Molt is a major antagonist of Disney•Pixar's 1998 animated feature film A Bug's Life. He is Hopper's dimwitted yet well-mannered younger brother and a member of the grasshoppers, but he reformed at the end of the movie.
Background[]
Personality[]
Molt is Hopper's younger brother and the self-proclaimed Vice President of the grasshopper gang - although nobody believes that but him. Fat, gullible, a bit stupid, and loud-mouthed, but essentially good-hearted and honest, Molt got his name due to the fact that his chitlin armor molts off in flakes. He regularly infuriates Hopper to the point that Hopper told Molt early in the film that if he hadn't promised their Mother on her deathbed that he wouldn't kill Molt, he would do so.
Molt often tries to be scary, but he's never taken seriously, partly because he is so submissive to the genuinely terrifying Hopper.
Role in the film[]
When the grasshoppers first invade Ant Island, Molt (who was still just as upset about the lost food as the rest of the grasshoppers) interrupts Hopper's threatening speech to Atta, loudly telling everybody about a blue jay that once nearly ate Hopper. Infuriated, Hopper memorably tells Molt that if their mother hadn't made him promise on her deathbed never to kill Molt, he would kill him. He then forbids Molt to talk for the remainder of their visit and vents his rage by decking another grasshopper. Shortly afterward, the grasshoppers leave.
Later back at the grasshopper headquarters, Molt's "friends" Axel, Loco, and a third grasshopper tell him that it's pointless going back to Ant Island. When Molt agrees, they convince him to put the idea to Hopper as his own, in the hope that if Hopper doesn't like it, then at least Molt will be the one who suffers his wrath. When the idea infuriates Hopper, Molt frantically admits it wasn't his idea, and that Axel and Loco suggested it. Realizing there is dissent in his gang, Hopper buries the trio in a pile of grains to point out the possible danger of the ants before heading with the rest of the gang back to Ant Island, with Molt complimenting on how his brother was such a motivational speaker.
Later in the film, Molt is seen eating, enjoying, and encouraging the circus, even begging to be chosen for the Chinese Cabinet of Metamorphosis act (which was actually a plan to help the Queen escape to safety), going as far as to ask Manny with his mind. After the Queen was moved to safety and Hopper questioned her location, Molt agreed with Gypsy's statement that "a magician never reveals his secrets" until an acorn cap plate to the head from his brother shuts him up, As Thumper is beating up Flik because he was responsible for the model bird, Molt cringed in fear from each hit, unlike the other grasshoppers. When the ants charge at the grasshoppers, Molt sheds his peeling skin all at once in fright at the mass of ants, charging at his fellow grasshoppers, but rather than fleeing the island and abandoning Hopper like the others, he runs and hides in the grass.
Molt survives the ants' rebellion, and in the end, he joins P.T. Flea's circus as a strongman, with a new nickname: "Tiny." When he climbs into the circus wagon, Molt expresses his thankfulness towards Flik for giving him a fresh start, until Manny and Gypsy close the wagon with Molt saying, "Shutting up," one last time.
Trivia[]
- Molt was created for the film to provide some comic relief out of the more uncomfortable moments with Hopper, but it was decided to make him Hopper's brother when it was realized that Hopper would never allow somebody as witless and annoying as Molt to stay with the gang otherwise.
- Despite Molt being Hopper's younger brother, Richard Kind (Molt's voice actor) is actually three years older than Kevin Spacey (who voiced Hopper).
- Molt is named after the process of insects shedding their old skin to make way for a new one. Even his name foreshadowed what he did when he retreated from angry ants.
- Molt is not truly evil since he is more of a neutral character, as he doesn't involve himself in attacking Flik and his friends.
- Despite not being truly evil, Molt is one of the bosses in the video game.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Miscellaneous[]
.jpg "Molt(3).jpg (29 KB)")
.gif "Molt(2).gif (56 KB)")
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