Tom Hanks presents 'The Ant Bully'

After shepherding Chris Van Allsburg's book "The Polar Express" to instant Christmas movie classic status, producer Tom Hanks now brings to the big screen John Nickle's bestselling children's book "The Ant Bully" as a computer-animated family adventure with a witty and heartwarming story for kids of all ages.

Directed & written by John A. Davis ("Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius"), "The Ant Bully" tells the tale of Lucas, a young boy who floods an ant colony with his water-gun, and is magically shrunken down to insect size and sentenced to hard labor in the ruins. Before returning to half-pint stature, he comes to appreciate the selfless nature of the ants and learns a valuable lesson about tolerance and empathy. The film is voiced by an all-star and Academy Award-winning cast, including Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Paul Giamatti and newcomer Zach Tyler Eisen.

"What human being hasn't fantasized about being the size of an ant and living in their world?" asks Tom Hanks. "There's something almost cozy about how they live-we've seen them in our toy ant farms-and the togetherness of the colony seems cheerful when you apply an anthropomorphic sense. That makes the story of Lucas' adventures with the ants awfully attractive."

It was Hanks who brought the popular 1999 Scholastic Press children's book to John A. Davis' attention. "My son came home from kindergarten with a book he had checked out from the library, John Nickle's The Ant Bully," Hanks relates. "Reading it together, we weren't halfway through before I thought it would make a wonderful movie. John Davis' 'Jimmy Neutron' had just come out then, and I felt the match of his talent with Nickle's story would be perfect."

"Tom sent me the The Ant Bully to see if I had a take on it," recalls Davis, who likewise found the story full of potential for the screen. "I thought, well, if I was going to make this movie, here's how I would approach it." He soon met with Hanks and his producing partner Gary Goetzman, co-founders of Playtone Productions, who successfully teamed with Robert Zemeckis in 2004 on the beloved holiday film "The Polar Express."

"It was obvious from our initial meeting that John's enthusiasm, passion and vision for the material made him the perfect director for the project," states Goetzman. "And because most children's animated films today are branded by adult humor, it was refreshing to hear John's take on creating an entertaining family film that would transport the audience to a unique world and take them on a fantastic adventure."

Together the three brainstormed ideas on how to realize the action onscreen and bring out the natural wonder, humor and peril of a suddenly minuscule boy lost in the unfathomable wilds of his own yard. Everything takes on a surreal new identity when even a discarded soda can looms as large as a 3-story building to tiny Lucas; low-flying wasps rumble like turboprop engines, and hordes of unfamiliar creatures roam the tall grass all around him.

Davis and Hanks also discovered their mutual admiration for legendary visual effects master Ray Harryhausen, whose innovative achievements with stop-motion animation, model work and creature effects, starting in the 1950s, inspired a legion of future filmmakers who can still recite their favorite titles in an instant, as does Davis: "Jason and the Argonauts," "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad" and "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms." "This is my homage to him, in terms of visualizing the set pieces from the point of view of a shrunken human entering this world of the insects or visiting the land of the giants back inside his own house," the director offers.

"Ray Harryhausen long ago tapped the mother lode of creature sequences," says Hanks. "John and I compared notes on how we could emulate his skeleton battle in 'Jason and the Argonauts' with our wasp attack. I mean, why not aim for the best?"

Hanks was also in sync with Davis on presenting the story's multiple themes and life lessons without talking down to young viewers. "Trying to teach kids a lesson cannot be jack-knifed into a movie," states Hanks. "The meaning of a fable has to be part and parcel to the story being told. What Lucas learns from the ants-that being part of a good family is irreplaceable-is what 'The Ant Bully' tells, not preaches, at its core."

Now showing, "The Ant Bully" is distributed by Warner Bros., a Warner Entertainment Company.