Incredibly, it's been almost 28 years since Pixar released A Bug's Life. The studio's second feature-length movie came three years after Toy Story in 1995 and proved that to the public that the studio was more than a one-trick pony, paving the way for its domination of movie animation in the years to comes.
Despite the movie's huge success (it earned $363.3 million on a budget of $40–120 million), it never got a sequel, despite movies like The Incredibles and Cars getting follow ups. Pixar even joked about the lack of a sequel in the blooper reel at the end of Toy Story 2 in 1999, when Buzz Lightyear ejects Flik and Heimlich from the set.
Now Pixar's finally given fans at least a little more from two of the movie's much-loved characters, making a short animation from an original storyboard, which you can watch below (also check out the Pixar rules of storytelling).
A Bug's Life cemented Pixar's reputation for technical Innovation in 3D animation, pushing CG realism with detailed environments and complex crowd scenes with hundreds of ants. The direct rivalry with DreamWorks’ Antz also confirmed Pixar as a major new force in Hollywood animation.
Today, the movie is often ranked lower than others in Pixar’s filmography, and probably deserves more recognition as one of Pixar’s smartest and most socially conscious works. Its narrative structure drew from classics like Seven Samurai, blending mature themes with family-friendly humor, a Pixar approach that's endured to this year's Hoppers.
In the new short above, Pixar checks in on the acrobatic twin pill bugs Tuck and Roll, the cannonball performers in P.T. Flea's circus troupe, as they attempt to hold down new office jobs.
Asking how many bugs does it take to change a lightbulb?, the short presents an old storyboard as a finished animated short, and many fans are delighted.
"I have never been more happier to see these guys after so long," one person comments on the video on YouTube. "Pixar has proved that they can make a new Monsters At Work style A Bug’s Life series or A Bug’s Life 2," someone else thinks.
For more Disney and Pixar news, check out the awesome marketing around the Gatto trailer and the controversy around Disney's Hexed trailer.
