Changes

Eventually, Disney CEO Michael Eisner suggested that the show could be about insects, due to the fact that they were also a part of the Animal Kingdom, and furthermore, they often lived under trees. Eisner went on to say that the film could tie in with the Pixar movie "A Bug's Life" which was set to be released seven months after the park opened. Imagineers liked the idea, and on April 22, 1998 "It's Tough to be a Bug!" opened with the rest of Disney's Animal Kingdom. Since it's its opening the attraction has not seen any major changes.

| "I Feel Pretty" (West Side Story)

It's Tough to be a Bug! opens with Flick the ant being announced as the host of the show. As Flick begins by pointing out to the guests that despite the enourmous enormous amount of bugs in the world, humans don't seem able to see bugs. In order to help them, he tells everyone to put their Bug Eyes (3D glasses) on, so that they can see the bug world. After guests put their glasses on, a group of butterflies appear on screen forming a curtain, before flying apart to reveal Flick.

As Flick begins to talk about the various survival techniques that bugs have , a Chilean Tarantula named Chilli Chili sneaks up behind him. The tarantula is friendly however, eventually apologizing for starling the ant. After saying it's it’s okay, Flick goes on to explain to guests that Chilean Tarantula's shoot poison quills at their enemies, "with deadly accuracy". To show off his skills Chilli Chili uses a wooden slingshot to shoot acorns, which he then breaks apart with his quills. The Beetles, who beetles that are holding the acorns, eventually cause Chilli Chili to misshowever, and shoot the quills into the audience.

After Chilli Chili leaves the stage in anger, Flick introduces a termite, who defends his home by shooting acid. After a flea begins mocking the termite, he shoots him with a ball of acid before declaring that he "detects more intruders" (the audience). Despite Flick's best efforts, the termite shoots acid at the audience, before eventually running out. The third guest that Flick introduces is a stinkbug named Claire de Room, who is prepared to aim his her stench at a flower. When an Acorn Weevil gets stuck in the flower and moves it near the audiencehowever, the bug hits the audience with its "stench".

At this point in the attraction, the evil grasshopper Hopper breaks into the show. As Flick tries to explain that the humans in the audience are his friends, Hopper yells that humans are a bug’s worst enemy. He then instructs a Rhinoceros beetle to attack the ant. Hopper then shows an exterminator poster as his evidence for human's being bugs enemies. To further his case, he shows guests clips from black and white horror movies which depict bugs in monstrous ways, including a tarantula destroying a house, military men fighting giant grasshoppers, fireflies scaling large buildings, and a man fighting giant ants on a boat. As the montage ends, a fly is hit three times with a fly swatter, ; while Hopper tells guests that it's time they got a taste of their own medicine. He then declares "This means war!" as the audience is sprayed with bug spray. As the theater goes dark, the audience is "attacked" by hornets and black widow spiders who are trying to get their revenge. Hopper then appears on screen, telling the bugs to leave guests to him and declaring that nothing can stop them. As he says this, a large chameleon sneaks up behind the grasshopper, temporarily eating him before spitting him out and chasing him away.

A bug can then be heard backstage telling Flick that the next act, "refuses to come out of his cocoon". Upon hearing this, Flick decides to cue the show’s finale, before quipping "Did I forget to mention reptiles". A group of bugs then begin signing the show's theme song "It's Tough to be a Bug". In the song, bees, dung beetles and dragonflies sing about all of the good things that they do, before they all exit the screen chasing after a cupcake. Flick then concludes the show by saying, "And now that your all honorary bugs, remember, magnifying glass is for looking at little things, not for burning little things," as the butterflies curtain returnscloses.

* 50 different odors were tested by Imagineers, before the smell of the stinkbug was agreed upon.