business owner and receiving only part of the value (in wages) that you produce (with your labor), each worker receives the value they create. From each according to their work/ablility, to each according to their needs. The concrete real world example of this is worker coops, which is basically what I just explained. For more information, watch Richard Wolff.

[@pat3309]

@@lordpessimism wage slave would make a lot more sense if we could change it to tax slave.

[@slimekingprimexxx4727]

I love hopper for the fact he is cold, calculated, but most importantly, he is smart and dominant. He knows a single click is all it would take for his operation to crumble to dust.

[@TheImaginator972]

I really WISH Pixar should have care about A Bug's Life like all their other animated films, Even they should have thought about making a follow-up sequel.

[@krofgninut5984]

Considering how thin on ideas movies are these days, maybe its bc they dont want people in the current political climate to start getting ideas.

[@Vigriff]

I honestly think this movie doesn't need a sequel.

[@chandranapier2259]

Eh, I feel like they would butcher it.

[@gustavoneridesouza120]

They should consider adding this as a world in Kingdom Hearts

[@icarusablaze1831]

4:57 nah that's not a dog its just a crazy dude they got chained up

[@marc17studios44]

I do think A Bug’s Life is underrated too, I remember watching this movie all the time when I was a kid. Sure it has the typical liar reveled story thrown in, but a lot of the elements, like hopper, still work.

[@jodi2847]

Spacey delivers a villain speech like no other. That he's such a ghoul in real life kind of enhances it.

[@SageofStars]

You know, I'd always wondered if they'd died in the food-a-lanche. Nice to see someone else thought of that too...also a good video, well paced and structured, with some good points. Gods this movie is hard to rewatch. Not a fan of the Liar revealed story myself, and that's this one in a nut shell. Also bugs, but this one is easier on that front that Antz.

[@eldritchbeauty]

Never realized Hopper wasn't just speaking about the ants -- his speech was a direct commentary on how he ruled the other grass hoppers. The moment there's even a murmur of dissent among the grasshoppers, he squashes it (literally). It's really obvious, and I'm surprised I didn't see it before. This scene perfectly encapsulates his character, a villain who cares about controlling others over all else. It's a very well done scene.

[@ThisDragon141]

I love political analysis in fiction! All stories are ways of interpreting life in some aspect, whether it be social issues, oppression, or history. You rarely have a story without those themes.

[@williammorahan4907]

Not all stories.

[@LordVader1094]

@@williammorahan4907 inb4 "eVeRyThiNg iS PoLiTiCaL"

[@williammorahan4907]

@@LordVader1094 that sounds like a problem with society honestly

[@FalonGrey]

To some degree, sure. The issue arises when messages are there just for the sake of being there, and don't make any sense. Like The Last Jedi trying to say that weapon dealers are bad even though they also arm the rebels, and the completely unnecessary stance about how slavery was bad, on an incredibly wealthy planet, in a universe where droids exist, and would be much more efficient than organics.

[@ThisDragon141]

@@FalonGrey I agree. The Last Jedi sucks and is poorly written and has nothing of substance to say. The story is barely even cohesive and it fails as a movie.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

My grandpa formed resistance and was able to counter the Japanese colonial overlords. He then proceeded to lead a country, managing to rebuild it from the ground up of the ashes of the war, until 1994. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it

[@seanwhitehall4652]

I never picked up on the dual meaning of Hopper's speech. It applies equally to his own gang, so he has to keep teem in line too even if those 3 alone pose no threat to his power. Hopper even literally wastes food (which it is not about) to silence them.

[@kurosakikun96]

I remember watching the movie in primary school once as a lesson on "anti-bullying", and yeah, a big part of that scene really is showing how Hopper rules through fear and silencing those who speak out against him and realise the advantages they have over him regardless of what side they are on, makes him an even more horrifying villain realising how realistic he is

[@williamgroves3134]

He does understand almost everything about Rule by Fear. Everything except that Rule by Fear is always doom to fail eventually. Eventually the oppressed will find the courage to fight back. Add in some creativity and the oppressors are going to have a serious fight on their hands, one that there is a good chance they don't win. It doesn't matter what you do, say or build to maintain fear. It is only a matter of time.

