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Maya the Bee
Maya the Bee Movie.png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Alexs Stadermann
Produced by Barbara Stephen
Thorsten Wegener
Written by Fin Edquist
Marcus Sauermann
Starring
Music by Ute Engelhardt
Editing by Adam Smith
Studio
  • Studio 100 Film
  • Buzz Studios
  • Fish Blowing Bubbles
  • Flying Bark Productions
  • Screen Australia
Distributed by StudioCanal
Universum Film (Germany)
Release date(s) 4 September 2014 (2014-09-04) (South Korea)
11 September 2014 (2014-09-11) (Germany)
1 November 2014 (2014-11-01) (Australia)
Running time 87 minutes
Country
  • Germany
  • Australia
Language
  • English
Money made $14,361,000

Maya the Bee (promoted theatrically as Maya the Bee Movie) is a 2014 3D German-Australian computer-animated comedy adventure film directed by Alexs Stadermann, loosely based on the 1975 anime Maya the Honey Bee as well as indirectly the German children's book The Adventures of Maya the Bee by Waldemar Bonsels. 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. It was released theatrically in Australia on 1 November 2014, and also in United States and Canada on 8 March 2015.

Summary

Maya is born in a world of rules, but when she discovers villainous Buzzlina Von Beena's plot to steal the Queen's royal jelly, Maya is banished from the hive and into the meadow. With her best friend Willy tagging along, Maya meets a young hornet named Sting. Together they have to stop the plot and the fight between the bees and the hornets before it's too late.

Voice cast

  • Coco Jack Gillies as Maya, a cute and tomboyish young bee girl.
  • Kodi Smit-McPhee as Willy, 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 teacher at the bee school and Maya's mother figure
  • Jacki Weaver 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
  • 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, a spider
  • Stavroula Mountzouris as Lara, a ladybug, Willy's love interest
  • Sam Haft as Drago, a dragonfly
  • Andrea Libman as Toad, a Frog (Uncredited)
  • Rebecca Shoichet as Bats, Some Flying Bats (Uncredited)

Production

Animation World Network announced in May 2013 that Universum Film 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; Jim Ballantine and Barbara Stephen from Buzz Studios. The film was produced in association with Flying Bark Productions and ZDF. This film was Julia Sawalha film debut as she voiced the role of Maya. Gillies was 9 years old at the time of production.

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

Sequel

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: La abeja Maya (película) para niños

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