This is a list of films which prominently feature insects, either as anthropomorphic protagonists, antagonists or mutations such as in horror films, or as subjects in a documentary capacity.
Fictional narrative films Animated Animated films with anthropomorphized insects include: The Ant Bully (2006) - ants The Fly (1958) - a human-fly mutation hybrid The Adventures of André and Wally B. (1984) - bees Maya The Bee Movie (2014) - bees and others Ants in the Plants (1940) - ants in a Fleischer Color Classics short Antz (1998) - ants and others Bee Movie (2007) - bees and others James and the Giant Peach (1996) - grasshopper, centipede, spider, others Billy & Mandy: Wrath of the Spider Queen (2007) - spiders Bugs in Love (1932) - lovebugs in a Disney Silly Symphonies short A Bug's Life (1998) - ants and others The Flea Circus (1954) - fleas Gallavants (1984) - ants and an amphisbaena The Grasshopper and the Ants (1934) - another Silly Symphonies entry Hoppers (2026) - butterflies, ants, spiders, and other species A Horse Fly Fleas (1947) - fleas An Itch in Time (1943) - a flea Johnny the Giant Killer (1950) - bees, spiders and other species Katy, Kiki y Koko (1987) - caterpillars, ants and alien molluscs Katy la Oruga (1984) - caterpillars, a spider, bees and a butterfly Kung Fu Panda (2008) - a praying mantis Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) - a praying mantis Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) - a praying mantis The Magic Bird (1968) - ants Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants (2013) - ladybugs, ants, a spider, and other species Minuscule 2: Mandibles from Far Away (2019) - ladybugs, ants, cockroaches, praying mantis, and other species Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941) - a grasshopper, bee, and other species Moth and the Flame (1938) - moths Pinocchio (1940) - a cricket Pipi Tobenai Hotaru (1996) - fireflies The Rescuers (1977) - a dragonfly Shinbone Alley (1970) - a cockroach The Spider and the Fly (1931) - flies Strange Magic (2015) - ants, centipedes and other species Twilight of the Cockroaches (1987) - cockroaches
Non-animated Fly (1970) - an avant-garde 25 minute film directed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono which depicts a housefly crawling around on the body of a nude woman, actress Virginia Lust. By the end of the film, multiple flies can be seen on Lust's body. Joe's Apartment (1996) - cockroaches (live action and puppetry blended with computer and stop-motion animation) The Fly (1986) - Flies (live action and puppetry) Meet the Applegates (1990) - shapeshifting mantisses try to save their home in Brazil by bringing nuclear holocaust to America Eega (2012, The Fly) - flies, an Indian fantasy action film written and directed by S. S. Rajamouli
Both Films and television programmes based on Alice in Wonderland - a caterpillar
Horror films featuring insects
Documentaries This section includes both educational and scientific films about insects, as well as notable documentary television programs about insects.
Films 1910 The Acrobatic Fly by F. Percy Smith 1911 The Strength and Agility of Insects by F. Percy Smith 1911 by Roberto Omegna and Guido Gozzano 1960 Secrets of the Ant and Insect World from Walt Disney's 1956 Secrets of Life 1996 Microcosmos by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou is a record of detailed interactions between insects and other small invertebrates. 2009 Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo by Jessica Oreck 2009 Vanishing of the Bees by George Langworthy and Maryam Henein about bees' colony collapse disorder 2010 The Death of an Insect by Hannes Vartiainen and Pekka Veikkolainen 2010 Colony by Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell about bees' colony collapse disorder 2010 Queen of the Sun by Taggart Siegel about bees' colony collapse disorder 2011 Wings of Life by Louis Schwartzberg 2012 More than Honey by Markus Imhoof about honeybees 2016 Bugs by Andreas Johnsen about insects as a food source for humans
The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971) is a quasi-documentary film about the struggle between man and insects. Andrea Shaw called it a faux documentary, although it won the 1971 Academy Award for the best documentary.
Television and video 1973 and forward The Real world of insects series by the Learning Corporation of America 1979 David Attenborough's BBC series Life on Earth, episodes "The First Forests" and "The Swarming Hordes" 1988 Reading Rainbow, "Bugs", Season 6, Episode 2 1996 Alien Empire BBC production 1998 Bug City (TV series) 1999, 2001 Insectia a Discovery Channel program 2003 Episodes of DragonflyTV including "Creepy Crawlies" (2003), Weevils (2006) and "Butterfly Wings" (2008) 2005 David Attenborough's BBC series Life in the Undergrowth 2009, 2011–2012 Monster Bug Wars by Beyond Television Productions of Australia
See also
Notes and references