Monday September 21 5:32 PM ET
DreamWorks' "Antz" Insecticide for Disney?
The two studios that bumped asteroids this past summer with the release of two remarkably similar films--DreamWorks' Deep Impact and Disney's Armageddon--are about to do the same thing on a far tinier scale.
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This time, it's with computer-animated insect fantasies. The October 2 release date for DreamWorks' Antz is just eight weeks before the release of Disney's own insect saga, A Bug's Life.

And just like this summer's dueling asteroid dramas, the Industry is wondering if A Bug's Life will enjoy a successful crawl so soon after Antz; and how two films so alike got made at the same time in the first place.

There is also rumblings as to whether DreamWorks intentionally rushed Antz into theaters because Disney wouldn't agree to move its Bugs release date to accommodate another DreamWorks animated feature, the biblical epic Prince of Egypt.

First, a brief look at the two films: Antz stars Woody Allen's voice as a lowly colony drone who wants to assert his individuality and date the princess (the voice of Sharon Stone). Allen's ant life is further complicated by Sylvester Stallone, who wants to lead him into the colony's battle with an army of termites. The film received a warm reception when it premiered Saturday at the Toronto Film Festival.

As for A Bug's Life, which also features a romance-with-a-princess subplot, it's about a group of insects living on "Ant Island" who band together to ward off an invasion of food-stealing grasshoppers.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Steve Jobs and John Lasseter of Pixar Animation--the company that handled the computer graphics for A Bug's Life (and Toy Story before it)--claim DreamWorks stole the film concept. They say SKG principal Jeffrey Katzenberg lifted the idea when he was second in command at Disney several years ago. "The bad guys rarely win," Jobs tells the Los Angeles Times.

Nonsense, say DreamWorks execs. They claim Disney is just sore because they lost the race to get their film into the theaters. "Steve Jobs should take a pill," DreamWorks marketing exec Terry Press tells the Times. "He looks ridiculous."

Press also tells the Hollywood Reporter that if Katzenberg had had anything to do with A Bug's Life while employed at Disney, all such matters would have been taken care of during his contract buyout.

DreamWorks also flatly denies reports--made in both Time and Newsweek this week--that it decided on the Disney-disadvantageous release date only after head mouse Michael Eisner refused to delay Bugs to accommodate Katzenberg's DreamWorks pet project Prince of Egypt

As to whether two films so alike and released so close to one another can both enjoy box-office success, Industry analysts point to--of course--Deep Impact and Armageddon. Both disasteroid flicks were big hits, each grossing north of $150 million.