The Circus Bugs are a group of bugs in the 1998 Disney/Pixar animated film A Bug's Life. They are trained to be circus performers but were mistaken as warrior bugs by Flik.
Members
- Main article: P.T. Flea
- Main article: Molt
After Hopper's death, about eight ants joined P.T.'s troupe, serving as acrobats and new additions to P.T.'s show, just before the circus leaves Ant Island.
These fireflies serves as the employees of P.T. Flea's circus. Their occupations throughout the circus include selling food in the bleachers, setups for the stage, and as living spotlights throughout the show. During one magic act, one firefly uses a lollipop to filter another firefly's light for Manny's act.
This yellow spider serves as the circus' musician playing multiple instruments using his legs. Though he plays multiple instruments, he is also seen playing the drumroll during the "Flaming Death" act, and later when the ants and the Circus Bugs are about to defeat Hopper via cannon, but the plan fails when rain arrives on Ant Island.
Role in the film
The Circus Bugs first appear when their acts do not perform well, with the flies dissatisfied of their performance and resulting in many of them leaving the circus in anger. Their leader, P.T. Flea, ruthlessly refuses to give out refunds to the flies during the first two minutes of the show, much to his harsh strictness to the circus troupe. When P.T. became very upset that his act did not perform properly, he decides to do a dangerous act known as "Flaming Death" to test if any of the circus troupe members survive the act in less than fifteen seconds while telling other bugs who are sensitive to the act to leave the circus immediately. P.T. survived the act after the flaming flypaper falls on him and the Circus Bugs extinguish him with water droplets, but he fires the whole troupe for their bad performance in the circus.
Flik first sees them in the city at the Bug Bar after they were fired by P.T. Flea, when his "Flaming Death" act went wrong, doing a Robin Hood act, believing them to be warriors, and they believe him to be a talent scout, and he convinces them to come to Ant Island to help him deal with the grasshoppers. Shortly after arriving, Flik and the circus troupe discover their misunderstandings; Flik is horrified that he brought a circus troupe, and the Circus Bugs are upset that Flik didn't tell them that they were actually going to be "combatting" grasshoppers. As they attempt to leave, with Flik attempting to stop them, they stumble upon a bird's nest, and they, along with Dot, are attacked by the mother bird. Francis manages to save Dot from falling to her death, but they end up trapped in the riverbed. Flik and the others work together to save them both. After hearing that even Hopper fears birds, Flik proposes creating a model bird to scare him and his gang, with the circus troupe taking credit for the idea.
Later, P.T. comes to Ant Island looking for his troupe and inadvertently reveals the truth about them. Upon learning this, the Queen and Princess Atta banish them from the island, along with Flik as punishment for lying to the colony. However, this was a fatal mistake, as they all put themselves in danger. When Hopper and his gang return and take over the island, Dot eavesdrops on a couple of grasshoppers discussing Hopper's plan to squish the Queen in order to discourage opposition from the ants and follows Flik and the troupe to tell them about the dire situation. Flik is still ashamed of himself for being a screwup all the time, but some encouragement from Dot and the troupe makes him feel better and motivated to return and stop Hopper. The Circus Bugs present themselves to Hopper, claiming that Princess Atta invited them as a surprise for his arrival; Hopper initially orders his gang to kill them, but after seeing Tuck and Roll fight, he decides they can use a little entertainment and spares their lives. The Circus Bugs continue their show until Manny takes the Queen for a magic trick, making Hopper demand to know where she is. At that moment, Flik and the Blueberries launch the fake bird they constructed to scare the grasshoppers; it works until P.T. sets it on fire, unintentionally aiding Hopper and his gang in the process.
After seeing Thumper beat up Flik and hearing Hopper insult the colony and his troupe, P.T. realizes his mistake and, upon Flik giving an inspiring speech, assists the ants in driving out the grasshoppers, resulting in all the grasshoppers, except Hopper, his younger brother, Molt, and Thumper (until Dim and Dot scare him off), fleeing and Hopper getting eaten by the real bird, putting his reign of terror and insult on the ant colony and troupe to an end. Following Hopper's defeat, P.T. reforms, becoming less greedy and more kind-hearted, and he and his troupe spend the winter on Ant Island (as it would be impossible for them to go anywhere in the rain and snow) before returning to the circus in the spring after a brief celebration, bringing a group of acrobatic ants with them and Molt (now called "Tiny" and working as a strongman), while promising to come back in the future and receiving a fond farewell from the colony.
