With the announcement that It’s Tough to be a Bug! in Disney’s Animal Kingdom is closing in favor of a Zootopia-themed show, we thought it might be a good idea to go back to It’s Tough to be a Bug!’s roots, to learn how that attraction came to be.

I’ve bugged retired Imagineering Creative Director Kevin Rafferty a lot over the years.

Ever since I interviewed him in early 2017, then met him in person later that year at a charity event held in the late Marty Sklar’s house in the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles, I’ve been drawn to Kevin like a bee to a nectar-filled flower.

He’s become my go-to guy when it comes to Disney history … at least the last few decades, during which time he pollinated more than his share of beloved Disney park attractions.

In early 2017, when Marty suggested I talk to Kevin about his involvement in developing It’s Tough to be a Bug!, I jumped like a grasshopper at the opportunity.

What better way to learn about the creation of the hilarious show than to hear it straight from the horse fly’s mouth?

The underbelly of The Tree of Life – Animal Kingdom’s gloriously simple, yet marvelously intricate icon – where the It’s Tough to be a Bug! show resides, was originally intended to be a simple walk-through attraction.

Some thought also was given to turning the area into a restaurant.

But then Michael Eisner, Disney’s CEO at the time, had a spark of inspiration about what to do in the base of the massive structure.

“Is the area big enough to fit a theater?” he asked members of Walt Disney Imagineering. When they answered in the affirmative, he tasked Rafferty with coming up with an animal-themed attraction for the space under The Tree of Life.

At the time, the Disney animated classic The Lion King, released in 1994, was still fresh on everyone’s minds. What better way to tie an Animal Kingdom attraction to that film, set in the vast, animal-rich savannahs of Africa?

That’s just what Rafferty thought when he presented his Lion King-themed attraction proposal to Eisner.

“I came up with a show that had Rafiki as an Audio-Animatronics character talking about the animal kingdom,” Rafferty said.

Eisner’s response took everyone by surprise.

“You know, that’s a really good show. But inside that giant tree, it’s really only an 8 on a scale from 1 to 10. This show has to be spectacular.”

Eisner’s next thought left everyone gobsmacked.

At the time, the folks at Pixar Animation Studios were working on a movie about bugs [called A Bug’s Life] and Eisner suggested that Rafferty get in touch with them to find out if an attraction centered around bugs might be suited for The Tree of Life.

Rafferty’s first reaction? “I thought Michael was crazy! Why would he suggest a show about bugs when this is a park about animals?”

Then he did a little research. “The first book I found said on the first page: ‘The 10 quintillion insects of the world comprise 80 percent of the animal kingdom.’”

And that’s how It’s Tough to be a Bug!, a park staple since 1998 in The Tree of Life Theater, was born.

Further research into the world of insects led Rafferty to a live action/cartoon featurette in the Disney vaults called It’s Tough to be a Bird, which was released in 1969 and was directed by Disney Legend – and lovable oddball – Ward Kimball.

The main storyline of It’s Tough to be a Bird showed avians’ contributions to mankind and their constant struggle to survive.

“It’s Tough to be a Bird was kind of the inspiration for It’s Tough to be a Bug!,” Rafferty said.

One large snag popped up during the early stages of the attraction’s development, however.

“Pixar really didn’t have a whole lot of time to work on our show with us,” Rafferty said, “so essentially, I was given permission to make up my own characters.”

At the time, Pixar had developed just Flik the ant and Hopper the grasshopper for A Bug’s Life.

The characters in the film “were still evolving,” Rafferty said. “We got to use Flik and Hopper, but all the other bug characters, we got to make up, all exclusive to It’s Tough to be a Bug! The one rule I had was the characters had to be believable … that if they were in the movie, they’d look the same.

“I think this is one of the few attractions that Imagineering’s ever done where the characters in an attraction predated the release of the movie.”

Since It’s Tough to be a Bug! opened in 1998, it has been shown continuously in a theater that seats up to 430 guests, all wearing “bug-eye” 3D glasses.

One of the best parts about the location of the queue for It’s Tough to be a Bug! is how close guests get to the artistic masterpiece that dominates the bark of The Tree of Life. On it, are more than 300 magnificently carved animals, all the handiwork of Disney craftsman Zolt Hormay and his team of skilled artisans.

Near the entrance to the attraction is a prominent carving of the world-famous chimpanzee David Greybeard, who was a particular favorite of renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall. 

When guests enter the waiting area for the attraction, they are greeted by humorous Broadway-inspired posters, all themed to bugs.

“We thought it would be great to put up parodies of Broadway posters,” Rafferty said, so he and his team came up with names like A Cockroach Line, My Fair Lady Bug, Web Side Story, A Stinkbug Named Desire, Antie, and Beauty and the Bees.

It’s a perfect segue to the equally clever – and funny – show.

Among the highlights of the show that have had guests buzzing since 1998 is the appearance of Hopper [an Audio-Animatronics marvel]; a stink bug’s release of a rather offensive odor; and a soldier termite spraying acid on its prey … a.k.a. the audience.

And then there’s the “butt bug effect” that leaves guests roaring at the show’s end.

It’s Tough to be a Bug! was a featured attraction in A Bug’s Land in Disney’s California Adventure. Unlike its Florida counterpart, the California Adventure version was housed in a show building instead of a faux tree.

A Bug’s Land closed in 2018 to make way for the Avengers Campus.

When It’s Tough to be a Bug! closes in Animal Kingdom, it will no doubt sadden guests, who have enjoyed the imaginative attraction for more than 26 years

But if you think Rafferty is upset about the change, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

“Of course, I’m very sad that It’s Tough to be a Bug! is going away, but I’m overjoyed and quite proud that it had such a long run,” Rafferty said recently.

“It was indeed a perfect themed attraction for that park. Suffice it to say it’s OK with me that the show is going away because in the spirit of Walt Disney, I believe – as he did – that change is good. Walt changed things up constantly.”

That change means an attraction based on the Disney movie Zootopia will take up residence under The Tree of Life in the future.

Like we said, it’s tough to be It’s Tough to be a Bug!

Chuck Schmidt is an award-winning journalist and retired Disney cast member who has covered all things Disney since 1984 in both print and on-line. He has authored or co-authored seven books on Disney, including his Disney’s Animal Kingdom: An Unofficial History, for Theme Park Press. He has written a regular blog for AllEars.Net, called Still Goofy About Disney, since 2015.

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