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Movie Review | 'Bee Movie'

A Drone No More: No Hive for Him!

By A.O. Scott

Nov. 2, 2007

Bees rarely fly in a straight line. They hover and zigzag, with a purpose known only to the collective brain of the hive. The most genuinely apian aspect of “Bee Movie,” DreamWorks’ new animated movie about, well, bees, is that it spends a lot of its short running time buzzing happily around, sniffing out fresh jokes wherever they may bloom. There is a plot — the usual big, elaborate story with the usual important messages about saving the planet, living together in interspecies harmony and believing in yourself — but it’s a little beside the point. The real fun is the insect shtick.

The DreamWorks Animation formula, exemplified in the mighty “Shrek” franchise (and imitated by would-be rivals at Sony and Fox), is to charm the children with cute creatures and slapstick action while jabbing at the grown-ups with soft, pseudosophisticated pop- cultural satire. “Bee Movie,” directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner and animated by several hundred industrious drones, pushes this strategy almost to the point of dispensing with the kid stuff altogether.

There are a few splendid cartoon set pieces — including a funny, thrilling bee’s-eye tour of New York, from Central Park flora to the surface of a tennis ball to the inside of a speeding car — that show off the latest computer animation techniques. But most of the film’s creative energy is verbal rather than visual, and semimature rather than strictly juvenile.

Which is hardly surprising. As everyone knows by now, the leading man (and one of the screenwriters and producers) is Jerry Seinfeld, whose sitcom, almost a decade off the network air, lives on in syndication and in the endless recycling of memorable one-liners by a certain type of pathetic Gen-Xer. (Not me, though. I’m the complete opposite of every film critic you’ve ever met. I’m the master of my domain.)

Mr. Seinfeld provides the voice and attitude for Barry B. Benson, a young bee who has reached the stage in his accelerated bug lifestyle when he must choose a career. The hive where he lives is a highly regimented place, where the bees, conditioned by 27 million years of evolution, work without a break in the same job for their whole lives. Visually, this world resembles a sweet, sunny, corporate version of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis.”

Barry’s nerdy pal, Adam (Matthew Broderick), accepts his drone future as part of the natural order of things, but Barry is a maverick, an individualist yearning to break out of the conformist world of the social insects.

He may also remind some viewers of Benjamin Braddock, the alliteratively named hero of “The Graduate,” a film that “Bee Movie” cites in a few amusing scenes. Not that Barry has an affair with a middle-aged mama bee (all bees are children of the queen, a biological fact the film notes only in passing). Instead he flies even farther from the nest, so to speak, falling in love with an actual human being, a Manhattan florist named Vanessa who speaks in the irresistibly sweet voice of Renée Zellweger.

When you stop to think about it, the prospect of romance between a bee and a person raises some potentially awkward, not to say physiologically outlandish, questions. But of course you’re not supposed to think about it. The moral of the story — one of them, anyway — is that we and the bees are interdependent and that we should respect their hard work.

This lesson is satirically driven home in a courtroom plot that erupts just as the love story starts to get sticky. When Barry discovers that honey is sold in supermarkets, and that it is harvested from captive bees held in smoky, shoddy fake hives, he sues the human race, going after some of its notorious bee abusers. These include Ray Liotta, who sells his own brand of honey, and Sting, whose name is obviously offensive to bees. (Both celebrities make cameo voice appearances, as does Larry King, playing a character called Bee Larry King. It’s funnier than it sounds. Or maybe it’s exactly as funny as it sounds.)

Even when playing an animated bee, Mr. Seinfeld does not demonstrate great emotional range. His comfort zone as a performer ranges from peeved to perplexed to moderately psyched, with occasional bursts of obvious exaggeration to indicate that he is at least aware that more intense states of feeling exist. But his detachment works in the movie’s favor by defusing its sentimental impulses.

Perhaps because of its star’s background in stand-up comedy, “Bee Movie” makes overt a conceit that is usually left implicit in animal-kingdom cartoons, namely that species is the cartoon version of ethnicity. Barry and his tribe are not just bees. They identify as “Beeish” — I’m sure “Benson” was something else back in the old country — and worry about their children dating wasps. On his travels Barry meets a mosquito who speaks in the voice of Chris Rock and who refers to his despised and misunderstood brethren as “bloods.”

These riffs on identity politics, a durable if sometimes risky source of humor in American pop culture, give “Bee Movie” an extra fillip of comic vitality — the hint of a sting, if you will, in an otherwise soft and fuzzy entertainment.

“Bee Movie” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). A few scary moments and mild hints about, er, the birds and the bees.

Opens today nationwide.

Directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner; written by Jerry Seinfeld, Spike Feresten, Barry Marder and Andy Robin; head of character animation, Fabio Lignini; edited by Nick Fletcher; music by Rupert Gregson-Williams; production designer, Alex McDowell; produced by Mr. Seinfeld and Christina Steinberg; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 100 minutes.

WITH THE VOICES OF: Jerry Seinfeld (Barry B. Benson), Renée Zellweger (Vanessa), Matthew Broderick (Adam Flayman), John Goodman (Layton T. Montgomery), Chris Rock (Mooseblood), Patrick Warburton (Ken), Larry King (Bee Larry King), Ray Liotta (himself) and Sting (himself).

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Common sense media reviewers.

Seinfeld comedy is cute fun for the whole family.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Meant to entertain rather than educate, but some g

The bees at first rally together to reclaim their

Vanessa cares about all living things, including b

The beehive has a good mix of male and female work

Barry imagines Vanessa crashing and blowing up. He

Barry daydreams about Vanessa in a romantic way; h

A mosquito makes a joke about lawyers being blood-

New York Post, Daily Variety, Timberland boots are

A passerby's unpleasant cigarette smoke inspires B

Educational Value

Meant to entertain rather than educate, but some good information about how bees are environmentally important.

Positive Messages

The bees at first rally together to reclaim their own honey but later realize their pivotal role in keeping the environment healthy. Barry initially blows off his responsibilities in the hive but learns how important even the smallest job can be. Vanessa sticks up for Barry (before she even knows he can talk) and saves him from getting squashed, asserting the value of every creature's life.

Positive Role Models

Vanessa cares about all living things, including bugs and flowers, and she protects Barry from harm. Vanessa and Adam help Barry with his court case, and the hive works together to restore the environment.

