Arthropods in film
There are over 1,000,000 species of arthropods, including such familiar animals as ants, spiders, shrimps, crabs and butterflies.
Some arthropods have distinct colorings and shapes that make them seem "pretty" to human observers, while others may have an appearance that is deemed "scary".
[3] Horror movies involving arthropods include the pioneering 1954 Them!, featuring giant ants mutated by radiation, and the 1957 The Deadly Mantis.
Indeed, Jamie Whitten quoted in his book That We May Live, (talking about insects): The enemy is already here-in the skies, in the fields, and waterways.
It is dug into every square foot of our earth; it has invaded homes, schoolhouses, public buildings; it has poisoned food and water; it brings sickness and death by germ warfare to countless millions of people every year....
By another view, big bug movies could be less metaphorical, and more literally reflect concerns about the health effects of actual insect infestations as well as pesticides such as DDT.
Margaret Tarrat says in her article "Monsters of the id" that "[Big bug movies] arrive at social comment through a dramatization of the individual's anxiety about his or her own repressed sexual desires, which are incompatible with the morals of civilized life.
"[10] By this theory, gigantic swarming insects could represent the huge, torrential—but repressed due to the demands of society—sexual desires possessed by the creator and viewer of the Big Bug movie.
In fact, in the early years of the earth, when the atmosphere was more oxygen-rich, dragonflies the size of crows were not an uncommon sight.
[11] According to biologist Michael C. LaBarbera in "The Biology of B-Movie Monsters", there may be additional limitations on gigantic insects.
For giant bugs as in Them!, their exoskeleton would consist of essentially hollow tubes—thin-walled tubes are very efficient structures, however any slight damage would make them vulnerable to buckling.
One filmmaker, Władysław Starewicz, found that when filming live stag beetles, they tended to stop moving under the hot lights.
His films were successful, and he eventually abandoned real insects in favor of puppets of his own creation.
One of the best-known animated insects is Jiminy Cricket, whose initial design was more realistic and insect-like, but eventually evolved into an elf-like creature.
Other animated films continued to depict more anthropomorphized characters, such as A Bug's Life and Antz, both of which came out in 1998, and the 2007 Bee Movie.
Another reason is counterpoint to the reason for using arthropods in horror films: whereas horror movies play upon the instinctive negative reaction humans have towards insects and arachnids, these animation films make something that is different and strange seem real, approachable, and sympathetic, thus making it comforting.
After his uncle Ben is killed, Peter Parker, who's alias is Spider-man, decides to use his powers to fight crime and work towards making his city a better place to live in.
[17] While this study needs further experimentation, it does show that movie companies are profiting by portraying arthropods in a positive manner rather than a threatening and negative one, as they have often done so in the past.
This exchange happened annually with no issues until one summer when a clumsy ant named Flik accidentally destroys the food.
Many issues throughout the years have been happening due to this ant Flick, so the Queen decides this would be a good way to get rid of him and sends him to the city to find food.
Flick experiences many trials and tribulations, but he eventually is able to make it back to the colony with the food, defying everyone's expectations for this clumsy ant.
