AN ADDITION TO THE HISTORY OF ANT MOVIES. “Ant-Man” is a new movie starring Paul Rudd as a man who becomes an ant superhero by wearing a special ant suit which shrinks him to the size of an ant. Anthony Lane has a review of “Ant-Man” in the New Yorker (July 27) which begins with a roll call of past movies featuring ants, describing four such movies, beginning with the surrealist 1929 movie, “Un Chien Andalou” by Bunuel and Salvador Dali.
However, Anthony Lane leaves out an important ant movie. In “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”, after the scientist father has mistakenly shrunk his kids to insect size, they are saved from a scorpion by a heroic ant (“Antie”). The movie has special importance for us because it was the first live action movie that Annalisa saw, at the age of four. She was enthralled by it, but was troubled by the thought that she had sometimes stepped on ants.