Diverse Representations

The beehive has a good mix of male and female workers, and Vanessa has a large and important role. But some females are judged for their appearance -- a queen bee is called "a man in women's clothes" -- and characters with larger body sizes are joked about. Some characters are Jewish (well, the bee equivalent "Beeish"), but there's not much racial/ethnic diversity. Some jokes make light of racism (Barry calls Bees "honey slaves to the White man" and is accused of playing "the species card").

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Barry imagines Vanessa crashing and blowing up. He also has a terrifying flight across Manhattan in which he's almost killed several times. People repeatedly try to kill bugs, and Barry runs across some dead bug bodies. Bees in a honey farm are gassed with smoke by beekeepers. Some humans are held at gunpoint for their honey, and a woman is held down by police and says "I can't breathe." Barry and Vanessa talk about a "suicide pact."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Barry daydreams about Vanessa in a romantic way; he and Vanessa spend a lot of time together, but they never have more than an interspecies friendship. Mild innuendo such as "shacking up with a grasshopper," jokes about bees flirting with their cousins, and interspecies dating (Barry is called Vanessa's "little bedbug").

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

A mosquito makes a joke about lawyers being blood-sucking parasites. Barry talks about how "crazy" things are and how he feels "psychotic."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

New York Post, Daily Variety, Timberland boots are all mentioned/featured. Lots of brand-name honey is featured, but all of the brands are fictional.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A passerby's unpleasant cigarette smoke inspires Barry's defense in his legal case. Billowing smoke from beekeepers' smoke guns is described as having nicotine and tar and making bees "forcibly addicted."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Bee Movie is an animated comedy about a bee who wants to do something different than what his hive expects. While the film is mainly a vehicle for star Jerry Seinfeld 's comedy, the good news is that it's a film that even little kids can follow. Barry and friends (both human and bee) show courage by standing up for what they believe and working as a team. A few tense moments involve Barry's pell-mell flights through Manhattan and humans trying to kill bugs. There are no overarching villains or monsters but Barry does run across some dead bug bodies, some humans are held at gunpoint, and Barry and Vanessa talk about a "suicide pact." While they may go over young heads, there are a few questionable jokes, like when Barry calls Bees "honey slaves to the White man" or his parents request he find a girl who's "Beeish" (the insect equivalent of being Jewish). Other jokes geared toward adults reference Larry King, Sting, and Ray Liotta, and a mosquito makes a blood-sucking lawyer joke. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say (46)
Kids say (120)

Based on 46 parent reviews

Currently Crying

Hard work pays off, what's the story.

In BEE MOVIE, Barry Benson (voiced by Jerry Seinfeld ), who's just graduated from bee college, is horrified to learn that he must pick his life-long job as a worker bee and will never get a day off. But then he gets the chance to leave the hive and ends up flying into the apartment of friendly florist Vanessa Bloome ( Renée Zellweger ), who saves him from being smooshed by her arrogant boyfriend ( Seinfeld vet Patrick Warburton ). In addition to the interspecies crush that Barry develops on Vanessa, he finds out, to his disgust, that humans flagrantly consume honey -- the nectar his kind toil their entire lives to produce -- in everything from lip balm to tea. At that point, the comedy takes a slight backseat to a bit of courtroom drama (presided over by an Oprah Winfrey -voiced judge), wherein the bees sue the honey corporations.

Is It Any Good?

The humor is there (Seinfeld is a gifted comedian, even in the form of his bee alter ego), and the story is original (although quirky). But Bee Movie 's animation isn't nearly as amazing as that found in Pixar films , and only a couple of characters get major laughs. This film was Jerry Seinfeld's labor of love, and he worked hard promoting the honey out of the picture. But it falls slightly below expectations, and current watchers will find some of the humor, particularly around gender and race, a bit stale.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what parts of Bee Movie are intended to appeal to kids, and which ones are meant for adults. How can you tell?

Families can also discuss why the bees, particularly Barry, wanted their honey returned. Does honey seem more important now than before you saw the film?

What's the role of bees in the environment? What happens when bees are no longer around to do their pollinating work?

How do Barry and his friends show courage and teamwork ? Why are these important character strengths ?

Movie Details

In theaters : November 1, 2007
On DVD or streaming : March 10, 2008
Cast : Jerry Seinfeld , Matthew Broderick , Renee Zellweger
Directors : Simon J. Smith , Steve Hickner
Inclusion Information : Middle Eastern/North African actors, Female actors
Studio : DreamWorks
Genre : Family and Kids
Topics : Adventures , Bugs , Friendship
Character Strengths : Courage , Teamwork
Run time : 90 minutes
MPAA rating : PG
MPAA explanation : mild suggestive humor, and a brief depiction of smoking.
Last updated : December 28, 2023

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DVD & Streaming
Animation , Comedy , Kids

Content Caution

In Theaters

Voices of Jerry Seinfeld as Barry B. Benson; Renée Zellweger as Vanessa Bloome; Matthew Broderick as Adam Flayman; Patrick Warburton as Ken; John Goodman as Layton T. Montgomery; Chris Rock as Mooseblood; Kathy Bates as Janet Benson; Ray Liotta, Larry King and Sting as Themselves; with Rip Torn, Barry Levinson, Oprah Winfrey, Megan Mullally, Michael Richards and Larry Miller

Home Release Date

Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith

Distributor

Movie review.

In 1998, DreamWorks explored the insect world in the computer-animated comedy Antz, which starred Woody Allen as a neurotic cog in the colony machinery who dreamt of something more. In Bee Movie the studio gets small once again, this time planting Jerry Seinfeld—nearly as neurotic and just as panicked—in essentially the same dilemma. Allen played an ant in a hill. Seinfeld is a bee in a hive. But that’s where the two films part company.

Central Park honeybees Barry B. Benson and pal Adam Flayman brace for the lifelong grind of making honey for Honex, New Hive City’s lone employer. Longing for adventure before settling into his dead-end job, Barry does a ride-along with the pollen jocks, a macho squadron bred for action outside the hive. It’s a rush. But chaos ensues and Barry gets bounced around New York City before being saved from certain squashing by Vanessa Bloome, a kindly florist.

Barry knows that the first rule when buzzing around in public is to never speak to humans. But compelled to thank his rescuer, he breaks it. Thus, he and Vanessa develop an interspecies friendship. One day while strolling the aisles of a supermarket, Barry learns that people have been stealing bees’ honey and profiting from it, so he sues the human race … and learns a valuable lesson about the role bees play in the ecosystem.

