Thumper is the secondary antagonist of Disney•Pixar's 1998 animated feature film A Bug's Life. He is one of Hopper's right-hand minions, alongside Molt.
Background
Thumper is somewhat the main enforcer of Hopper's grasshopper gang, brutally beating up any insect who stands up to Hopper or disobeys him. He is feral, vicious, and almost doglike (and also attached to a leash collar). He seems less like a grasshopper and more like a mad attack dog. Although it takes at least two handlers to control the snarling, snapping, crazy bug,[2] Hopper evilly commands Thumper with a snap of his fingers. Fortunately, Thumper is civil enough to socialize among his fellow grasshoppers, as he only seems to attack ants and other bugs. He likes terrifying others, even small ones including Dot, whom he has a rivalry with.
Personality
He hardly speaks in the actual movie and is portrayed as animalistic and feral. However, in one of the outtakes, he is revealed to be able to speak intelligently. As he is snarling at Dot, he stops to rethink on how he could do better, in which he says: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Can we cut? It's just that I don't think I'm coming across. Hmm. Oh, oh. I know, I know. I could lather up a bunch of spit. Ooh, ohh, that's good. I got it, J.L. All right, one more for me."
Physical appearance
Thumper is depicted as a pale green grasshopper in his swarming phase, giving him his feral nature. He has exceptionally sharp teeth, and his head vaguely resembles a human skull compared to the rest of the other grasshoppers' heads.
Appearances
A Bug's Life
When Thumper is first seen, he is straining at his leash being held by two grasshoppers and snarling, wanting to eat the ants. Thumper lets out a scream and charges at Dot. She gasps in horror and runs, but she is picked up by Hopper. He teasingly brings a whimpering Dot closer to Thumper, dangling her in the air. Hopper continues to carry Dot even closer to a screaming and snarling Thumper until Flik orders Hopper to leave Dot alone. Hopper comes over to Flik and asks if he wants Dot, but Flik does not say anything, so Hopper tells him to get back in line before letting Dot go.
Many months later, when the grasshoppers return to Ant Island, Thumper attacks and chases Dot after she accidentally bumps into him while attempting to seek Flik for help. Dot slows him down by hurting him with a spiky plant; he catches up and knocks her down into the riverbed. Thumper, believing she is dead, laughs and flies off. However, Dot is finally able to fly now, and she reappears after Thumper leaves.
When the Circus Bugs and Flik return to Ant Island to save the colony and Queen, the Circus Bugs put on a show to distract the grasshoppers, while Flik, the Blueberries, and boy ants get the model bird ready. When Manny chooses the Queen to volunteer for his magic act, Thumper growls at him, but Hopper (very gullible) tells Thumper to get down and let Manny take the Queen, believing he is going to saw her in half, to which Thumper obeys his master.
Later, Flik stands up to Hopper again and, after admitting that he was the one who came up with the fake bird (when it was set on fire by P.T. Flea), gets beaten up by Thumper. However, Flik manages to survive the ordeal and bravely continues his standoff, much to everyone's astonishment. As he does, Hopper approaches Flik and knocks him to the ground after insisting that it the grasshoppers who are weaker than ants. Before Flik can get killed by Hopper, he is stopped by Princess Atta.
While the rest of the colony chase off the other grasshoppers, Thumper tries to scare Dot again, but she smacks him, calls him a bad grasshopper, and tells him to go home. He then angrily snarls at her, but Dim appears behind Dot and lets out a T. rex roar at Thumper, scaring the wits out of him and making him race off after the other grasshoppers while yelping like a cartoon dog.
A Bugs Life: The Video Game
In the video game, Thumper is the first of five bosses that Flik must defeat, appearing in the "Council Chamber" level.
Trivia
- Thumper's ironic name was completely intended. John Lasseter named him after one of his favorite Disney characters, Thumper from Bambi.[citation needed]
- According to the audio commentary, Thumper's voice was created using chimpanzee and ape sounds.
- Thumper rarely speaks as he is barely being restrained by Molt on his leash. When he actually speaks in the outtakes, he is voiced by David Lander, who has also voiced Smarty the Weasel.
- In the video game version, when he appears as a boss, his only line is: "PSYCHO! THAT'S WHY THEY CALL ME THUMPER!" This is also likely a reference to the iconic line of the Bambi character of the same name.
Gallery
References
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