- “No refunds after the first two minutes.”
- ―P.T. Flea addressing a dissatisfied fly customer
P.T. Flea (a.k.a. "P.T." or "Mr. Flea") is a character in Disney/Pixar's 1998 film, A Bug's Life. He is a brown flea who serves as a minor antagonist, but in the end he reforms.
Appearance
P.T. is the short-tempered, boisterous, greedy ringmaster of the circus troupe who is unwilling to give refunds after his show has lasted two minutes. He loves money and would do anything just to make it, including hire the lowest of low-lives and later even go as far as to have himself injured as a result.
P.T.'s finale consists of an act called "Flaming Death," in which he was almost incinerated. This made him fire his entire troupe, until a foot-long line of flies lined up outside the circus tent wanting to see the Flaming Death act again.
Later in the film, as his troupe and the ants celebrate the completion of their bird to scare off the grasshoppers, P.T. comes to Ant Island searching for the troupe. He finds them hiding under a leaf and blows their cover of pretending to be "warrior bugs," stating to them that Flaming Death was a huge hit. When the ants find out the truth about the warriors, the Queen orders them to leave, and Princess Atta banishes Flik along with the troupe after learning about his lies.
As they are heading back to the circus, Dot (who had just learned to fly) flies to the troupe and asks them for help. She tells them about Hopper's plan to squish her mother when the ants finish collecting all the food on the island. Rosie traps P.T. in her web, and the troupe takes control of the carriage and heads back to Ant Island.
Back on the island, Flik tries to scare off the grasshoppers with the fake bird, but accidentally hits the circus carriage in the process, releasing P.T. from Rosie's web. He sees that some of his troupe members are pretending to be injured by the bird, so he uses his Flaming Death to set the bird on fire, not realizing it was merely a hoax to fool Hopper and his gang. He then realizes his mistake for helping Hopper and his gang when he sees Flik being beaten by Thumper and orders the troupe to get rid of Hopper.
In the end, P.T. has reformed to some degree, being less greedy and more flexible, after he and his whole circus troupe help to rid the ants of Hopper when they finally overpower him. They then say goodbye to Flik, Atta (who's now the new queen), and Dot (who is now a young princess). P.T. leaves Ant Island with new circus members: a group of acrobatic ants, and a new strongman, the fully reformed Molt (under the nickname "Tiny"), with the promise that he and the circus will return next season.
Personality
As the ringmaster of the circus troupe who loves money, P.T. Flea is totally unwilling to give refunds after his show has lasted two minutes. He starts off as a minor antagonist, but he reforms into a more neutral businessman type in the end after he and his circus troupe help the ants defeat Hopper and his gang.
Trivia
- P.T. appears during the end credits of Cars as a tiny hopping car.
- He also made a cameo in the short Your Friend the Rat using recycled footage (he is only called "The Flea").
- P.T. is named after P.T. Barnum, the co-founder of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in the early 1800s.
- P.T. is John Ratzenberger's favorite role.
- P.T. is John Ratzenberger's second Pixar character after Hamm.
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