Positive Elements

Barry’s parents express pride in him and do their best to be supportive, even when they can’t relate to his ambitions. Barry may be reluctant to take a mundane job and follow in his father’s footsteps as a honey stirrer, but he’s not lazy. He explains, “I wanna do my part for the hive, but I can’t do it the way they want.” He believes in justice and seizes the opportunity to liberate his kind—Moses-like—from the drudgery of slaving away for an oppressor. [ Spoiler Warning ] When he realizes his good intentions cause tragic results, Barry accepts responsibility and works equally hard to set things right.

Whereas Barry resists being assigned to one job for the rest of his life, Adam actually welcomes the thought of not having to make too many decisions. He’d rather get comfortable in a role and stay there. For him, change equals stress. [Parents in the audience can use this as a springboard for conversation and a deeper understanding of their own children simply by asking which bee they identify with, and why.] The movie also values teamwork and cooperation (à la Ecclesiastes 4:9-12), with an entire community eventually rallying to save the day. Along those lines, Barry concludes, “Let me tell you something about a small job: If you do it well, it can make a big difference.”

There’s a strong argument for controlling one’s temper, since an angry bee usually dies after stinging someone. And Vanessa believes all life has value, even if her compassion fails to distinguish between a bug and a creature with an eternal soul created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 8:3-5).

An opening voiceover explains how bees, based on mere aerodynamics, have no business flying, yet do so with an utter disregard for what “educated” man thinks should be possible. This paradox provides an example of how, when God wants to orchestrate something, He doesn’t need logic, physics or mathematical probability to make it happen.

Spiritual Elements

Barry and Adam celebrate their good fortune with a “Hallelujah!” after which they slap each other on the forehead in a mock slaying in the Spirit. A juror makes the sign of the cross over his chest when a fat man’s backside gets thrust in his face.

Barry speaks of a long line of world-changing bees, including “Bee-Columbus, Bee-Gandhi and Bee-Jesus.” Layton T. Montgomery, a heartless attorney for the honey industry, plays the God card while arguing for “man’s divine right” to benefit from natural resources “that God has put before us.” Later he refers to “an unholy perversion of the balance of nature.” (Although vilified, he turns out to be right.) Barry trusts in his “27 million-year-old instinct.”

Sexual Content

A few remarks about “bug love” include Adam sizing up a classmate (“That girl is hot!”) and an old uncle reminiscing about a sexy cricket (“Crazy legs kept me up all night”). To prove that his parents aren’t really listening to him, Barry floats a few shocking plans he has no intention of carrying out, including “shack[ing] up with a grasshopper.” Spiders are considered desirable for their many legs (though Barry can’t get past their faces). Montgomery baits Barry by calling him illegitimate and asking if he and Vanessa are intimately involved (“Do you live together? Are you her little bed bug?”). A man-made hive contains a picture of the queen the exploited bees are supposedly serving. She has five o’clock shadow, causing Barry to declare, “That’s a man in woman’s clothes. That’s a drag queen!”

Violent Content

There’s a lot of slapstick humor, from literal slapping and people getting knocked cold, to bugs in peril or winding up plastered against a windshield. A bee testing new protective headgear gets whacked with a shoe, a flyswatter and a rolled-up newspaper. Thinking she’s dreaming, Vanessa tries to wake herself by stabbing her hand with a fork. Ray Liotta’s violent outburst in court finds him trying to squash Barry by using his Emmy statue like a hammer.

A woman falls from a height when Vanessa intentionally moves a rolling staircase. Federal agents strong-arm an old lady and shoot a beloved Disney character with a tranquilizer dart. In a dream sequence, Vanessa dies in the fiery crash of an ultralight aircraft.

Characters ponder the imminent and often messy demise facing the average insect. Carcasses of dead bugs show up now and then. A bad guy crunches a scurrying beetle under his shoe. Vanessa’s boyfriend, Ken, tries to kill Barry several times, once by turning a lighter and an aerosol can into a flamethrower (a scene just asking to be imitated by curious children).

Crude or Profane Language

An interjection each of “sweet lord” and “oh, lordy.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Someone is asked if he’s on steroids. Barry sips coffee, noting the potential effects of too much caffeine. A bee is visibly repulsed by secondhand smoke from humans’ cigarettes.

Other Negative Elements

When things look grim, Barry halfheartedly proposes a suicide pact that is dismissed as impractical. Barry and Adam lie to impress girls. And our heroes also lie, steal and cause an innocent bystander bodily harm in the interest of righting a “bigger” wrong. Some lawyers get a bad rap when a mosquito new to the profession says, “I was already a bloodsucking parasite. All I needed was a briefcase.” Excusing himself to use the bathroom, Barry says, “I’m gonna go drain the old stinger.”

In this amiable, manically paced flight of the bumblebee, snarky one-liners and slapstick humor trump warmth and tenderness. While star Jerry Seinfeld’s fans will appreciate that, some of the comic violence and dead-bug gags walk a fine line for young children who have a hard time understanding hyperbole, sarcasm and satire. That notwithstanding, caveats are relatively minor—careless misfires in the shotgun, joke-a-second script, which Seinfeld co-wrote.

“My first thought about the script,” said co-director Simon J. Smith, “was quite honestly, ‘This is insane. This is a mad idea.’ And I mean that in the best sense, because, as you read through the story and watch the character grow, it’s quite fantastic. What was great about it was having Jerry Seinfeld’s humor and point of view funneled through the bee character, which we’ve never seen before. … It’s really about us all. It’s about our society and how we behave and how ridiculous we are most of the time.”

That it is. We live in a hive of sorts, buzzing frantically to produce and keep the system functioning. Are we doing what we were created to do, or simply what we’re expected to do? Social commentary aside, Bee Movie is colorful, breezy, packed with positive messages and less predictable than your typical family film boasting a Happy Meal tie-in. As for the return of Seinfeld, the comedian’s observational humor remains stinger-sharp, even if his nasally kvetching wears thin by the final act. Not an A, but a qualified Bee .

Bob Smithouser

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Bee Movie: Dreamworks Animation’s third lowest grossing computer-animated film.

What's the deal with Bee Movie? Why someone watched Jerry Seinfeld's cartoon 357 times in 12 months

It was mainly forgotten on release, but the Dreamworks animation has gained an unlikely afterlife among online pranksters. Does that explain one UK viewer’s devotion?

Name: Bee Movie

Age: 10 years old.

Appearance: insect-based, feature-length animation.

Do you mean Antz? No. Antz is about ants. This one’s about bees.

What about A Bug’s Life? That’s another insect-based animation, but it’s not this one.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bee Movie. You’re not alone. Greeted with mixed reviews, Bee Movie has the distinction of being Dreamworks Animation’s third lowest grossing computer-animated film.

What’s it about? It’s about a bee called Barry B Benson – voiced by Jerry Seinfeld – who rebels against the beehive mentality of, um, the beehive.

So it’s no good. Well, some people like it. The Guardian awarded it four stars when it was released . And one obsessive UK Netflix subscriber watched it 357 times last year .

Who? Netflix didn’t release the name, just the figure.

Why? For publicity. Netflix wants you to know how popular the service is, but it doesn’t want to give away any actual ratings for particular films or series.

So instead it is warning us about an unstable individual in our midst? To be fair, Bee Movie does have a kind of cult status.

One troubled loner watching the same cartoon every day for a year does not constitute a cult. There’s another person in Spain who has seen it 281 times.

Two still isn’t enough, even if they write to each other. Even before this, Bee Movie was an established internet meme.

I’ll have you know I barely understand what a meme is. Until last month I was still pronouncing it me-me. Let’s just say the film has garnered a measure of ironic affection over the years. People have posted versions where the movie gets faster every time someone says “bee” , or slower, or more pixelated .

Why would they do that? Who knows? The entire screenplay of Bee Movie is also regularly used for shitposting .

Sorry, shitposting? The posting of awkwardly large amounts of mediocre or ironically appropriated content to a social media site for the purposes of annoying everyone.

People do seem to have a lot of free time these days, don’t they? They do indeed.

Do say: “Honestly, I’ve never even seen the whole thing. I just leave it on for the cats when I go to work.”

Don’t say: “When’s Bee Movie 2 coming out?”

Animation in film
Social media
Digital media

Comments (…)

Bee Movie Review

14 Dec 2007

NaN minutes

It’s been nearly a decade since Jerry Seinfeld ended his era-defining namesake show. Since then we’ve barely seen him, apart from the odd commercial, YouTube short or documentary on stand-up (if you have region 1 DVD). Many mistook the public ‘retiring’ of his show for retirement altogether, but the comic did still want to work. Never a fan of his own acting, Seinfeld wanted to a) perform new material, and b) not do it in front of a camera. The answer became obvious, and here we are, with a new animated effort from Dreamworks.

Wisely, we open on a nice piece of natural absurdity. A narrator points out that bees shouldn’t, by any human understanding of aerodynamics or logic, be able to fly, but that bees have never really cared. So we’re happily launched into Barry the Bee’s colourful, impossibility-free life, in a hive full of rollercoaster roads and colourful, vaguely Jetson-like homes. From there, it should be easy.

Bee ventures outside, bee meets girl (human). So far, so good. Bee discovers humans are harvesting honey from bee farms. Bee decides to sue. Cue courtroom drama, visions of slavery and upsetting the delicate balance of the ecosystem among the usual guest voices and pop covers of old songs. A strange brew indeed…

This sprawling tale creates problems with its characters. The more personalities that appear, the less time they have to develop, and it’s testament to the depth of talent in the voice cast that they remain even as memorable as they do. There are many enjoyable games of ‘spot the celeb’ to be had: Chris Rock is instantly recognisable as a mosquito, while those who know Rip Torn’s work will enjoy his ever-likeable presence as a flight commander. Strangely though, it’s the human characters who shine this time. Patrick Warburton – aka Elaine’s mechanic boyfriend Puddy in Seinfeld – is as great as ever, and John Goodman is good value as always, this time as an oily southern lawyer. But it’s Renee Zellweger who deserves special mention, making something out of nothing as Barry’s only human friend, getting by on pure sparkle.

Which brings us to the leading man himself. Initially there concerns whether Seinfeld could shoulder a whole movie, but those are answered early on, as his breezy manner gels with the bright colours and silly shapes. His style is as much a pleasure as ever it was – if you’re familiar with it. But what about the target audience?

Like its competition, Ratatouille, Bee Movie’s biggest hurdle is that it’s pitching to an older market. It’s more a ‘7 and up’ plotline, dense and occasionally dealing with rather sweeping issues. There are child-friendly puns, but it’s also crammed with Seinfeld’s trademark observational humour (making up for his loveable but limited acting range – even vocally). That will keep parents happy; five-and-under’s however, may get a bit antsy in the gaps between the simpler, but no less funny, gags (including a terrific mess-around with Dreamworks’ logo).

There, however, is where the similarities to Pixar’s movie end, and the ground to be caught up by every other animating studio becomes screamingly obvious. In terms of visuals, Bee Movie simply doesn’t cut the honey mustard, with a soulless, dated look. It’s a pity, and yet another reminder of how high the bar on the ol’ cartoons is these days. Don’t let that put you off altogether, but this is more a feast for the ears than the eyes.

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"Every Life Has Value"

What You Need To Know:

(BBB, C, Ro, E, V, M) Very strong moral worldview celebrates the value of life and teaches lessons about gratitude, friendship, working together, and maintaining the balance of nature created by God with a reference to the “sweet Lord of bees” and a Christian character makes the sign of the Cross to ward off trouble, with some light Romantic elements that are overcome by the moral thrust of the movie’s story arc plus some light environmentalist notions that are placed ultimately in the context of maintaining the created balance in nature for the benefit of all; no foul language; plenty of light cartoon violence such as bee bounces several times into window, people try to swat bee, a bee with a helmet is tested to see if he can withstand different levels of swatting, bee falls into avocado dip, car careens into ends of other cars as it weaves by them, bee stuck to tennis ball being hit back and forth, bee stings big rear end of defense lawyer who goads the bee into doing it and then acts like he’s really seriously hurt, and a dead bug is shown on a windshield; no sex scenes or crude comedy, though one character asks woman if bee is her “bed bug,” a one-word offhand remark about “lust,” remarks about bees being cousins and distant cousins, and bee queen with five-o’clock shadow in a poster is called a “drag queen”; no alcohol; no smoking; and, two references to bees being around for 27 million years but the references imply they have been doing the same thing for that long a time so “evolution” is not really implied and a theft helps solve a plot problem but many lives are at stake, so the stealing can be seen in the context of the biblical theory of graded absolutes, which Jesus seems to teach in the New Testament.

More Detail:

BEE MOVIE is brilliantly funny family fun for ages 9 to 90. Envisioned by the very successful Jerry Seinfeld, one of America’s best and relatively cleaner comic geniuses, the movie is a rich, rewarding experience that will brighten up the local multiplex.

The story’s protagonist is Barry B. Benson, voiced by Seinfeld, a young bee looking for more to life than just making honey back in the hive. Barry has just graduated from three days of college (after doing three days in high school and three days in grade school – he says he took off one day to travel around the hive). Now he and his friend, Adam, are considering the inevitable bee career in New Hive City. Barry learns, however, that the job he picks is the job he must stick with throughout his whole life, so he rebels.

Barry jumps at the chance to venture out of the hive with the “pollen jocks” who gather the pollen for making honey. Outside in the strange but vibrant big city, Barry accidentally meets Vanessa, a pretty Manhattan florist voiced by Renée Zellweger, who saves Barry’s life from her hyperactive boyfriend, Ken. Barry is determined to thank Vanessa, so he breaks a cardinal rule of beedom: he talks to her. A friendship quickly develops, but Barry is shocked to learn that any human can buy honey at the local grocery store. With help from Vanessa, he sues the human race for stealing bee honey. His lawsuit regrettably has unintended consequences for the whole world.

BEE MOVIE is a clever piece of first-rate entertainment. Though it doesn’t have quite the painterly quality of some of Disney’s Pixar movies, it has plenty of glorious, colorful animation, exhilarating action, and a great story full of fresh, funny characters we haven’t seen before. There is plenty of comedy and action for children and teenagers, and there is also plenty of sharp wit for mature audiences, including parents and grandparents who want to share a day at the movies with their older children and grandchildren.

BEE MOVIE has several positive messages. Barry’s parents have taught him that, when someone does something for you, you have to thank him. That’s what drives Barry to thank Vanessa for saving his life. Though Barry has Romantic desires (he wants to fulfill his personal wishes), he eventually recognizes that there are limits to those desires. In the end, he discovers there is a created balance to life in which the bees, the humans, and every living thing play an important role. Thus, at the climax of the movie, Barry realizes that, though he has his own individuality, he is part of a species that has an important job to fulfill, a job that can only be accomplished by working together. In fact, it can be said that both the bees and the humans come to realize not only that every living thing plays an important role but also that, as Vanessa puts it early in the movie, “Every life has value.”

The content of BEE MOVIE is fairly pristine and winsome. There is no foul language, graphic violence or crude sexual comedy. There is even a reference to the “sweet Lord of bees” and a nod to Christianity when one character makes the Sign of the Cross. At one point, however, a mean character asks Vanessa if Barry the bee is her “bed bug.” There is also a one-word, off-hand reference to “lust” and brief talk about all the bees being related as cousins or distant cousins. Finally, there is a picture of a bee queen with five o’clock shadow, and Barry jokingly refers to that queen as a “drag queen.” Thus, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children.

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Barry B. Benson, a bee who has just graduated from college, is disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special trip outside the hive, Barry's life is saved by Vanessa, a florist in New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue us.

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

‘Seinfeld’ remains one of the most acclaimed comedies of all time, a lightning-in-a-bottle sitcom that quite literally focused on nothing from week to week. Many subsequent sitcoms have attempted to replicate the cast’s on-screen chemistry, the series’ absurdist tone, and the episode’s multi-plotted structure, but very few have achieved a sliver of ‘Seinfeld’s popularity. Even when the former cast members have taken shots at recreating their success, they’ve only managed to distance themselves further from their fans’ fond memories.

However, series creator Jerry Seinfeld took his time returning to the spotlight after his hit series went off the air. He didn’t attach himself to another television series, he never tried to parry his success into a film career, and he refused to show up for cameos in his former castmates’ fledgling sitcoms. Aside from a small role in the ‘Dilbert’ animated series, a walk-on in an episode of co-creator Larry David’s ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ and an appearance on ’30 Rock’ last year, the standup comedian has spent his days… well, working as a standup comedian. So it was that I had immensely high hopes for 2007’s ‘Bee Movie,’ a DreamWorks production that pulled the “Seinfeld” namesake out of hiding.

Barry A. Benson (Seinfeld) is an average worker bee who dreams of being a part of an elite squadron of Pollen Jocks, brave risk-takers who fly pollen-gathering runs outside of the hive. When a twist of fate gives him the opportunity to join the Jocks on a mission, Barry leaves the confines of his methodical life to discover a world of dangerous humans and vast possibilities. He instantly takes to the freedom and fresh air, losing himself in the moment. Before he knows what’s happening, a mishap with a tennis ball separates him from his squadron and sends him on a series of misadventures through the city. Just as he decides it would be best to return home, a chance encounter with a kind florist named Vanessa (Renee Zellweger) convinces the small bee to break the first law of his world -- don’t talk to humans. His subsequent introductions lead to a quick friendship between the pair as Barry takes up residence in Vanessa’s apartment. However, a visit to a local grocery store reveals a human conspiracy to enslave bees and rob them of their honey for mass consumption. Taking his pleas to court, Barry challenges an American industry, starts a bee revolution, and fights to free his kind from slavery.

If you think my synopsis seems convoluted, you should sit through the film itself. ‘Bee Movie’ is an unfocused melting pot of ideas whose plot could have been spread across three different flicks. Just when Barry’s adventure in the city is gaining momentum and the reclusive world of the bees is becoming intriguing, the film launches into a bizarre romance with a human that feels contrived, underdeveloped, and, quite frankly, a little creepy. Yet before this new relationship can get off the ground, the film abandons everything that has occurred to pit Barry against the world at large. Still unsatisfied with the plot, the filmmakers then offer a trio of conflicting morals that never allow the story to resonate at any level. If we’re supposed to feel for the bees’ plight against slavery, why does Barry’s revolution nearly end with the destruction of plantlife on the planet? For that matter, why does his society react so casually when one of their own breaks their prime directive? It’s these thematic contradictions that hinder ‘Bee Movie’ from really saying anything -- instead of engaging my sensibilities or teaching my young son something valuable, the film confused us both and left us looking for another flick to throw in our Blu-ray player.

