Tress MacNeille Movies

Barry B. Benson (voice of Jerry Seinfeld) is your average honeybee. Despite having recently received his diploma from bee college and being virtually guaranteed a bright future in honey, Barry feels he has the skills to pursue a number of different career paths and resents the fact that his employment opportunities are strictly limited to producing the sweet nectar. Upon breaking away from the hive and developing a friendship with an insect-loving New York florist (voice of Renée Zellweger), Barry makes the shocking discovery that human beings eat honey in mass quantities. Having finally found his calling in life, the infuriated Barry decides to sue the human race for stealing all of the honey that his fellow bees work so hard to produce. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Experience a compelling twist on the familiar fairy tale in an animated Disney sequel that explores just what may have happened had the mythical glass slipper not fit. Cinderella's wicked stepmother has stolen the Fairy Godmother's magic wand, and now she's determined to turn back the hands of time. Now, in order to break the evil spell, the frightened Cinderella will have to find her beloved Prince Charming before her time runs out. Gus, Jaq, and all of the characters who made the original Cinderella a beloved classic return in an enchanting animated sequel filled with show-stopping musical numbers, nail-biting suspense, and magical wonders for the entire family. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Born as a series of three-minute chucklers on Icebox.com (and aired later on the Showtime pay-cable network), veteran Simpsons-producer Mike Reiss' giddily irreverent tale of a homosexual duck (voiced by Jim J. Bullock) determined to re-define his sexual orientation comes flaming to life on the big screen courtesy of director/animator Xeth Feinberg. With special appearances by Conan O' Brien, Mark Hammill, David Duchovny, Tim Curry, Bruce Vilanch, and Billy West, this lightning fast collection of gags, pop-culture riffs, and catchy tunes follows the web-footed, unlucky-in-love fowl as he navigates the sometimes perilous gay scene. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A kid who hates ants finds himself living among the six-legged critters in this computer-animated comedy-adventure. Lucas Nickle (voice of Zach Tyler Eisen) is a ten-year-old boy whose family has just moved to a new town, and Lucas isn't enjoying it much -- he hasn't made any friends yet, his big sister ignores him, his parents (voices of Larry Miller and Cheri Oteri) are occupied with their upcoming vacation in Mexico, and his loving but slightly crazy grandmother (voice of Lily Tomlin) is convinced space aliens are casing out the neighborhood. To make matters worse, the local bully has found Lucas and is making his life miserable, so the boy looks for someone he can push around -- and he soon finds a large colony of ants in his yard. Lucas takes out his frustrations by stomping, drowning, and burying the bugs, little realizing the ants see him as a threat to their safety and aren't about take his attacks lying down. Zoc (voice of Nicolas Cage) is a "wizard ant" who creates a formula that shrinks Lucas to the size of an insect, and the tiny boy is brought before the leader of the Ant Council (voice of Ricardo Montalban) and the Queen of the Colony (voice of Meryl Streep) to answer for his crimes against the ants. Showing compassion, the queen sentences Lucas not to death, but to live among them and see how difficult their circumstances can be. Nurse Ant Hova (voice of Julia Roberts) is put in charge of looking after Lucas, and with the help of Scout Fugax (voice of Bruce Campbell) and Forager Kreela (voice of Regina King), Lucas gets an eye-opening picture of how the other half lives -- just in time for Lucas to help the ants in an all-out battle against Stan (voice of Paul Giamatti), a pest-control man brought in to get rid of the bugs. Produced by Tom Hanks, The Ant Bully was written and directed by John A. Davis, who handled the same chores on the film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This Disney Channel animated series was set in the mythical land of Udragoth. Title character Dave was the oldest son of a mother-father team of barbarian warriors, who spent most of their time away from home on an odyssey of conquest and domination (all the while sending their kids "Wish you were here" cards and souvenirs from each of the foreign lands they had vanquished). Naturally, Dave was expected to uphold family tradition and become a warrior himself, but he would much sooner have stayed at home with his sister Candy and little brother Fang and spend his time making elaborate gourmet meals. While mom and dad were away, Dave and his siblings were cared for by Uncle Oswidge, a bumbling sorcerer who did his best to protect the household from various and sundry invaders, both human and supernatural. Also sharing space with Dave, Oswidge, and the kids were the sarcastic talking sword Lula, the lazy pet dragon Faffy, and Twinkle the Marvel Horse, who moved, sounded, and acted like Christopher Walken! Created by Douglas Lansdale (Earthworm Jim, The Weekenders), Dave the Barbarian was delightfully reminiscent of the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, replete with over-the-kid's-head jokes, deliberately sloppy animation, and the frequently snide and intrusive interpolations from the series' narrator (aka "The Storyteller"). Offering two stories per half-hour episode, Dave the Barbarian premiered January 23, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two of the most popular animated series on the children's cable network Nickelodeon get wrapped up in one big-screen package in this comedy-adventure, featuring the characters from Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. Drew and Didi Pickles (voices of Michael Bell and Melanie Chartoff) decide to take a special vacation with their children, Tommy (voice of Elizabeth Daily) and Angelica (voice of Cheryl Chase), with their friends (both grown-ups and toddlers) coming along for the ride. However, the ship Drew has chartered isn't especially seaworthy, and their party ends up stranded on an uncharted island in the Pacific. The kids figure the day is saved when they discover that famous explorer and television personality Sir Nigel Tornberry (voice of Tim Curry) is also on the island with his family, but after he gets a world-class knock on the head from a coconut, Nigel's upper intellectual register gets knocked out of commission. The Rugrats are then forced to turn to Nigel's daughter, Eliza (voice of Lacey Chabert), who not only knows the wilds, but can talk to animals, which comes as quite a surprise to Spike (voice of Bruce Willis), the Pickles' family pooch. Rugrats Go Wild also features the voice talents of LL Cool J, Cree Summer, Nancy Cartwright, Jack Riley, and Flea. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Fifty years after releasing their opulent adaptation of the classic fairy tale Cinderella, Walt Disney Productions revisits the characters in this direct-to-video sequel. Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True encompasses three short stories; first, after Cinderella (voice of Jennifer Hale) marries Prince Charming (voice of Christopher Daniel Barnes), she finds it difficult to reconcile her new station in life with the simple ways she's known in the past. Secondly, the friendly mouse Jacques (voice of Rob Paulsen) wishes he could be a human being -- but after the Fairy Godmother (voice of Russi Taylor) makes it so, he discovers it's a lot tougher than he imagined. And finally, Cinderella takes pity on her stepsister, Anastasia (voice of Tress MacNeille), and teaches her how to smile in the hopes she can find a love of her own. Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True also includes a new song by Brooke Allison, "Put It Together." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This home video release finds an interesting way to repackage older Disney cartoons. Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse, finds Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and all of the other beloved Disney animated characters unable to leave a holiday party. In order to pass the time, the gang watches a compilation of holiday-themed short films. There is something for every member of the family on this look at Disney older efforts. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

With 46 episodes to its credit in Season One, the zany animated educational series Warner Bros. Histeria was supposed to have offered 19 more episodes for its second season. However, the series' disappointing ratings prompted the WB network to cut down its episode manifest, and thus only seven more episodes were churned out by the animators. However, these installments are every bit as funny as the first batch, with Father Time, Mr. Smartypants, Aka Pella, Miss Information et. al. guiding viewers on a skewered, slapsticky jaunt through history. In the season opener, the Histeria! gang accompanies Neil Armstrong to the moon (Bang! Zoom!) Then it's off for a slightly more serious visit to Martin Luther King and a drop-in at the trial of Socrates. A stopover in the court of Charlemagne results in a "scrapple at the chapel", followed by random historical glimpse as viewed by the flatulent Big Fat Baby. Napoleon is subjected to jokes about his height during a visit to France, which also includes the solemn "Tennis Court Oath." And finally, a journey through North America takes us all the way from Alaska to...Mayberry? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the popular Nickelodeon TV series Rugrats, this is the first full-length feature animated movie to star the little tots. It's the story of diaper-clad kids, told from a baby's point- of-view, and they were one of the hottest-selling toy franchises of the late '90s. The film features a hilarious musical number in the hospital nursery, where newborns have the voices of major rock stars that include Jakob Dylan (Bob Dylan's son), Iggy Pop, Lou Rawls, Lisa Loeb, and Patti Smith, to name a few. The story escalates when self-proclaimed leader Tommy Pickles is thrust into an impossible situation with the birth of his new brother, Dil Pickles. This new kid is grabbing all the attention and won't stop crying. With the help of other toddlers Lil and Phil, Tommy decides that the baby should be returned to the hospital for fixing. They all hop on their little wagon and take a high-speed ride straight into the deep woods where they realize they're lost. Chased around by animals (or so they think), the Rugrats clan must get home in one piece. Other celebrity voices include Whoopi Goldberg and The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Tim Curry, as well as Saturday Night Live's Andrea Martin and David Spade. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide