In a bustling and thriving ant colony on the isolated patch of an island, the ants annually gather food to appease a gang of oppressive grasshoppers, led by the menacing Hopper. The ants labor intensively under the misguided belief that this offering ensures their survival, although it leaves little for themselves. An inventive yet clumsy ant named Flik accidentally destroys the food stores meant for the grasshoppers, which incurs Hopper's wrath and results in a threat of retribution if the food is not replenished before his last leaf falls. Flik is an outcast among his fellow ants, not only for his catastrophic faux pas but also due to his unorthodox ideas that often disrupt the colony's traditional ways.

To avert disaster and prove his worth, Flik embarks on a quest to recruit what he believes are "warrior" bugs to defend the colony against the grasshoppers, hoping to change the ants' plight once and for all. However, the bugs he enlists are in fact a ragtag troupe of an inept circus crew, mistaken by Flik for genuine heroes due to a theatrical misunderstanding. The troupe is composed of various struggling performers, keen for any audience, and they naively follow Flik back to the colony, entirely unaware of the true nature of their recruitment. This sets the stage for an uneasy alliance between the misfit saviors and the desperate ants as they prepare to face their formidable adversaries.