Frank and Attato

Frank and Attato is a 2024 American computer-animated adventure comedy film released by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. Directed by Clay Kaytis with a screenplay by Xavier Shaquille and Jon Vitti, the film stars Patton Oswalt, Bill Hader, Steve Coogan, Richard Kind, Ashley Johnson, Steve Buscemi, Danai Gurira and Brad Garrett as the main cast. The film is based on Shaquille's original drawings and home made comics back in 2011. It follows Frank and his best friend Attato, who are two ants, that decide to go out on an adventure far from home.

The film premiered at the Annecy Film Festival on March 17, 2028, and was released worldwide on April 5, in 3D and RealD 3D. The film received mostly positive reviews for its characters and premise. A series of shorts, Frank and Attato Adventures, and a prequel, entitled When Frank Met Attato would soon follow.

Plot
In a neighborhood located in a small town, two ants called Frank and Attato work on getting food for the ant colony to survive. As of being fed up with their job in getting food, they decide to the queen about switching jobs, but the queen refuses their desire. They go back to work. Later, Attato thought of an idea: taking food from a human's home. At night, they enter the house, by entering a half-open window to the kitchen. As they entered the kitchen, they see a bunch of bananas on the counter. They take one back to the colony. The next morning, the queen and the clan are elated of the banana they found at the house. However, when they tell them how they found it, the queen warns them not to go back there again for food. After not taking her warning, they repeatedly go there again. One day, a human catches the duo stealing food. After they escape and hide in the colony, a hired exterminator gases the colony. After the gas attack, the queen tells them to never come back.

After they are kicked out of the colony, they decide to go on an adventure to see the big world. After going through the giant grass, crawling from curb to curb and tired from the long crawl they took, they rest. The next day, they discover a balloon stand. They take one balloon and have it attached to a bottle cap and fly away. But a gunshot pops the balloon, making them slide down a roof to an apartment. After the fall, a man by the name of Gerald Welton, who is a bug catcher, traps them with a jar and takes them back to his home.

After arriving to Welton's apartment, he puts them in a glass fish tank (filled with real leafs, grass, flowers and rocks to make it look like a grassy land). The ant duo meets three other insects; a fly called Fletcher, a bee called Reg, and a butterfly called Ria. The duo have less interest on getting to know them, as they focus on trying to escape. However, many attempts backfire (even when Welton sees them try to escape).

They decide to give up, then a silverbird named Peep arrives in the now opened window. Frank and Attato think she must have followed them all the way. Fluent in bird, Frank tells her to get help from the clan to save them. As she leaves, they wait for her return. As they were elated they got help, the others refused. Confused why they want to stay, they tell them their backstories; Fletcher fled from a cat eating bits of its fish and he was then captured by the bug collector and has been in the tank for 12 years. Reg was kicked out of the hive for eating their honey, and Ria was the rarest butterfly in America. The duo try to change their minds, but Reg and Fletcher turn their backs on them while Ria tries to change Frank's mind about leaving. Later at night, Attato waits for Peep to come back and Frank decided to stay in the tank as he became infatuated with Ria; with Attato giving him a decision to be with Ria or try to take her with them. Meanwhile, with the ants, they celebrate for the duo's absence.

Back at Welton's apartment, Frank has another escape plan: they all get out from the lid of the tank, find a way out of the house and never get caught; they first get out of the tank and then notice the bug collector leave the house. With the door as the only way out, they successfully escape the house. Not noticing, the insects fly away while carrying the duo; not watching their backs, Welton sprays bug spray, making the insects fall to the ground before they end up back in the tank.

Meanwhile, Peep arrives to the colony and gives the ants the bad news about the duo. Wrong as she was, the ants all follow Peep on dragonflies. With the ants and the insects, they all feel depressed of the fail escape; Fletcher sulks, Attato and Reg pat backs, and Frank and Ria hold hands. Welton decides to sell the insects for $30 online. Frank gets a new idea: they all hide, to make Welton think they escaped again. Welton goes out to find them. As he left, Peep and the ants come to the rescue. Unexpectedly, he returned and discovers the ants on the dragonflies and Peep rescuing the others. All the insects and the bird get out of the house and out in the streets of London. He becomes outraged and comes up with a plan.

