Gallavants

An animated film from 1984, Gallavants follows the adventures of a member of a species of anthropomorphic ants called Gallavants, who live in a colony called Ganterville.

Like real ants, they have a highly structured society where every individual has a role to play in the colony. Also, like real ants, they are ruled by a queen. All Gallavants are born from eggs and raised by the Attend-ants (if you're not prepared for a lot of bad ant puns, stop reading now), the resident nanny ants. Once they reach a certain age, they are taught by the local Major Mentor, who makes it his job to teach them the ins and outs of Gallavant society. A Gallavant is considered to be an adult when he or she receives a 'kabump'. This takes place at a large ceremony where all Gallavants of a certain generation receive their kabumps. Or so that's how it's supposed to go...

One certain Gallavant, named Shando, is convinced that he doesn't need lessons to find his place in the colony. He desires to be a music ant but is too lazy to put any effort into learning what he's supposed to learn.

He gets into a series of misadventures, which include a failed attempt at getting a kabump and nearly getting eaten by a Vanterviper. Ultimately, he is able to earn his kabump and fulfill his dream of being a music ant.

A staple of mom-and-pop VHS rental stores and of Nickelodeon's "Special Delivery", the Gallavants are still much-loved in their native Scandinavia but are known in America only for this movie. Which is, in case the plot description didn't clue you in, really weird. A review can be read here.


 * Action Girl: Eegee, a female Gallavant. Eventually joins the Enforce-ants, the group that protects the colony from Vantervipers
 * Adjusting Your Glasses: Teetor often does this
 * Big Eater: Bok, who at one point downs four drinks at one time
 * British Accents: Gokin, one of the music ants, has a distinct Liverpool-ish accent
 * Cool Teacher / Cool Old Guy: Major Mentor Teetor
 * Freud Was Right: In the above-mentioned review, the author starts to wonder if the Kabump (which is located at the end of the Gallavant's abdomen, pops out as a sign the Gallavant has reached maturity, and if you do not have one, you aren’t allowed to enter a club because you are obviously not an adult) is meant to be a kid-friendly version of... something else...
 * Fun with Acronyms: The term for young Gallavants is GIT, or Gallavant-In-Training
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Peter "Optimus Prime" Cullen, as Chief Consult-ant Antonim
 * The High Queen: Queen Mallikam
 * Informed Flaw: Shando is supposed to be very lazy, but he actually applies himself quite rigorously to his music. In addition to constantly practicing his instrument, he actually takes the initiative to join a band and is shown to be rather proficient at the instrument they give him, thanks to a combination of talent and practice. While it makes sense that an industrial society like the Gallavants would frown upon having the arts as a life goal (the music ants are even stated to have gotten a special permit to be allowed to practice their craft), it doesn't make him seem lazy from an outsider's perspective. (There's also the fact that he uses his free time not spent practicing to tutor young GITs.)
 * Insect Gender Bender: Unlike real ants, both male and female Gallavants contribute to society.
 * Intergenerational Friendship: Shando and his teacher were close throughout Shando's school life, but upon his graduation, they reflect upon the fact that Shando's adulthood lets them be proper friends without the separation of the school system.
 * List Song: "Every Grant Serves Us All" lists the different roles of Gallavant society and gives a brief synopsis of what they do
 * Multiple Head Case: The Vanterviper
 * Nightmare Fuel with a Tear Jerker chaser: There is a scene that comes in the middle of the film where Shando is blinded, and as he wanders helplessly through the dark he sings a song that seems to have been designed to scar children for life.
 * Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Played straight for most Gallavants
 * Averted with Queen Mallikam, who is purple. Then again, the Queen is really the only ant who stands out in a real colony.
 * Rite of Passage: Kabumping Day, when all of the GITs of a generation receive their kabumps
 * Theme Naming: Nearly every occupation in Ganterville conveniently ends with the suffix '-ant'
 * Unfortunate Implications: Teetor uses the glossyfross to spy on Shando constantly, and then Teetor and Shando sing that "we are one", and then Shando asks to stay at Teetor's for the night, and then we pan away from them as soon as they're inside Teetor's house together. Keep in mind Shando is technically only an adult during the last couple minutes of the movie.
 * Villain Song: "Two Heads Ain't Better Than One"
 * White Gloves: All Gallavants wear them. It's actually shown that they receive them at birth.