Worse still, ‘Bee Movie’ thinks it’s much funnier than it actually is. Whereas the writers at Pixar aim to create timeless laughs and inject a magical sense of awe into their productions, DreamWorks Animation continues to rely on pop culture references and distinctly modern sarcasm. The result is a hit-or-miss comedy that will appeal to some and sail straight over the heads of everyone else. A Larry King parody, a series of Ray Liotta jokes, and a Sting cameo are as predictable as you could imagine and feel dated before they've even reached the screen. About the only thing I laughed at in the film were the references to scenes from classics like ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ ‘The Graduate,’ and ‘War Games.’ The humor didn’t even register with my son. When we watched ‘Bee Movie’ together, he trotted off to play with his toys before the film even reached its half-way point. Since my son sat undeterred through 125 minutes of ‘Speed Racer,’ his reaction to ‘Bee Movie’ was fairly damning.

I’ve read some fairly positive reviews of ‘Bee Movie’ so I know it has an audience out there. Unfortunately, I didn’t laugh at its jokes, enjoy its story, or feel any connection to its characters. Maybe I’m just spoiled by the top-to-bottom quality of Pixar’s new classics, but ‘Bee Movie’ is yet another DreamWorks animated film that left me feeling empty.

Video Review

I may have been disappointed by 'Bee Movie's overcooked plot and dull humor, but I was more than pleased with the gorgeous 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer featured on its high-def debut. The opening scenes in the hive bring with them an onslaught of vibrant primaries, inky blacks, and perfect contrast that never waver or falter. Every bee, near and far, is rendered with the same exacting care as each strand of hair on Barry’s head. The sheer volume of characters and contraptions buzzing around the screen is a testament to the ever-evolving artistry of the studio's animation wizards. Even so, there wasn't a single shot in the hive that could prepare me for the explosion of color and detail that accompanies Barry's exploration of the outside world. If I were so inclined, I could have counted the individual windows on skyscrapers miles away, read every sign in every window in the city, and pointed to individual leaves on distant trees. While I did notice a few brief instances of unintrusive banding, the film's incredibly clean transfer isn't burdened by artifacting, source noise, or other pesky technical issues.

If I can muster a single nitpick of 'Bee Movie's Blu-ray bow it’s that the transfer doesn’t pack the same punch as those featured on last year's Pixar releases. The culprit seems to be the DreamWorks Animation style itself -- the studio's cartoon-flavored aesthetics look slightly flatter since they don't utilize the sort of three-dimensional texturing and subtle lighting that's showcased in ‘Ratatouille’ and ‘Cars.’ While I’m certainly not about to penalize 'Bee Movie's video score for such relatively minor artistic decisions, its transfer didn't floor me to the degree that Pixar’s high-def offerings have. Regardless, this direct digital transfer is a technical showstopper that will dazzle fans and keep every eye, young and old, transfixed.

Audio Review

DreamWorks presents ’Bee Movie’ with a versatile Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track that juggles each flutter and flitter in the soundscape with ease. Dialogue is crisply nestled amongst the front channels, echoes and acoustic elements are a blast to track moving through the soundfield, and high-end sounds are solid and stable. LFE support is selective at times, but altogether aggressive considering the whimsy of the tale -- it pumps extra oomph into the pollen jocks’ wings and plenty of additional menace into the city traffic. The rear speakers also get a workout dealing with crowd noise in the hive, the organic mechanics of the machinery within, and the trails of worker bees rushing through the soundstage. Each component of the soundscape is prioritized perfectly in the mix, never drowning out conversations or neglecting to accurately place a background element in its appropriate location.

Rounding out the experience is a series of naturalistic pans that make it sound as if there’s an additional speaker sitting in the middle of the soundfield. The channels work in tandem to create this illusion of sonic depth and often fooled me into thinking a sound was occurring elsewhere in my home rather than in the film’s soundscape. Sure, ‘Bee Movie’s cartoony atmosphere extends to its sound design -- effects are over-the-top, low-end elements are overemphasized, and ambient noise is less than convincing during quieter scenes -- but this impressive TrueHD track still earned my respect.

Special Features

The Blu-ray edition of ‘Bee Movie’ includes all of the multi-generational supplements from the 2-disc Special Edition DVD -- DreamWorks has even packed in a slew of exclusive bonuses that take full advantage of the format (discussed at length in the next section). Better still, the disc’s video features are presented in high definition. If the supplements were comprised of higher quality content and more extensive material, this would be quite a thorough release.

Audio Commentary -- This roundtable chat finds Jerry Seinfeld delving through the film with directors Steve Hickner and Simon Smith, producer Christina Steinberg, co-writer Barry Marder, and editor Nick Fletcher. Unfortunately, Seinfeld is a bit unfocused and doesn’t keep the discussion as involving as one would hope. For a group commentary, the group spends entirely too much time simply watching the film and making off-hand quips about what’s happening on the screen. I didn’t learn much of anything here and genuinely wish I had spent my time elsewhere.
Lost Scenes and Endings (HD, 20 minutes) -- The three deleted scenes and six alternate endings in this collection of cuts don’t amount to much since they’re presented with rough animatics and storyboards. Audio introductions from Seinfeld don’t help, and the entire feature feels slapped together for the sake of the home video release.
Inside the Hive: The Cast of Bee Movie (HD, 15 minutes) -- Unlike some of the other features on the disc, this behind-the-scenes glimpse into the recording booth is fantastic. It documents the stars and co-stars recording their lines, improvising with each other, and having more fun than the movie itself might suggest. Even casual fans of ‘Bee Movie’ should be sure to watch this one.
TV Juniors (HD, 24 minutes) -- This section offers up fifteen TV shorts that were aired on NBC to promote the film. Each one functions as a brief mockumentary of the pre-production meetings and shenanigans of the filmmakers. Funnier than the film itself and frequently nailing the tone of the ‘Seinfeld’ series, these shorts are another good stop on the disc.
Tech of Bee Movie (HD, 7 minutes) -- This technical featurette takes an all too brief look at the animators at the heart of ‘Bee Movie.’ It’s fairly informative considering its length, but ends before it can gain any momentum or offer any real insight into the production.
Live Action Trailers (HD, 4 minutes) -- What can I say… these “trailers” involve Seinfeld in a bee costume promoting the film. They’re desperate and offer little information about the film itself, but they’re amusing nonetheless. In the end, whether you enjoy Seinfeld’s humor or not, a surprise cameo from legendary director Steven Spielberg makes these promos worth a watch.
Jerry’s Flight Over Cannes (HD, 3 minutes) -- This uneventful quickie sees Seinfeld climb back into his bee suit to pull a trite publicity stunt at the Cannes film festival.
Meet Barry B. Benson -- Sigh. I can’t imagine a more worthless feature. Even my young son was bored with the actual results of this interactive Q&A. After selecting a question, a film clip plays that delivers an impersonal answer. I at least expected the producers to use content specifically made for the home video release, but apparently that would have taken too much time.
Music Video (HD, 2 minutes) -- A send up of “We Got the Beat” called “We Got the Bee” is as awful as it sounds. This music video jams film clips together with a group of kids in New York for painfully dull results.
DreamWorks Animation Video Jukebox -- Another senseless waste of disc space comes in the form of this collection of clips from other DreamWorks animated features (including the ‘Shrek’ films, ‘Madagascar,’ ‘Over the Hedge,’ and more).
DreamWorks Kids -- This section has some activities for the kiddies but, unlike the interactive Q&A feature, this one gave my son more to enjoy. It includes a Build-A-Bee Avatar creator, two educational featurette about real bees, and a bee trivia game.
Trailers (HD, 5 minutes) -- A collection of previews for ‘Kung Fu Panda,’ ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles,’ and ‘Madagascar 2: The Crate Escape.’