[@Thisstufferguy]

@Nathair its a start, the workers must then make sure to keep an eye on the union afterwards. If they fail to do so, they just become another ring on the pyramid of haves.

[@minutemansam1214]

Rule by fear is very effective. Machiavelli wrote in his Art of War (maybe it was The Prince?) that a good Prince should be loved and feared, but if he could only choose one, choose fear. Fear does not mean hate, however. One thing a Prince should never be is hated by his subjects. Because when the power of hate overcomes the power of fear the populace will rebel. So long as you rule by fear, but do not engage in tyranny (as in, don't unjustly harm your subjects or subject them to arbitrary punishments), and the populace can live relatively well your rule should be fine.

[@saphiriathebluedragonknight375]

"Fear lead to anger. Anger leads to hate."

[@erebusvonmori8050]

@@minutemansam1214 Machiavellis was The Prince, Art of War was Sun Tzu

[@pnyhmsmx]

@@Thisstufferguy that's been a thing for years, that's why it's a problem that political parties become obsessed with unions being filled with their agents. It's happened in Mexico and in the US too. That's why some unions constantly clashed with their members, such as telling people to support Obamacare (which destroyed some insurance plans) and supporting politicians who go against jobs (supporting a politician who only cares about multinational companies who want to export production). It's a continuous struggle

[@djandjb1]

Finally someone agrees with me how underrated A Bugs Life is. I still think of it as one of their most important films for kids who need to understand such a grand concept

[@saidi7975]

Actually I remember a Bug's life better than the incredibles or Nemo...

[@MonsterfulMedia]

It certainly leaves an impression, doesn’t it?

[@saidi7975]

That it does , dude ! That it does !

[@captaintrashcans3163]

As a kid, hopper was he only children’s film villain who made me actually scared. So many villains I was only shocked at their first appearance or I only looked them in awe with only amazement. But when it came to bugs life, he made me freeze, his lines were always so carefully delivered and meaningful that it moved me to my core. He wasn’t arrogant or just crazy powerful, he was simply a smart guy who knew a way with words and his sudden outbursts made me question what he would do next while still giving the idea that he had a plan to control everyone

[@rimfire8217]

I personally do not have any Marxist Leanings myself but even then I will concede that this Movie's message has some in common with the Philosophical views of Marx. However the Philosophy of "An Oppressor and the Oppressed" is by no means exclusive to Communism or even the Left. Though sardonically you brought up how the Grasshoppers can represent a Government and the Ants a Population. However You also sardonically picked at your own Argument "Since the ants own the means of production they. cannot be the Workers" and just for my two cents; The Grasshoppers technically do not profit from the Offering. Hopper could happily live in the Sonora Sombrero with. his boys, Yet he still reigns over the ants through terror even at the expense of his kind via the rain. Some awful things might happen in the Amazon Warehouses but those awful things are the byproduct of Apathy instead of Intention. Ultimately "A Bugs Life" is a rather simple story that can be interpreted a few complex ways. Hopper is a Bully, He treats people like dirt because he want people to fear him, He wants to control people and his greatest fear is a Bird Something he cannot control. [Also I just wanna Bring up that when Hopper was making his "It's not about Food" speech he was literally stepping on top of the food.]

[@anthonyjohnson9106]

I loved this movie growing up in the early 2000's, mainly because of the lessons it taught. Pixar back then was dropping bangers back to back.

[@DrMDHyde]

One line that’s always gonna stick with me “First rule of leadership, everything is your fault” cause damn is that true.

[@shadows-xn3ed]

Second rule of leadership, when you succeed your followers will think you did nothing but profit of their hard work.

