Queue

At Disney's Animal Kingdom, the Tree of Life theatre is located inside the Tree of Life. As the queue winds around the tree, visitors can glimpse animal carvings on the tree that aren't visible from other vantage points. The "underground" lobby area features posters of various bug acts from the show, as well as those for all-insect parodies of Broadway musicals, such as "Beauty and the Bees", "Web Side Story", "Little Shop of Hoppers" and "My Fair Ladybug."^[7] The lobby music overture consists of insect renditions of Broadway musical numbers.

Attraction

After the theatre doors close, an announcer advises the audience not to buzz, sting, pollinate or chirp during the show. Flik the ant, in audio-animatronic form, emerges from a hole in the theatre's ceiling and welcomes the audience and tells them to put on their bug eyes (3D glasses). The show begins with butterflies, in formation as curtains, flying away. After the title card is presented, Flik appears on screen to give the show's acts. A Mexican red knee tarantula (referred to as a Chilean rose tarantula in the show) named Chili makes his appearance. A pair of acorn Weevils, along with Weevil Kneevil, place a slingshot on the stage and launch acorns from it (triggering hidden air cannons). Chilli shoots the first acorn with a quill but fails to hit the second because Weevil holds on to it, then taunts Chili, who chases after him. Flik presents the second act as a "soldier termite who defends his mound by spraying intruders with acid". A piece of the set falls with a rumble, and the "Termite-ator" steps out, then shoots at a taunting flea, then the audience, sensing more intruders (which triggers hidden water sprayers), despite Flik's protests, until he runs out of acid and leaves, saying that he will be back. Flik reappears and hopes the audience isn't allergic to acid. The next act Flik introduces is a stinkbug named Claire de Room, who walks onto the stage. The acorn weevils place a flower as a target; the Weevil re-enters the scene and crashes into the flower, causing it to move towards the audience. Claire then passes gas, which affects and disgusts both Weevil and the audience (which triggers hidden smell cannons in the theatre).

An explosion is heard in audio-animatronic form as Hopper the grasshopper appears. He orders a stag beetle to chase Flik off the stage, and four wasps hold up an advertisement flyer for "Knock 'em Dead" exterminators. The wasps turn over the ad and use it as a makeshift movie screen to show movie clips from old monster movies featuring giant bugs ("Earth vs the Spider", "Beginning of the End" and "Empire of the Ants"). Hopper wants to make humans experience the same "medicine," and a giant fly swatter attempts to flatten the audience. After Hopper discovers the audience is still alive, he declares war on them. The screen goes black as a hand appears with a can of bug spray and sprays it at the guest (which triggers a hidden fog machine above the screen). Hornets sting the audience (which begins a small piece of rubber tubing that pokes each guest's back), and several black widow spiders go up and down, trying to capture and scare the audience. Now, on screen, Hopper boasts nothing can stop him, but a chameleon appears and tries to eat him, making Hopper flee.

Flik reappears and says that he forgot to mention the reptile's not caring that it's tough to be a bug, which segues into the finale. Bees, dung beetles (The Dung Brothers), dragonflies and other bugs sing about how insects help humans and about how "it's tough to be a bug". Weevil returns, holding a mouldy cupcake and the bugs chase him. The butterflies come back to form a curtain, and Flik reappears in audio-animatronic form from the ceiling to wrap the show. After the theatre is lit up again, the announcer requests the guests to remain seated so the beetles, maggots, and cockroaches may exit safely. The bugs start to talk all at once as they leave (which triggers hidden rubber wheels to roll at the bottom of the seats). The announcer then tells the audience to gather their belongings and take their "small grubs" by their "grubby little hands" as they exit.