Video games
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
Heimlich in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
Heimlich is a playable character in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode. Heimlich is a Front-line Tank role hero. He is 3rd playable A Bug's Life character added to the game. Heimlich's skills are: "The Chase Is On", "No Head, No Problem", "Beautiful Butterfly", "Terrific Response", and "New Me". These skills allow Heimlich to do certain things (in the order mentioned):
- Heimlich chases his food through all enemies, dealing True Damage to each enemy.
- Heimlich tucks his head into his neck, scaring all enemies for a few seconds and granting himself an HP Shield for a few seconds. When this shield gets replaced, destroyed or removed, Heimlich Heals for a percent of his Max HP.
- Heimlich knocks back all Damage and Tank enemies twice by flapping some leaves, he also gains stacks of Determination and stacks of "Well Fed". If there are no Damage or Tank enemies, Heimlich knocks back the closest enemies. All the enemies that aren't knocked back get their Armor and Reality decreased by a certain amount for a few seconds.
- When Heimlich reaches a percent of his Max HP, he immediately casts "Beautiful Butterfly". He also gains Berserk, a percent of Increased Attack Speed, and Reflect for a few seconds. During this time his food heals him for an extra amount of HP.
- "The Chase Is On" deals bonus True Damage per stack of "Well Fed" Heimlich has and grants him Invincibility for a few seconds when he returns to battle. Each "Well Fed" stack grants Heimlich Armor and Reality. When enemies Damage Heimlich they gain stacks of Fatigue. This effect can trigger on each individual enemy once every few seconds.
Heimlich doesn't have basic attack which deals damage to enemies, instead, he eats delicious food which heals Heimlich and grants him stacks of "Well Fed" and also distracts nearest enemies. Each stack of "Well Fed" grants Heimlich Max HP.
Heimlich has friendship campaigns with Flik and Timon & Pumbaa.
Disney Parks
Disney California Adventure
In the former area A Bug's Land, statues of P.T. Flea's circus troupe (excluding P.T. Flea) were added since the opening of said area. P.T. Flea's Market, a market named after P.T. Flea (originally named Santa Rosa Seed & Supply) was also a shop at the former area Bountiful Valley Farm; however, this market and the rest of Bountiful Valley Farm were closed in 2010 to make way for Cars Land.
Prior to the closing of A Bug's Land, the Circus Bugs also had attractions based on and named after them: Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Francis' Ladybug Boogie, and Tuck & Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies.
In Pixar Pier, the Circus Bugs (including P.T. Flea and Flik) are also seen as spectators in the boardwalk game Heimlich Candy Corn Toss (re-theming of the 2009 game Casey at the Bat), in addition to Heimlich being added in the game, where the player must throw candy corn at Heimlich's mouth to score points to win prizes.
Gallery
Trivia
- The Circus Bugs made a cameo appearance as circus cars at the Radiator Springs Drive-In Theatre during the end credits of Cars, in which Mack complains that the characters are being voiced by the same actor (referring to Pixar actor John Ratzenberger).
- Due to his pattern, Francis appears to be the rare nine-spotted ladybug, the long-lost state insect of New York.
- Francis is the only male Circus Bug who has been mistaken for a female due to his appearance, as he looks more feminine than masculine.
- Dim's horn structure wasn't meant to be reflective of a specific kind of horned beetle. However, in 2006, entomologist Brett C. Ratcliffe discovered a species of rhinoceros beetle that closely resembled Dim, which was named Megaceras briansaltini and dubbed the "Nature imitates art" coincidence as the "Dim Effect".
- Similar events occurred for characters in the Ice Age films (Scrat and the cretaceous mammal Cronopio) and Jurassic Park films (the oversized Velociraptors and Utahraptor), respectively.
- When Dim roars to help Dot scare Thumper away, his roar sounds just like the T. rex in Jurassic Park, similar to how Rex roared in Toy Story 3 and during the "Strange Things" sequence in the original Toy Story.
- Heimlich was seen in Toy Story 2 in both the outtakes and the actual movie, when he is crawling along some branches just before Buzz Lightyear chops through them. Also, when Buzz is looking for Woody at Al's Toy Barn, he passes by toys of Heimlich.
- Heimlich's gluttonous appetite and obesity may be a reference to the children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by the late Eric Carle.
- Heimlich is very similar to Tummi Gummi from Gummi Bears, Broadway from Gargoyles, Rolly from the 101 Dalmatians franchise, and Budderball from the Air Buddies series, as all five love food and have gluttonous appetites.
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