Maya the Bee (film)
| Maya the Bee | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Alexs Stadermann |
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| Story by | Alexs Stadermann |
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| Starring |
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| Edited by | Adam Smith |
| Music by | Ute Engelhardt |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
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| Language | English |
| Box office | $29.6 million |
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 Honey 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.
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 and spin-off to Maya the Bee were released: The Honey Games in 2018, The Golden Orb in 2021, and Arnie & Barney: The Water Quest in 2026.
Plot
 | This article's plot summary needs to be improved. (June 2025) |
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
- Kodi Smit-McPhee as Willy, a young bee boy, Maya's best friend
- Joel Franco as Sting, a young hornet, Maya and Willy's best friend and sidekick
- Richard Roxburgh as Flip, a grasshopper
- Justine Clarke as Miss Cassandra, a bee teacher at the bee school and Maya's mother at heart
- Jacki Weaver as Buzzlina Von Beena, the royal counselor of the beehive and Maya's arch-enemy
- Andy McPhee as Hank, the leader of hornets, Sting's father, Bees friends, and former arch-rivals
- Miriam Margolyes as The Queen, the mother of Bees
- David Collins as Arnie, an ant soldier, Paul's right-hand
- Shane Dundas as Barney, an ant soldier, Arnie's partner and Paul's right-hand
- Jimmy James Eaton as Paul, an ant colonel, the leader of ants
- Heather Mitchell as The Nurse, chief of the worker bees
- Noah Taylor as Crawley, the hilariously bumbling of the beehive, The Queen's loyal assistant and Buzzlina's former henchman
- Cameron Ralph as Momo, a moth
- Glenn Fraser as Kurt, a dung beetle
- Heather Mitchell as Thekla, an evil and stubborn bug-eating spider
- Stavroula Mountzouris as Lara, a ladybug who is Willy's love interest
- Sam Haft as Drago, a dragonfly
Production
Universum Film distributed the film in German-speaking territories through Buena Vista International in Germany and Kinostar in Austria, 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 Film in Munich; and Jim Ballantine and Barbara Stephen from Buzz Studios in Sydney. The film was produced in association with the channel ZDF. The film's animation was provided by Flying Bark Productions. This film was Coco Jack Gillies' film debut, voicing the role of Maya. Gillies was 9 years old at the time of production.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 47% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. 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.
Frank Hatherley of Screen Daily positively assessed the visuals and action scenes, along with Coco Jack Gillies' performance as Maya. 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. Although Michael Rechtstaffen of The Hollywood Reporter thought the film would not generate "much of a buzz beyond female preschoolers", he praised its story as well as the cast's performances.
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". 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.
Accolades
| Award | Category | Subject | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | Best Animated Feature Film | Barbara Stephen & Thorsten Wegener | Nominated |
| Bavarian Film Awards | 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 and spin-off
A sequel, Maya the Bee: The Honey Games, was released on 26 July 2018. Another sequel, Maya the Bee: The Golden Orb, was released on 7 January 2021. A spin-off film, titled Arnie & Barney: The Water Quest, was released on September 3, 2026.
See also
References
Notes
- ↑ Attributed to multiple references:
Citations
- 1 2 Jennifer Wolfe (20 May 2013). "Studio 100 Launches 'Maya the Bee' Animated Feature". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ↑ "Maya the Bee Movie". Screen Australia. Archived from the original on 16 September 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
- 1 2 Zahed, Ramin (8 November 2013). "Universum Buzzes with Studio 100's 'Maya the Bee'". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 November 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
- ↑ Groves, Don (3 November 2014). "Maya the Bee Movie, Aussie WW1 movie unleashed". IF Magazine. The Intermedia Group. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 Frank Hatherley (24 October 2014). "Maya The Bee Movie". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ↑ "Maya The Bee". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
- 1 2 3 "Maya the Bee Movie". Lumiere. European Audiovisual Observatory. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
- ↑ "MAYA THE BEE MOVIE". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ↑ Scott Roxborough (5 November 2014). "AFM: Shout! Takes 'Maya The Bee' for North America". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Everyone's favourite little bee Maya makes her big screen debut in Maya the Bee Movie". Flying Bark Productions. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ↑ "Die Biene Maja - der Kinofilm". Spielfilm.de (in German). Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ↑ Patrick Frater (10 November 2014). "Shout! Factory Takes North America on 'Maya The Bee Movie'". Variety. Archived from the original on 22 November 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ↑ Jerry Beck (18 January 2015). "TRAILER: "Maya The Bee"". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ↑ Etan Vlessing (8 May 2012). "Canada's Thunderbird Films Steers 'Maya the Bee' into North America". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ↑ "Maya the Bee". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
- ↑ "Maya the Bee". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
- ↑ Debruge, Peter (28 April 2025). "Film Review: 'Maya the Bee Movie'". Variety. Archived from the original on 28 January 2025. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
- ↑ Rechtstaffen, Michael (29 April 2015). "'Maya the Bee Movie': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
- ↑ Solomon, Charles (1 May 2015). "Review: 'Maya the Bee Movie': Little buzz for kids or grown-ups". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
- ↑ Wilson, Jake (14 September 2014). "Maya the Bee Movie review: Animated children's tale wearying familiar". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
- ↑ Frater, Patrick (7 November 2015). "AFM: 'Maya The Bee' Sequel Buzzes for Studio 100". Variety.
- ↑ "Die Biene Maja 2 - die Honigspiele (2018) | Film, Trailer, Kritik". Kino-Zeit (in German). Archived from the original on 14 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ↑ "Maya the Bee: The Honey Games". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ "Maya the Bee 3 – The Golden Orb – Studio 100 Film". Studio 100 Film. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ↑ "Die Biene Maja - Das geheime Königreich". KINO (in German). Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- ↑ "Maya the Bee: The Golden Orb". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ "Studio 100 International Announces 'Maya the Bee' Spinoff Film 'Arnie & Barney'". Animation Magazine. 3 October 2024.
- ↑ Barraclough, Leo (3 October 2024). "'Maya the Bee' Spinoff 'Arnie & Barney', Voiced by the Umbilical Brothers, to Be Launched at AFM by Studio 100 Film (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
- ↑ ""Arnie & Barney – The Water Quest" launches into cinematic adventure with strong licensing partners in Germany". Studio 100 International. 16 June 2026.
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