"The Ant Bully" means well.

The computer-animated feature makes a valiant effort to entertain its audience with on-screen antics and lush imagery, and deliver wholesome life lessons in the bargain. But the film's heavy-handed moral messages take it from a fun romp through a cartoon insect world to a predictable and preachy snoozefest.

Lucas Nickel (Zack Tyler) is a friendless pipsqueak who is constantly berated by the neighborhood bully. In turn, Lucas goes after a nearby ant colony. Wielding a water gun, Lucas wreaks havoc on the helpless insects. The ants call upon the mystical powers of Zoc (Nicolas Cage), an ant wizard, to rid the colony of the overgrown menace.

Zoc develops a potion to shrink Lucas to ant size, and most of the ants want to eat Lucas alive. But the Queen (Meryl Streep) saves him by forcing him to live as an ant. With the help of Hova (Julia Roberts), who becomes his ant buddy, Lucas learns what it means to be part of a team and care for others, so when an exterminator shows up, he and his new friends fight to save the colony.

"The Ant Bully" isn't a bad movie; in fact, it's quite the show at times. Some of the zanier characters, like Lucas' alien-searching grandmother (Lily Tomlin) and her dentures that won't stay in her mouth, provide some of the biggest laughs. The animation is simply stunning. From the detailed body structure of the insects to the vivid rendering of the inside of the ant colony, there is always something new and interesting to see.

Even the star-studded voice cast does a fantastic job breathing life into their characters. Julia Roberts is lovely as the caring Hova, especially contrasted with the high-strung, whiny voice of Zack Tyler.

It does a good job of separating itself from earlier ant films like "A Bug's Life" and "Antz," but the rushed and illogical plot progression just doesn't work. And the characters so blatantly telegraph the moral from what goes down on screen, even by the ultra-obvious standard of kids' movies. You don't have to look far to find that moral because the characters push it right in your face. But why pay $8.50 for the same message you get on "Sesame Street" for free?