Film: Bee Movie

"Bee Movie" Background Notes

From creator Jerry Seinfeld comes “Bee Movie,” a comedy that will change everything you thought you knew about bees.

Take a closer look at the world of these busy creatures through the eyes of one bee in particular — Barry B. Benson (Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jerry Seinfeld).

A recent college graduate, Barry wants more out of life than the inevitable career that awaits him and every other worker in New Hive City —a job at Honex producing honey. Barry jumps at the chance to venture out of the hive, and soon encounters a world beyond his wildest dreams. When Barry inadvertently meets a spirited Manhattan florist named Vanessa (Oscar® winner Renée Zellweger), he breaks one of the cardinal rules of beedom — he talks to her.

A friendship quickly develops, and Barry gets a crash course in the ways of the human race. When he discovers that anyone can buy honey right off the grocery store shelf, he is shocked that people are stealing the bees’ unique creation and making money from it. Outraged, he decides to avenge this injustice by suing the human race.

“Bee Movie” is Seinfeld’s first venture into feature animation, a labor of love for the acclaimed stand-up comedian, who not only voices the central character but also co-wrote the screenplay and serves as producer.

Joining Seinfeld and Zellweger is a voice cast of stellar comic talents. Matthew Broderick (“Deck the Halls,” “The Producers”) plays Adam Flayman, Barry’s best friend and fellow classmate, who is content to live his life the Honex way. John Goodman (“Cars,” “Monsters, Inc.”) brings the loquacious, powerful and morally challenged Southern attorney Layton T. Montgomery to life. Chris Rock (“Madagascar,” “The Longest Yard”) is Mooseblood the mosquito, a colorful insect with a singular take on insect life, whom Barry meets on a windshield during his travels into the human world.

Patrick Warburton (“Open Season,” “Chicken Little”) plays Vanessa’s aggressive tennis partner and would-be boyfriend, Ken. Oscar® winner Kathy Bates (“Charlotte’s Web,” “Failure to Launch”) and Oscar®-winning filmmaker Barry Levinson are Barry’s doting parents, Janet and Martin Benson, who are taken aback by their son’s rebelliousness.

Additional performers include Megan Mullally (“Will & Grace”), Larry Miller (“The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement”) and Rip Torn (“Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story”) as, respectively, Honex tour guide Trudy; Dean Buzzwell of Winger University, Barry’s alma mater; and Lou Lo Duca, the leader of the select squadron of Top Gunners known as the Pollen Jocks.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Presents, in Association with Columbus 81 Productions, “Bee Movie,” which will be distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Patrick Warburton, Barry Levinson, Megan Mullally, Larry Miller and Rip Torn.

The film is directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner and written by Jerry Seinfeld and Spike Feresten & Barry Marder & Andy Robin. “Bee Movie” is produced by Jerry Seinfeld and Christina Steinberg. The music is by Rupert Gregson-Williams. This movie has been rated PG for mild suggestive humor.

"Bee Movie" Index

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2007 Film Entertainment Magazine / EMOL.org. All rights reserved.

Film Entertainment Magazine

Bee Movie (2007)
Starring: Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger Director: Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith

Barry B. Benson (Seinfeld), 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 (Zellweger), a florist in New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue us. Find out more about Bee Movie

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