''Maya the Bee'' (promoted theatrically as ''Maya the Bee Movie'') is a 2014

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

directed by Alexs Stadermann, loosely based on the 1975 anime ''

Maya the Bee ''Maya the Bee'' () is the main character in ''The Adventures of Maya the Bee'', a German book written by Waldemar Bonsels and published in 1912. The book has been published in many other languages and adapted into different media. The first Ame ...

'' as well as indirectly the German children's book ''The Adventures of

'' by

Waldemar Bonsels Waldemar Bonsels (21 February 1880 in Ahrensburg – 31 July 1952 in Ambach, Münsing) was a German writer. Waldemar Bonsels's most famous work is the children's book ''Die Biene Maja und ihre Abenteuer'' (''Maya the Bee and her Adventures ...

. It features the voices of Coco Jack Gillies,

Kodi Smit-McPhee Kodi Smit-McPhee (born 13 June 1996) is an Australian actor. He gained recognition as a child actor for his leading roles in ''The Road'' (2009) and '' Let Me In'' (2010). In 2021, Smit-McPhee garnered critical acclaim for his performance as Pe ...

Noah Taylor Noah George Taylor (born 4 September 1969) is a British-born Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage David Helfgott in '' Shine'', Locke in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', Darby Sabini in the BBC One series ''Peaky Bli ...

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor, writer, producer, and director. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including three AACTA Awards (including AFI), three Logie Awards, ...

Jacki Weaver Jacqueline Ruth Weaver (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film and television actress. Weaver emerged in the 1970s as a symbol of the Australian New Wave through her work in Ozploitation films such as '' Stork'' (1971), ''Alvin Purp ...

Justine Clarke Justine Clarke (born 16 November 1971) is an Australian actress, singer, musician, author and television host. She has been acting since the age of seven and has appeared in some of Australia's best-known TV shows. She is best known as a presen ...

The Umbilical Brothers The Umbilical Brothers are an Australian comic duo formed in 1988, consisting of David Collins and Shane Dundas. Their performances heavily feature physical comedy and surreal elements. Stage shows by the Umbilical Brothers include ''Heaven ...

, and

Miriam Margolyes Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Tora ...

. ''Maya the Bee'' was released theatrically on 4 September 2014. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but grossed $29.6 million worldwide. Two sequels to ''Maya the Bee'' were released; '' The Honey Games'' in 2018 and '' The Golden Orb'' in 2021.

Summary

Freshly hatched bee Maya is a little whirlwind and simply won't follow the rules of the hive. One of the rules, of course, she is not allowed to trust the other bugs, especially the hornets, that live beyond a camp in the meadow. But cute sweet little Maya can't help but make friends with all kinds of other bugs, including a violin-playing grasshopper, a dung beetle and even a young hornet named Sting, who has a hatred of bees.

Voice cast

* Coco Jack Gillies as Maya, a young

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

girl. *

as Willy, a young bee boy, Maya's best friend. * Joel Franco as Sting, a young

Hornet Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by th ...

, Maya and Willy's best friend and sidekick. *

as Flip, a

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

. *

as Miss Cassandra, a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

at the bee school and Maya's mother at heart. *

as Buzzlina Von Beena, the royal counselor of the beehive, Maya's arch-enemy. * Andy McPhee as Hank, the leader of hornets, Sting's father, Bees friends, and former arch-rivals. *

as The Queen, the mother of Bees. *

David Collins David Collins may refer to: Persons * David Collins (Hampshire cricketer), 18th-century cricketer * David Collins (New Zealand cricketer) (1887–1967) * David Collins (Scottish footballer) (1912–?) * David Collins (Australian footballer) ( ...

as Arnie, an

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

soldier, Paul's right-hand. *

Shane Dundas The Umbilical Brothers are an Australian comic duo formed in 1988, consisting of David Collins and Shane Dundas. Their performances heavily feature physical comedy and surreal elements. Stage shows by the Umbilical Brothers include ''Heaven by ...