Final Thoughts

I’m a huge fan of animation so I expect a lot when it comes to animated features. Sadly, ‘Bee Movie’ is a pretentious parade of sarcasm, dull pop culture references, and convoluted plotlines that didn’t resonate with me or my son. Thankfully, the Blu-ray edition of the film offers fans a more reliable experience. It boasts a gorgeous video transfer, a powerful TrueHD audio track, and a seemingly endless stream of special features, many of which are exclusive to this release. In the end, your interest in ‘Bee Movie’ should fall squarely on the shoulders of the film itself -- if you haven’t watched this DreamWorks production, be sure to give it a rent before making a purchase based on the merits of the high-def presentation.

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Bee Movie Review

Bee Movie Poster

This weekend, I was hanging out with my roommates, and we decided to watch Bee Movie . It first came out back in 2007, and I hadn’t seen it since then. While I greatly enjoyed the film this time around, I have to say that I noticed that the movie is wildly inaccurate. I’m sure that these scientific slips were for the sake of the story, and that the writers figured that since the film was meant for kids, not beekeepers. However, I’m still going to go through them and set the record straight.

What They Got Wrong

Let’s start with the most obvious one (aside from bees wearing clothes): Barry is said to be a worker bee. This is impossible, as he is a male. Drones do little to no work around the hive, as their sole purpose in life is to procreate. This also leads me to the fact that Barry has a stinger, as do all of the other bees in his hive. Drones do not have stingers – that particular piece of anatomy is reserved for female bees.

Now let’s talk about worker bees. We’ve already established that worker bees are females, so let’s move on to how their jobs work. In Bee Movie , a bee graduates and then chooses the job that it is going to do for the rest of its life. In actuality, a worker bee’s job is dependent upon her age. They start out as cleaners, then after a couple of days they become nurses, then builders, then guards, then foragers.

Bees out on a foraging trip

Speaking of foragers, there was a glaring error in the foraging scene. The bees are shown to be collecting nectar and pollen from a variety of flowers on their trip. In reality, the bees would only collect from one type at a time, making sure that they had pollinated all of the flowers of that kind before moving onto the next kind.

Rewinding to the opening line of the movie, the narrator says, “According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway, because bees don’t care what humans think is impossible.” Firstly, this idea pertains only to bumblebees. Secondly, a study has shown that bumblebees do not actually defy the laws of physics to fly – scientists were simply comparing their flight to that of birds or planes, which use far more rigid wings. I’ll allow that particular error to slip, though, since that study was in 2009, two years after the movie came out.

What They Got Right

We’ve talked a lot about what this movie got wrong, so let’s discuss what they got right. Firstly, Barry’s relationship to the other bees in the hive is brought up a couple of times. Early in the movie, Barry tells his friend Adam that all of the bees in the hive are cousins. This is somewhat true, though the bees would be more along the lines of half-siblings. A queen will mate with many drones from other hives, and then lay her eggs back in her own hive. Therefore, all of the female bees will have the same mother, but different fathers. Since drones develop from unfertilized eggs, they are full brothers.

Bee Movie was able to break down and simplify the idea of the workings of a hive, where bees all work together for the good of the whole. The quote that really stood out to me was “Every small job, if done well, means a lot.” Worker bees have a lot of jobs, and while they may all seem small, they all contribute towards the hive’s health.

The subject of stings was also discussed. The bees talked about how a classmate of theirs had died because he had stung a squirrel, and that “everyone knows: you sting someone, you die.” This is a great message to send to kids, because it helps them to understand that bees don’t want to sting them, and will only do so if they really need to in order to protect their hive.

Barry B. Benson

The biggest thing that this movie got right was the scope of what would happen if bees were to disappear. When the bees got all of their honey back and went on “vacation,” all of the flowers, trees and crops began to die. There was an imminent food shortage, and many people’s livelihoods are at risk. If we were to lose bees, this is what would happen, and it would be far grimmer, because they wouldn’t just be taking a break. This is the part that made me really like this movie. The rest of it was cute and fun, but I wasn’t quite sure what the message was supposed to be up until this point.

Final Thoughts

So, to sum up: is this movie scientifically accurate? Not by a long shot. It is, however, a fun movie that has a great message – bees are critical to our livelihood, and we need to do everything in our power to protect them. By gearing this movie toward children, the filmmakers found a way for kids to become aware of the issues surrounding bees, and to inspire a new generation of future beekeepers.

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, akeelah. a-k-e-e-l-a-h. akeelah.

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Akeelah Anderson can spell. She can spell better than anyone in her school in South Central Los Angeles, and she might have a chance at the nationals. Who can say? She sees the National Spelling Bee on ESPN and is intrigued. But she is also wary, because in her school there is danger in being labeled a "brainiac," and it's wiser to keep your smarts to yourself. This is a tragedy in some predominantly black schools: Excellence is punished by the other students, possibly as an expression of their own low self-esteem.

The thing with Akeelah ( Keke Palmer ) is that she can spell, whether she wants to or not. Beating time with her hand against her thigh as sort of a metronome, she cranks out the letters and arrives triumphantly at the words. No, she doesn't have a photographic memory, nor is she channeling the occult as the heroine of " Bee Season " does.

