Christopher Walken's voicework was so excellent that Cutter's role was expanded. He was originally a faceless lackey to General Mandible, but Walken brought some unexpected depths to the character.
Some of the characters are named after types of ants: Bala is the name that people in Costa Rica give to bullet ants ("Paraponera clavata" species), Barbatus is named after "Pogonomyrmex barbatus" (red harvester ant) species, Azteca is named after "Azteca andreae" species, Weaver is named after weaver or green ant (genus Oecophylla), and Cutter is named after leaf-cutter ants (genera Atta and Acromyrmex). Also, General Mandible is named after mandibles - ant jaws.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally offered the part of Weaver. When Schwarzenegger wanted to be paid for the role, it went to Sylvester Stallone, who was willing to do it for free.
Ants and termites really do go to war with each other. But in reality, ants would emerge the victors, because they would easily outnumber a termite nest.
DreamWorks Animation's first feature film and the only one released in the twentieth century to be fully computer-animated. Starting with Shrek (2001), all of that company's subsequent CGI films were released in the twenty-first century.