Maya the Bee (film)
2014 animated film
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Maya the Bee (promoted theatrically as Maya the Bee Movie) is a 2014 animated adventure comedy film directed by Alexs Stadermann, loosely based on the 1975 anime Maya the Bee as well as indirectly on the German children's book The Adventures of Maya the Bee by Waldemar Bonsels. The first animated film in the Maya the Bee franchise, it was produced by Studio 100 Film and Buzz Studios, and distributed by StudioCanal in Australia and by Universum Film in Germany. It features the voices of Coco Jack Gillies, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Noah Taylor, Richard Roxburgh, Jacki Weaver, Justine Clarke, The Umbilical Brothers, and Miriam Margolyes.
- Fin Edquist
- Marcus Sauermann
by Waldemar Bonsels
| Maya the Bee | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Alexs Stadermann |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Alexs Stadermann |
| Based on | Maya the Bee by Waldemar Bonsels |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Edited by | Adam Smith |
| Music by | Ute Engelhardt |
Production companies |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 88 minutes[5][6] |
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| Languages | German English |
| Box office | $29.6 million[8] |
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, The Golden Orb in 2021, and an upcoming spin-off titled Arnie & Barney scheduled for 2026.
Plot
Maya is a young bee, who does not like to follow the rules of the hive. One rule is to not trust any hornets that live beyond the meadow. The Royal Jelly is stolen, and the hornets are suspected to be the ones who have stolen it, with Maya as the suspect accomplice. Nobody in the hive believes that she is innocent, and nobody except for her best friend Willy stands by her. They journey to the hive of the hornets, and Maya and Willy discover the culprit. The two friends bond with the other members of the opulent meadow.
Voice cast
- Coco Jack Gillies as Maya, a young bee girl.[9]
- Kodi Smit-McPhee as Willy, a young bee boy, Maya's best friend.[10]
- Joel Franco as Sting, a young hornet, Maya and Willy's best friend and sidekick.
- Richard Roxburgh as Flip, a grasshopper.[10]
- Justine Clarke as Miss Cassandra, a bee teacher at the bee school and Maya's mother at heart.[10]
- Jacki Weaver as Buzzlina Von Beena, the royal counselor of the beehive and Maya's arch-enemy.[10]
- Andy McPhee as Hank, the leader of hornets, Sting's father, Bees friends, and former arch-rivals.[10]
- Miriam Margolyes as The Queen, the mother of Bees.[10]
- David Collins as Arnie, an ant soldier, Paul's right-hand.[10]
- Shane Dundas as Barney, an ant soldier, Arnie's partner and Paul's right-hand.[10]
- Jimmy James Eaton as Paul, an ant colonel, the leader of ants.[10]
- Heather Mitchell as The Nurse, chief of the worker bees.[10]
- Noah Taylor as Crawley, the hilariously bumbling of the beehive, The Queen's loyal assistant and Buzzlina's former henchman.[10]
- Cameron Ralph as Momo, a moth.[10]
- Glenn Fraser as Kurt, a dung beetle.[10]
- Heather Mitchell as Thekla, an evil and stubborn bug-eating spider.[10]
- Stavroula Mountzouris as Lara, a ladybug who is Willy's love interest.[10]
- Sam Haft as Drago, a dragonfly.[10]
Production
Universum Film distributed the film in German-speaking territories through Buena Vista International,[a] while StudioCanal handled the distribution in Australasia. The film is directed by Alexs Stadermann, and produced by Patrick Elmendorff and Thorsten Wegener from Studio 100 Animation in Munich; and Jim Ballantine and Barbara Stephen from Buzz Studios in Sydney.[12][5] The film was produced in association with Flying Bark Productions and the channel ZDF.[13][14] This film was Coco Jack Gillies' film debut, voicing the role of Maya. Gillies was 9 years old at the time of production.[5][10]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 47% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10.[15] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[16]
Frank Hatherley of Screen Daily positively assessed the visuals and action scenes, along with Coco Jack Gillies' performance as Maya.[5] In one of his articles for Variety, Peter Debruge felt the plot was "innocuous and uninspired as preschool animation gets" and criticised the character designs as "rudimentary at best", but he considered it a "relief to parents exhausted by the overly antic quality of all those other bug stories" and praised the target audience's interest in Maya's interaction with the other Poppy Meadow insects.[17] Although Michael Rechtstaffen of The Hollywood Reporter thought the film wouldn't generate "much of a buzz beyond female preschoolers", he praised its story as well as the cast's performances.[18]
Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times questioned the film's dialogue and ending scenes, and later called it a "self-consciously uplifting treacle some adults insist kids want".[19] Writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, Jake Wilson called the film's plot a "wearyingly familiar story", but praised the animation as well as Maya's characterisation.[20]
Accolades
| Award | Category | Subject | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Pacific Screen Award | Best Animated Feature Film | Barbara Stephen & Thorsten Wegener | Nominated |
| Bavarian Film Award | Best Animated Film | Patrick Elemendorff & Thorsten Wegener | Won |
| Screen Producers Australia Award | Best Feature Film Production | Barbara Stephen & Thorsten Wegener | Nominated |
| Seattle International Film Festival | Youth Jury Award | Alexs Stadermann | Nominated |
| Stockholm International Film Festival | Grand Jury Prize for Best Film | Nominated | |
Sequels
A sequel, Maya the Bee: The Honey Games, was released on 26 July 2018. having the same cast but having a somewhat different crew and production companies. Another sequel, Maya the Bee: The Golden Orb, was released on 7 January 2021. It was scheduled to be released in Australia on 17 June 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was pushed back. An upcoming spin-off film called "Arnie & Barney" is scheduled to be released in Q1 2026.