[@bungiecrimes7247]

@@shadows-xn3ed rule 34

[@cherryroseberry2811]

I just like how Monsterful Media let the scene with Hopper and his crew play out and then pause it, and is quiet for a few seconds then quietly says "Jesus." It's honestly funny🤣🤣

[@chrishall5570]

I like how during Hopper's speech right after he kills three of his own guys it pans around him to show that what he says about the ants is true for his own gang to. He's only in-charge because of his wit and brutality, his entire approach in running his gang through fear. They might be in a better position than the ants but if his gang decided they had a enough of him then he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

[@burneraccount8416]

It's not a Marxist allegory or anything, it's a baseline message of "There is strength in numbers, use that against those that oppress you." Obviously a left-leaning person would agree with that, though right-wingers would as well. It's a very cosmopolitan message, because it can be used for all sorts of oppression. Economic, political, cultural, religious, ETC. It's just a really relatable moral. And, ironically, both Right Wingers and Left Wingers can Oppress as well. Right-Wingers can support Economic oppression (b e z o s), Left-Wingers can support Religious Oppression (the anti-religious attitudes of many Leftist societies). So in the end, it's just a moral.

[@Islamphobe]

Unless your a radical then you support oppression

[@AnDynessisity]

THOSE THREE GRASSHOPPERS WERE KILLED UNDER THE GRAIN??? 😵😵😵 Yeah, I never realized that until now 🫥

[@an-animal-lover]

Same here

[@joshuagarcia7534]

Hopper was such an amazingly written villain. He was menacing and tall and scary. He's the stuff of nightmares. He's also incredibly ruthless just killing his own like that. The first time we see the grasshoppers was very scary for me as a child because of the way we're introduced to them.

[@tommyleejones623]

This movie made me feel genuine fear of adorable birds at night lol. That death was brutal but poetic.

[@MitchellMeyer702]

9:38 Gang- imposes and provides “protection”- sends people with guns to your house if you don’t pay them. Gubmint- imposes and provides “services”- sends people with guns to your house if you don’t pay them.

[@agentM1991]

A while back I was watching "A Bugs Life" and I thought about your point in this video. I won't say this is Marxist propaganda, I'd say it's showcasing what Marxism is. "A Bugs Life" is most certainly a very underrated Pixar film and one of my all time favorites.

[@FalonGrey]

Yeah, it just skips the part where the new leader is either too stupid, incompetent, or just doesn't care, and ends up killing millions during their regime.

[@oneandonlysound3453]

@@FalonGrey Sounds just like the obiden regime.

[@timothypeterson4781]

Yep. In Marxism you better give the government what they demand or God help you.

[@agentM1991]

@@timothypeterson4781 Yup. Or historically you was taken to pollical camps where you was put in forced labor or executed.

[@JamarfromAfar]

4:20 actually the grasshoppers are more of an allegory for the state rather than the mafia.

[@ultimatebolt9103]

This is a great video! I'm suprised it doesn't have more views for the quality

[@rainbowrunner1550]

Hopper is without a doubt an antagonist who gives A Bug's Life a lot to remember. But I can also relate to Flik in the climax. Sure, he has inadvertently caused problems, but his redemption arc is brilliant. His monologue when he directly stands up to Hopper despite being brutally beaten down and inspires everyone to fight back is perfect. It represents situations in real life, where it only takes one brave person to fight back against wrongdoers.

[@heretyk_1337]

3:45 a trivia, a coincidence, a little something that made this bit doubly funny for me: in polish dubbing same actor, who did Hades in "Hercules"- also did Hopper

[@panama2468]

Finally, someone made a video about that scene. One of the most comprehensive yet summarized viewpoints of Marxism. It couldnt be more succinct than Hoppers speech.

[@girlbuu9403]

