In Las Vegas, lonely 10-year-old Lucas Nickle is left with his older sister, Tiffany and his grandmother when his parents go to Puerto Vallarta. Neglected by his family and tormented by a local bully named Steve and his friends, Lucas takes out his frustration on an anthill and attacks it with a squirt gun, terrifying the ants. One ant, an eccentric Wizard named Zoc, tries to fight back. His girlfriend, a nurse ant named Hova who is fascinated by human beings, attempts to communicate with Lucas. He drops his gun on the grass, and kicks the anthill with one of his sneakers, sending the ants flying into the grass. Hova tries to communicate to Lucas, but she is almost crushed before being rescued by Zoc. The leaders of the colony decide to use a potion Zoc has recently created to shrink Lucas down to ant size.