as Barney, an

soldier, Arnie's partner and Paul's right-hand. * Jimmy James Eaton as Paul, an

colonel, the leader of ants. *

Heather Mitchell Heather Lee Mitchell (born 1958) is an Australian actress, appearing in Australian productions of stage, television and film. She is a graduate of NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art). She is best known for her leading role in the 1990s t ...

as The Nurse, chief of the worker bees. *

as Crawley, the hilariously bumbling of the beehive, The Queen's loyal assistant and Buzzlina's former henchman. * Cameron Ralph as Momo, a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

. *

Glenn Fraser Glenn Fraser is an Australian filmmaker with a reputation for making gritty films in a variety of arenas and forms. Most of his work focuses on the 'hidden' to some degree, either subcultures or activities which exist just beneath the surface of a ...

as Kurt, a

dung beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night. Many dung beetles, known as ''rollers'', roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding cha ...

. *

as Thekla, a

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

. * Stavroula Mountzouris as Lara, a

ladybug Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles ranging in size from . They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in Great Britain. Some entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as they ...

, Willy's love interest. * Sam Haft as Drago, a

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

Production

Animation World Network Animation World Network (often just "AWN") is an online publishing group that specializes in resources for animators, with an extensive website offering news, articles and links for professional animators and animation fans. Specifically, AWN cov ...

announced in May 2013 that

Universum Film Leonine Holding GmbH, LLC, formerly Tele München Group, LLC (German: Tele München Gruppe; TMG), is a media company based in Munich. The activities of Leonine include trade in licenses, investments in television and radio stations and distributio ...

would distribute all German rights of the film. The film is directed by Alexs Stadermann, and produced by Patrick Elmendorff and Thorsten Wegener from

Studio 100 Animation Studio 100 Animation is an animation studio based in Paris and it is a subsidiary of the Belgian Studio 100 ''group'', the studio specialises in producing TV series and films for children and families. History In 2008, Studio 100 acquired the Ge ...

; Jim Ballantine and Barbara Stephen from Buzz Studios. The film was produced in association with

Flying Bark Productions Flying Bark Productions Pty Ltd is an Australian animation studio. The studio acts as a full-service production facility across feature films, television and a diverse range of digital content. The studio was established by Yoram and Sandra Gro ...

and

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

. This film was Coco Jack Gillies film debut as she voiced the role of Maya. Gillies was 9 years old at the time of production.

Reception

''Maya the Bee'' received mixed reviews from critics, scoring a 47% in

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

with an average rating of 5.59/10 from seventeen reviews. Frank Hatherley from

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

stated that "this merry movie is for young children, mainly girls: step aside, ''

Dora the Explorer ''Dora the Explorer'' is an American children's animated television series and multimedia franchise created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner that premiered on Nickelodeon on August 14, 2000, went on hiatus on June 5, 20 ...

''!" with vivid colours and plenty of unthreatening action.

Accolades

Sequel

Notes

References

External links

Official US website

Official UK website

Official German website
* * {{Maya the Bee 2014 fantasy films 2014 3D films 2014 animated films 2014 films Animated comedy films Australian buddy films Australian animated feature films Australian comedy films Australian fantasy films Australian children's animated films Australian children's comedy films Australian children's adventure films Australian children's fantasy films Australian computer-animated films 2010s Australian animated films 2010s German animated films 2010s children's animated films 2010s children's comedy films 2010s children's fantasy films 2010s children's adventure films Animated films about insects Animated films about friendship German animated films German children's films German comedy films German fantasy films Films produced by Jim Ballantine Films directed by Alexs Stadermann 3D animated films 2014 comedy films Fictional ants Fictional grasshoppers Films about bees Films about royalty Screen Australia films StudioCanal animated films Flying Bark Productions films Maya the Bee 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films 2010s German films