Squashing a Classic: The Complete History of It’s Tough to be a Bug! at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
After entertaining guests for nearly 27 years, It’s Tough to be a Bug! was shown for the final time last night.
In a Disney World that will soon see the demise of Muppet*Vision 3D, DINOSAUR, and the Rivers of America, the closure of It’s Tough to be a Bug! will be a footnote for many. I, however, think we should send it off in style.
While the attraction was never the most popular at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, it has been an integral part of the park for over two and a half decades. So, as we bid a fond farewell to It’s Tough to be a Bug!, I want to tell its story one more time.
It’s Tough to be a Bug! Was Not Imagineers’ Initial Plan For the Tree of Life
The genesis of It’s Tough to be a Bug! goes back to the early planning for Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Initially, Imagineers envisioned guests walking through the Tree of Life, like they do at Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle.
“When Animal Kingdom was being developed, the outside structure of the Tree of Life was going to be like the castle and the base of the tree was going to be a walk-through, like the castles are,” Imagineer Kevin Rafferty recalled to AllEars.
Other early ideas included housing a high-end eatery named the Root Restaurant inside the massive tree. Disney CEO Michael Eisner, however, wanted something grander. He wanted a show.
“I was at a meeting one day and Michael asked the question, ‘Is the base of the tree big enough to put a show in?’ And we said, ‘Yeah, we could probably put a couple hundred seats in that thing’ and it kind of changed the whole design of that. He tasked me to come up with a show to put inside that,” Rafferty continued.
Joe Rohde, Michael Eisner, and Roy E. Disney look over a model for Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Photo: Orlando Sentinel
Fairly quickly, it was determined that the Tree of Life show should focus on the park’s themes of conservation and the balance of nature. The question was, how should the story be told?
“The challenge for us was to come up with a show on the inside of The Tree of Life that would capture the spirit and magnificence of the outside,” said Joe Rohde explained.
Early Ideas For the Tree of Life Show
One early proposal for the attraction would have presented the Wonders of Nature. Concept art by Imagineer Bryan Jones indicates that Mother Earth (or some representation of the planet) may have hosted this show.
Photo: Disney
Another idea for the Tree of Life Theater called for a Lion King attraction that would have told an environmental fable.
“At that time, The Lion King was big [the animated classic was released in 1994] and Rafiki was the wise old sage and all that, so I came up with a show that had Rafiki as an Audio-Animatronics character, talking about the animal kingdom,” Rafferty recalled.
Photo: Disney
“I pitched the idea to Michael and he said, ‘You know, that’s really a good show. If it were at any other place than Animal Kingdom, it would be a 10, but it’s really only an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 and it’s really got to be spectacular.’”
Michael Eisner Suggested ‘A Bug’s Life’ Attraction
With Imagineering struggling to come up with the perfect show for the Tree of Life, Eisner suggested that they create an attraction based on Pixar’s A Bug’s Life.
“I thought, ‘My gosh, where did that come from?’ I thought he was crazy! My thinking was: ‘Why would Michael suggest a show about bugs when this is a park about animals?'” Rafferty explained.
The catch, however, is that the film was still in production and would not hit theaters until seven months after Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened. For many guests, their first experience with Flik and Hopper wasn’t seeing A Bug’s Life in theaters, it was catching It’s Tough to be a Bug! at Animal Kingdom.
Inspired by the A Bug’s Life idea, Imagineering got to work.
The First Version of the Attraction Revolved Around a Dating Game
While Imagineers collaborated with Pixar to create It’s Tough to be a Bug!, the studio was too busy finishing A Bug’s Life to focus on the attraction.
Instead, the show was written by Rafferty.
Photo: Disney
“It was amazing to see the elements come together so flawlessly,” Rafferty recalled. “This was at the height of story development and production on A Bug’s Life at Pixar, and they were gracious enough to jump in and help us. Both John Lasseter and our team agreed that all of our new characters could conceivably live in his movie. Every new character. We got his blessing.”
As Rafferty notes, It’s Tough to be a Bug! not only featured the main stars of A Bug’s Life but also a new cast of characters.
Photo: Disney Wiki
Interestingly, the first draft of It’s Tough to be a Bug! revolved around a dating game. Eventually, Eisner nixed the idea.
“Flik was the bachelor, and bachelorette number one was a black widow spider, and another one was a praying mantis,” Rafferty explained. “Michael didn’t like it. He said. ‘An ant wouldn’t date a spider!’”
Drawing Inspiration From Disney History
Pivoting, Rafferty developed a new concept that revolved around a Vaudeville-style musical revue.
As he expanded on the idea, the Imagineer was inspired by a live-action/cartoon featurette that he stumbled upon in the Disney vault. Titled It’s Tough to be a Bird, the featurette was directed by Ward Kimball and showcased birds’ contributions to mankind.
Photo: Disney
It’s Tough to be a Bird would directly influence the final attraction.
“We thought. ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to put on a show demonstrating why we need bugs and how tough it is to be one?’” recalled producer Tom Fitzgerald.
To determine which bugs would take center stage in the new attraction, Rafferty conducted “extensive research” into entomology. The goal was to find insects that would lend themselves to 3D effects.
Photo: Yesterland
“Research is most of developing a show,” he noted. “I consulted with entomologist Ray Mendez, who described this bola spider that has a lasso and actually lassoes its prey. I created a western ‘Yahoo! character that would lasso all of the flies buzzing around in your face”
Unfortunately, the bola spider did not make the final film, as the team needed to cut some acts to tell their story in just eight minutes.
Photo: Disney
“That was one of many acts that got away. There just wasn’t enough time to use everything,” Rafferty explained. “I whittled the cast down to what I thought were the strongest candidates, including a Chilean tarantula that throws quills at its prey (voiced by Cheech Marin), a stinkbug named Claire De Room, and the good old acid-spraying termite, which I immediately turned into The Termiteator (French Stewart).”