This is the most memorable scene from one of Pixar's weaker (but not weakest) showing. I copied it on multiple occasions in my own writing, little amateur projects, table top games, that sort of thing. For the younger players in one campaign when I had their... boss do this to several established NPC allies they'd come to view as friends it actually had them quaking. It was a crude but effective manner to break it to them that they were working for a real Machiavellian sociopath who made their points with blood. Here is the funny bit. The game was space age and they were government agents. I didn't make it obvious immediately, but the United Earth Federation was totalitarian as all hell and... kind of left wing. There is definitely a communistic overtone to the way they behave and I would definitely say they are a form of socialism but it is complicated. But an asterisk here. One of those * things. One mining colony had a minor rebellion. The players, with help from those NPCs, went on a grueling campaign against guerillas on a volcanic planet where rare metals could be found and the air was barely breathable. If you took off your filtration device or didn't have protection you'd be dead in an hour. After basically fighting space lava Vietnam they were looking for a peaceful solution as even after quashing the rebellion there was VERY high tensions with the colonists who remained. These colonists had demands. They wanted to be compensated better for their very dangerous work and maybe, you know, better democratic representation. That and... the colony was mostly religious people who were trying to get away from the core world where state atheism was enforced. They literally moved to HELL to be able to practice their faith because that shit didn't fly back in the Sol System. If you must know, both Christians and Muslims and of varying types that didn't universally get along and were only united in their common desire to just be left alone to worship their invisible sky magician. So they had some points that pulled at the player character's heart strings- as intended. If there were any doubts that I wanted them to join the rebels I cut them down pretty quickly right there, killed those three by burying them not in grain but in those rare minerals, big villain speech about keeping the plebs in line otherwise they would just take more and more when they already are provided everything they need. Any second thoughts that remained I finished off when the head space commissar found out one of them tried going over her head to get her into some trouble for that. Instead command just told her "you have a rat" and you want to talk about a pants shitting situation as she read off that e-mail aloud to them and had that player thrown in the brig to 'question' later. Is it a Marxist message? It is what your political leanings are. You looked into it and saw what you wanted. Some right winger could do the same. I guess I am a right winger? But let me let you in on a little secret, one you might already be tangentially aware of the way you talk about grasshoppers just being replaced with other grasshoppers. The ruling elite there and in real life are corporate overlords, but also government bureaucrats, some of whom were elected but the vast majority were not. Monarchs are the guberment, the aristocracy is wallstreet, and they seldom go against one another's wishes. If anything does seem beneficial it probably has an ulterior motive or a small peace offering. *It was neoliberal. Corporations still existed, but were mostly merged with the government to ensure fair worker treatment. Instead they just kind of scratched each other's backs while constantly jerking each other off about how progressive and environmentally conscious they were. I mean, if it wasn't for them Earth wouldn't have been rejuvenated into the beautiful Eden it became. Shame that most of the people there got shipped off to the colonies and can't actually enjoy it. But the people in the megacities can, all their food and material is made off world and loaded on the space elevator for them. As they are still close to a super majority they always outweigh the colonists doing all the real work in elections. But they only work forty two hours a week and have free shelter and food! They dare to bitch about the two meter by two meter pods and the delicious totally not made from sewage and dead bodies nutrient paste provided for them. The United Earth Federation knew they bitched because they spy on them compulsively and store everything they ever say in massive computer data banks where AI might consort with an actual human being before deciding they are dangerous and need a 'talking to' and maybe to be injected with with some crispr to make them more... compliant. You could get it for a joke PS, the game didn't go on much longer but I planned for the vast majority of these colonies to rebel and then turn into super religious fundie pseudo-objectivists who literally adopt eugenics first fucking thing. Because I hate you all and all of your shitty little political systems and your naivete they might actually work. F-you and good night ♥ (right on schedule I have to censor a joke in this comment because youtube didn't like me dropping an F-bomb right before the word 'you'. "Post anyway" and have it be invisible, sure)

[@yipyap6161]

Jesus, this comment goes hard. I like it

[@slaplapdog]

Nice, very dark and hopeless... Did the players have fun?

[@girlbuu9403]

@@slaplapdog I would say they did. But as always scheduling killed it. Things were just getting interesting too.

[@aylix2137]

I think it’s disingenuous to call this movie left or right leaning, the problems and struggles it addresses have been around a hell of a lot longer than the American political spectrum of right vs left.

[@Mae_Dastardly]

Doesn't the left vs right dichotomy originate from the french revolution tho?

[@jamierogers6251]

Yes yes yes yes. New animations. Same sexy voice. Same sexy humor. Hahaha. Yeah yeah yeah yeah.

[@MonsterfulMedia]

Haha, come on now!

[@TheJazzy7]

8:27 You're leaving out the majority of people who are neither in power, nor oppressed.