After the rescue, they all fly back to Texas. Frank tells the whole story about how they were taken. After he finishes the story, they arrive. The insects have never felt more surprised on how long they were away from the insect world. Ria kisses Frank in gratitude for changing their minds. The insects celebrate for the return of the duo. During the party, the insect trio thank the duo for giving them freedom. After the party, they part ways; Frank and Attato feel a little heartbroken after they leave. The next day, they resume their job getting food and pass by many various things reminding them of Fletcher, Reg and Ria. When they return back to the colony, a worm tells the duo that Welton has caught the insect trio. Shock as they were, the duo go to stop him. Attempting to get to the city again, they use a slingshot and a red 57 Chevy diecast car; several attempts fail. Instead, they use a leaf-like glider made by Frank; they glide off and head to the city.

There, Welton has Fletcher, Reginald and Ria inside a glass jar. The ant duo see him and Frank tosses Attato to the Welton's neck to bite at, making him drop the jar and freeing the insect trio. As they escape, Welton sprays bug spray before they could make it to the sky; the flying insects are weakened by the spray they can barely fly. They run on all legs just like the ants, then Peep arrives, as well as other birds with the ant clan on their backs. The birds attack Welton, making him retreat. The insects cheer for victory. As they are back at the colony, Reginald and Ria decide to stay with Frank and Attato, while Fletcher parts ways with them to reunite with his family.

In a few post-credits scenes, the Welton decides to end his career in catching insects and decides to be an author; Fletcher reunites with his family in a feast; and Frank and Attato ride the same diecast car down a hill and survive; they high-five at the end.

Voice cast

 * Patton Oswalt as Frank, a cautious but adventurous ant.
 * Bill Hader as Attato, a wisecracking, absent-minded ant.
 * Steve Coogan as Fletcher, a housefly who was captured in his home London, England.
 * Richard Kind as Reg, a bee that had his stinger removed after being kidnapped.
 * Ashley Johnson as Ria, a butterfly whom Frank falls in love with.
 * Steve Buscemi as Gerald Welton, a well known bug catcher that collects and sells insects.
 * Danai Gurira as Queen Antastaisa, queen of the ant colony.
 * Brad Garrett as Donny, a fireant who leads his fellow kind in the colony.
 * Ava Acres as Sammy, a digging ant that usually tattletales on the duo.
 * Carlos Alazraqui as Randy, a leafcutter ant.
 * Keith Ferguson as Pink, a worm.
 * Raymond Ochoa as Dillo, a pill millipedes.
 * Frank Oz as Gary, a moth.

Soundtrack
The film's score is composed by John Debney, who has composed Nickelodeon Movies' other films. Harry Gregson-Williams, Heitor Pereira and Theodore Shapiro were originally chosen to compose. The film features the songs "In The End" sung by Sheryl Crow (also heard in the trailer) and Freedom '90 by George Michael.
 * 1) "Life as Two Ants"
 * 2) "Food from the Humans"
 * 3) "The Big City"
 * 4) "Your New Home"
 * 5) "Failed Escapes"
 * 6) "Peep"
 * 7) "Backstories"
 * 8) "Successful... Failed Escape"
 * 9) "Bad News, Ants!"
 * 10) "The Rescue"
 * 11) "Party at the Colony"
 * 12) "Depressed"
 * 13) "Off to the City, Again"
 * 14) "Saving Them"
 * 15) "End Credits"

Development
Before pitching it to Paramount, the film was originally meant to be a stop-motion film by 20th Century Studios and Aardman Animations.

Release
Frank and Attato premiered at the Annecy Film Festival on March 17, 2028, before its initial release on April 5.

Home media
Frank and Attato was released on digital on July 4, 2028 and on DVD and Blu-ray on August 1. The special features on all formats include a 7-minute short film titled In the House.

Frank and Attato later released on Blu-ray 3D on November 7, 2028 at the request of storywriter Xavier Shaquille.

Box office
The film grossed $94.7 million against its $20 million budget. It grossed $55.2 million domestically while grossing $39.5 million internationally.

Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives an 79% from 102 reviews from critics and an average rating of 6 out of 10. The site's consensus reads, "Frank and Attato may not be Nickelodeon's glorious animated release, but it won't bug you that much after you see it." Metacritic has the film with a score of 69 out of 100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore grades the film an "A" on its A+ to F scale.

Future
Co-screenwriter Xavier Shaquille had a sequel in mind, but instead had the idea of a prequel entitled When Frank Met Attato. Shaquille also had a series of shorts, entitled Frank and Attato Adventures, that would follow first, which released from 2029 to 2031.