Bringing the Show to Life
As previously noted, during the development of It’s Tough to be a Bug!, Pixar was busy on A Bug’s Life. In fact, the studio only had time to animate Flik and Hopper. To bring the attraction’s other characters to life, Disney turned to Rhythm & Hues, an outside visual effects and animation company. The two-pronged approach to the animation led to some interesting challenges.
For instance, in one scene, a chameleon animated by Rhythm & Hues wraps its tongue around Hopper, who was animated by Pixar.
“The chameleon was interacting with a character that we didn’t have,” recalled Rhythm & Hues animator Mike Sandrik. “There was a lot of communication back and forth. We wanted the chameleon to be in a certain place at a certain time, and they wanted Hopper to be in that place. There was a lot of compromising to get the positions that we both wanted at the same time.”
The most challenging part of animating It’s Tough to be a Bug!, however, was rendering the film in 3D.
“The Chilean spider (Chili) was tricky to render because he had all of this hair on him,” Sandrik explained. “When all was said and done, it took three to four hours per frame, and since it was a 3D show, once we rendered him for the left eye we had to do it all over again for the right eye. A 3D show is twice as much rendering as a 2D show.”
Rafferty and Fitzgerald Tested 50 Smells Before Choosing Their Stink
While It’s Tough to be a Bug! stars Flik and Hopper, the most memorable character in the show may be the stinkbug that sprays guests. To find the proper scent for the in-theater effect, Rafferty and Fitzgerald put their noses to the test.
“Tom Fitzgerald and I had to smell about 50 vials of potential stink,” Rafferty recalled.
“We picked one that was not so much rotten eggy, but earthy. After that experience I couldn’t smell anything for a month! The audience loves it.”
When creating It’s Tough to be a Bug!, Imagineers were also keenly aware that guests were experiencing the show inside the Tree of Life, not at a movie theater. As Rohde declared at the attraction’s outset, the inside of the Tree of Life needed to match the grandeur of the outside.
“The audience is supposed to be inside an enormous tree,” Rafferty explained. “It’s this beautiful space, and it’s supposed to look like it’s continuing on into the film. Also, since the show is supposed to be live, the film has no cuts or camera moves in it.”
The Team Behind It’s Tough to be a Bug!
In addition to Rafferty and Fitzgerald, numerous other Imagineers were instrumental in bringing It’s Tough to be a Bug! to life.
Nicole Armitage Doolittle and Milton Noji designed the parody posters in the attraction’s lobby. Among the titles highlighted are:
My Fair Ladybug (My Fair Lady), Barefoot in the Bark (Barefoot in the Park), A Grass Menagerie (A Glass Menagerie), A Cockroach Line (A Chorus Line), Beauty and the Bees (“Bee Our Guest!”) (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast), Antie (Annie), Web Side Story (West Side Story), Little Shop of Hoppers (Little Shop of Horrors), A Stinkbug Named Desire (A Streetcar Named Desire), and The Dung and I (The King and I).
Photo: Redbubble
Legendary Disney composer George Wilkins wrote the attraction’s theme song (also titled “It’s Tough to be a Bug”), with lyrics by Rafferty. Another illustrious Disney composer, Bruce Broughton, composed and conducted the attraction’s score.
Finally, Imagineer Zsolt Hormy, who led the team of sculptures that carved the Tree of Life’s iconic trunk, was tasked with creating the insects in the It’s Tough to be a Bug! queue.
“I get calls all the time,” he told Jim Korkis. “Any leeches? No leeches! Any cockroaches? No cockroaches!”
A Star-Studded Cast
When it came to recording the attraction’s dialogue, A Bug’s Life star Dave Foley was brought in to reprise his role as Flik. Also returning to his A Bug’s Life was John Ratzenberger who once again voices P.T. Flea in It’s Tough to be a Bug!. Interestingly, Hopper is voiced by Bug’s Life director Andrew Stanton in the attraction, not Kevin Spacey.
Andrew Stanton (left) and Dave Foley (right) voice Hopper and Flik in It’s Tough to be a Bug!
The show’s cast was rounded out by French Stewart as the “Termite-ator,” Tom Kenny as the Dung Beetle Brothers, Cheech Marin as Chili, and Jason Alexander as Weevil Kneevil. Corey Burton serves as the announcer.
An Opening Day Attraction
When It’s Tough to be a Bug debuted alongside the rest of Disney’s Animal Kingdom on April 22, 1998, the attraction marked a new era in 3D entertainment for Disney.
Photo: Disney
“It’s something that you can’t see at home,” Rafferty exclaimed. “You can’t just plug in a video cassette and experience this show. It’s a complete, theatrical, in-your-face, dimensional experience that combines a whole lot of different elements.”
In addition to the in-theater effects, It’s Tough to be a Bug! will be remembered for the Hopper animatronic. At the time, it was the most advanced Audio-Animatronic that Disney had ever created.
Photo: Disney
Now It’s Time To Say Goodbye…
As a testament to the team that brought It’s Tough to be a Bug! to life, the attraction remained essentially unchanged over its 27-year run.
During that time, generations of fans have grown up with It’s Tough to be a Bug!, laughing at Chili, holding their nose when the stinkbug sprays, and cheering when Hopper is finally defeated.
Photo:Disney
After two-and-a-half decades, it is possible that It’s Tough to be a Bug! has run its course. While we look forward to Zootopia: Better Zoogether!, however, let’s take a moment to remember one of the definitive Animal Kingdom attractions.
I, for one, will miss putting on my Bug Eyes and seeing my old friends in the Tree of Life Theater.
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below. One of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon! Also, thanks for reading!