[@MG-mh8xp]

that's not a majority. at least in america, the middle class is consistently shrinking. if ur lower or working class, you're oppressed by the rich. simple as.

[@TheJazzy7]

@@MG-mh8xp I think that's a very one-dimensional way of looking at America. It seems really lazy to just assume people are oppressed because rich people own things.

[@MG-mh8xp]

@@TheJazzy7 it's not that the rich people own things, it's that most rich people profit off the working class, and pay us barely enough. it's that most companies are owned by rich people and exploit cheap labour even off shores. this isn't just america, this is literally the entirety of history in every state. in america, the rich people are the powerful. but in other places, a king might be those most powerful, or a dynasty. they similarly profit while doing only half the work and not paying the working class enough.

[@TheJazzy7]

@@MG-mh8xp That's not oppression, though. In America, corrupt rich people aren't forcing you to work for them. In fact, not only can you simply work for someone else, you can just provide your own services/products. Nobody is holding you down or preventing you from offering things to people and being profitable. I still fail to see where the oppression is coming from. It sounds like you're conflating people's value to society with oppression and victimization. And I mean, sure, you can call that oppression, but all you'd really be doing is de-valuing what it means to be oppressed, which allows corrupt politicians, grifters, etc, to get away with more oppression. And I think that's dangerous. If everyone is oppressed, then nobody is oppressed.

[@stevenapkins6460]

I THINK A BUGS LIFE SEEMS LIKE JAM.

[@MonsterfulMedia]

That's some... weird tasting jam, I'd imagine...

[@shrimpy420]

It's interesting that you pointed out the rabbid grasshopper being used like an attack dog, cause when I was a kid, I understood that the bugs are supposed to be like people, so that scene really made me uncomfortable, just the idea of a group of "people" using a deranged and mentally unhinged "person" as a scare tactic.

[@videakias3000]

7:59 "they outnumber us 100:1" in the greek dub the translation of that line was not very good and I was confused about that part. in the greek dub he said"each grasshopper corresponds to 100 ants",I was confused.did he mean that it has the strength to 100 ants?

[@RamdomLolola]

for each 1 grasshopper, there is 100 ants to kick the 1 grasshopper's ass 100 grass hoper VS 10 000

[@johngalt5205]

This is why Big Government villains will use any excuse to take away as many guns as possible. Whether they used Operation Northwoods to fabricate a terrorist attack, or a maniac shoots a bunch of people.

[@ScorpionStrike7]

I never realized that those 3 grasshoppers died! 😥

[@nathancrean9275]

imagine how op wasps are in this universe

[@Zekyb0y]

Bourgeois didn't existed when settlers needed a warrior class to protect against raiding nomads, the argument of this movie is older than even kings, since the neo-litic people had to protect their good aganist other tribes so it's more direct that it's about protecting your own people. Like the relationship beetwen Summeria and Assyria. So later the ants were eaten by fire ants migrating from a draught in the event called "the Chitin age colapse"

[@boom350ph]

7:09 ok i thought this was funny before now its really dark

[@chandleralves698]

3:30 I was so young when I watched this movie that for the longest time I thought he said "Where's my phone?" 😂

[@jlark2077]

Bro I can't unhear it😂

[@chandleralves698]

@@jlark2077 Neither can I 😂

[@bananapanda9805]

The grain scene Me as a kid: “Oh they’re just fine. Give it a minute or two.” Now: Holy shmuck

[@georgekostaras]

you could say that this movie was the start of mine and many other's radicalization.

[@hackermanack3393]

This movie is a masterpiece, I miss old Disney and Pixar..

[@Celestial_Wing]

Its not about politics. It was about bullies, whether it be a gang, mafia, or that one asshole boss at work. It's about not letting fear rule you and not allowing yourself to be anyone's doormat.

