This is the story of a ten-year-old boy named Lucas Nickle (Zach Tyler), who has just moved to a new neighborhood, has no friends, and is the target for the local bully and his gang. His parents, Fred (Larry Miller) and Doreen (Cheri Oteri), are leaving for a honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, so they are too busy to attend to his problems. His sister, Tiffany (Allison Mack), is distracted by her cell phone, and grandmother Mommo (Lily Tomlin) is obsessed with U.F.O.s and aliens. Lucas is constantly being beat up by the neighborhood bully, Steve (Myles Jeffrey). Because he cannot fight back, he takes out his anger on an anthill in his front yard. He kicks it, stomps it, squirts it with his water gun, and floods it with a hose. This terrifies the ants, who call Lucas "The Destroyer". One wizard ant, known as Zoc (Nicolas Cage), being a hopeful and adventurous type, is trying to solve this dilemma. He tries to devise a magic potion that he believes will solve all their problems. As the plan to shrink Lucas down to their size with a magic potion and forcing him to live like an ant within the colony - an astonishing new world opens up to him. Lucas learns first-hand the value of friendship and teamwork, ultimately leading the ants in an effort to save their colony from annihilation. And in the process, Lucas obtains the things he wants most: friends, companionship, acceptance, and the courage to stand up for himself.