She's just a good speller.

The story of Akeelah's ascent to the finals of the National Spelling Bee makes an uncommonly good movie, entertaining and actually inspirational, and with a few tears along the way. Her real chance at national success comes after a reluctant English professor agrees to act as her coach. This is Dr. Joshua Larabee ( Laurence Fishburne ), on a leave of absence after the death of his daughter. Coaching her is a way out of his own shell. And for Fishburne, it's a reminder of his work in " Searching for Bobby Fischer " (1993), another movie where he coached a prodigy.

Akeelah is mocked not only at school. Her own mother is against her. Tanya Anderson ( Angela Bassett ) has issues after the death of her husband, and values Akeelah's homework above all else, including silly afterschool activities like spelling bees. Akeelah practices in secret, and after she wins a few bees even the tough kids in the neighborhood start cheering for her.

Keke Palmer, a young Chicago actress whose first role was as Queen Latifah's niece in "Barbershop 2," becomes an important young star with this movie. It puts her in Dakota Fanning and Flora Cross territory, and there's something about her poise and self-possession that hints she will grow up to be a considerable actress. The movie depends on her, and she deserves its trust.

So far I imagine "Akeelah and the Bee" sounds like a nice but fairly conventional movie. What makes it transcend the material is the way she relates to the professor, and to two fellow contestants: a Mexican-American named Javier (J.R. Villarreal) and an Asian American named Dylan ( Sean Michael Afable ). Javier, who lives with his family in the upscale Woodland Hills neighborhood, invites Akeelah to his birthday party (unaware of what a long bus trip it involves). Dylan, driven by an obsessive father, treats the spelling bee like life-and-death, and takes no hostages. Hearing his father berate him, Akeelah feels an instinctive sympathy. And as for Javier's feelings for Akeelah, at his party, he impulsively kisses her.

"Why'd you do that?" she asks him.

"I had an impulse. Are you gonna sue me for sexual harassment?"

The sessions between Akeelah and the professor are crucial to the film, because he is teaching her not only strategy but how to be willing to win. No, he doesn't use self-help cliches. He is demanding, uncompromising, and he tells her again and again: "Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." This quote, often attributed to Nelson Mandela, is actually from Marianne Williamson, but no less true for Akeelah (the movie does not attribute it).

Now I am going to start dancing around the plot. Something happens during the finals of the National Bee that you are not going to see coming, and it may move you as deeply as it did me. I've often said it's not sadness that touches me the most in a movie, but goodness. Under enormous pressure, at a crucial moment, Akeelah does something good. Its results I will leave you to discover. What is ingenious about the plot construction of writer-director Doug Atchison is that he creates this moment so that we understand what's happening, but there's no way to say for sure. Even the judges sense or suspect something. But Akeelah, improvising in the moment and out of her heart, makes it air-tight. There is only one person who absolutely must understand what she is doing, and why -- and he does.

This ending answers one of my problems with spelling bees, and spelling bee movies. It removes winning as the only objective. Vince Lombardi was dead wrong when he said, "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing" (a quote, by the way, first said not by Lombardi but in the 1930s by UCLA coach Henry " Red " Sanders -- but since everybody thinks Lombardi said it, he won, I guess). The saying is mistaken because to win for the wrong reason or in the wrong way is to lose. Something called sportsmanship is involved.

In our winning-obsessed culture, it is inspiring to see a young woman like Akeelah Anderson instinctively understand, with empathy and generosity, that doing the right thing involves more than winning. That's what makes the film particularly valuable for young audiences. I don't care if they leave the theater wanting to spell better, but if they have learned from Akeelah, they will want to live better.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

Rated PG for some language

112 minutes

Keke Palmer as Akeelah Anderson

Angela Bassett as Tanya Anderson

Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Joshua Larabee

Curtis Armstrong as Mr. Welch

J.R. Villarreal as Javier

Sahara Garey as Georgia

Sean Michael Afable as Dylan

Erica Hubbard as Kiana Anderson

Written and directed by

Doug Atchison

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An Analysis of the Film Bee Movie and Multispecies Theory

Exploring multispecies interactions of the honeybee and its anthropomorphic film representation.

Lilly Elrod Editorial

Multispecies theory is applicable to a multitude of formats for analysis. In this essay, the film Bee Movie is analyzed for its purpose in multispecies studies and how it can be used to understand the function of the bee outside of the film. Multispecies theory suggests a new form of viewing the world, of being attentive to those around you that might not warrant a second thought, like an annoying bee buzzing around your head. It asks us to analyze the interactions we see around us on a day-to-day basis and how the world functions around these interactions. This essay analyzes the interactions in Bee Movie and how they might translate to real-life interactions made by bees. This essay analyzes how bees interact with the hive, flowers, and various other parts of the world around them in their daily lives and how these interactions shape not only the lives of humans, but other species as well.

Bee Movie. Directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner, performances by Jerry Seinfeld,Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, and John Goodman, Paramount Pictures, 2007.

“Bee Movie.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 2 Nov. 2007, www.imdb.com/title/tt0389790/

“Colony Collapse Disorder | US EPA - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.” Epa.Gov, 2023, www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/colony-collapse-disorder.

Danforth, Bryan. “Bees.” Current Biology, vol. 17, no. 5, 2007, pp. R156-R161.

Ebert, Roger. “Bee Movie Movie Review & Film Summary (2007): Roger Ebert.” Bee Movie Movie Review & Film Summary (2007) |Roger Ebert, 1 Nov. 2007, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bee-movie-2007#:~:text=We%20learn%20at%20the%20outset,pull%20if%20off%2C%20she%20could.

Haraway, Donna Jeanne. “Introductions.” When Species Meet, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2007, pp. 1–42.

“Honeybee.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, inc., 20 Oct. 2023, http://www.britannica.com/animal/honeybee .

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Escape from Germany

1939, Hitler's army was closing borders, and eighty-five American missionaries were in Germany serving their church. The escape of these missionaries from Nazi Germany is one of the most dra... Read all 1939, Hitler's army was closing borders, and eighty-five American missionaries were in Germany serving their church. The escape of these missionaries from Nazi Germany is one of the most dramatic events to occur in modern church history. 1939, Hitler's army was closing borders, and eighty-five American missionaries were in Germany serving their church. The escape of these missionaries from Nazi Germany is one of the most dramatic events to occur in modern church history.