[@rhyperiorhunter7339]

actually I'd like to offer a different perspective on what Hopper says he says that the ants were put on the planet to serve the grasshoppers which reminds me of oversimlified's video on the French revolution where the general mindset of the social hierarchy was that the peasants were created to do all the work and the nobility were created to reap all the benefits, so Hopper and the other grasshoppers could very well be an allegory for for the noble lords of monarchical Europe

[@Galdenberry_Lamphuck]

I'm reminded of my favorite concept album, "The Protomen" by the band of the same name. The following Dialogue is between two machines as they discuss what they've believed. "I will not fight you. (You have no choice.) I'll stand beside you. (I stand alone.) You're still their hero. (Then they are fools.) This cannot be the only way! (You will see.) They don't deserve this. (When this is through,) Now more than ever, (Mankind will fall.) We are their hope! (They would not stand.) They know no better. (They would not fight.) They are not ready. (They never will.)" Apathy makes monsters of us all.

[@purpledragon1945]

Hope rides alone my friend

[@CT-1118]

When you were talking about the Seven Samurai inspiration I realized that they used this storyline in The Mandalorian Makes sense, Star Wars always loves those good old samurai movies

[@StrudelerOfTheTSociety]

It's cool to see essays on movies that have been swept away. But it's weird to see creatures like these be thrusted into a hierarchy as portrayed in video. Hopper's gang truly are banditos, hence their retreat to a sombrero. In the insect eat insect world of the movie, the ants maintain a small polity under their queen and a council of elders, the grasshoppers are not governors and therefore are not elites, much like the classics that inspired A Bug's Life, they are archetypical thugs. Hopper is much like the khans of history-those who extract tribute come and go; the poetic class-based retribution you seek is littered throughout history and movie captures that well.

[@powpowouchy5]

Yeah exactly. I think OP is more or less projecting his own political interpretation onto what is essentially a group of bullies who come in and shakedown an already functioning society

[@KlueLuke]

I really miss Kevin Spacey as an actor, AS AN ACTOR AND THATS IT

[@darkblades1201]

A Bug's Life is my FAVORITE Pixar film

[@johnlynch575]

7:25 YEAH, IT'S MOMENTS LIKE THIS THAT MADE THOSE THREE HOURS ON THE CROSS ALL THE MORE EXCRUCIATING.

[@SycrithTheSquid]

As a kid, I thought the scene was funny initially (still kind of do) just for how the grain-fall caught me off guard, but its message has stuck with me since. This movie is underrated

[@zacharywheat6371]

I think it's pretty clearly an anti-capitalist message. I've payed attention to this scene ever since I first saw it, probably around 2009. Hopper and the grasshoppers represent the bourgeoisie, and the ants represent the workers. The scene shows how the bourgeoisie, especially the wealthiest of them, understand that the workers could have power if they organized, and that the one thing they'll give up profit for is ensuring that that doesn't happen. Because if it does, they'll lose their power to make profit entirely. The scene even shows how the bourgeoisie who are less willing to exploit the workers are crushed by the bourgeoisie who are. And separately from that scene, there is another quote from the movie: "The sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food". This quote is very reminiscent of a very famous quote from communist Bill Haywood: "The mine owners did not find the gold, they did not mine the gold, they did not mill the gold, but by some weird alchemy all the gold belonged to them!"

[@klaudiuslazzaro4523]

the bugs are a monarchy though

[@zacharywheat6371]

@@klaudiuslazzaro4523 I don't really think it's that relevant to the message. Clearly they aren't trying to say monarchy is good.

[@tentacledood5784]

@@zacharywheat6371 Then why do the ants have a queen

[@skullton3292]

I never realised Hopper killed them until now.

[@isshishiroorderofgoldenkit3550]

7:09 as a child, this part always gives me a dark feeling, especially the face of no pitty, the face of I don't care about you, it's all about the system. This is a villain without no mercy This is a villain that is DC tire

[@devingendron2287]

6:49 According to my mother as a small child i was able to recite this speech verbatim from memory....i'd question it but i have entire chapters of the hitchiker's guide to the galaxy memorized now and it is a good scene.

[@jamierogers6251]

I was actually thinking about rewatching this!!

[@MonsterfulMedia]

You totally should!

[@misterstaple]

The birds are so freaking cute and horrifying at the same time, its hilarious.

[@robertfraser7943]

Birds are the T-rex of the bug world.

[@vincentheartland2088]

So glad this scene is getting some love. I adore this character and his presence