History Literature / MayatheBee

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Episode 35 of the CGI series had to be pulled from Creator/{{Netflix}} due to [[https://starcasm.net/photos-penis-drawing-found-in-maya-the-bee-animated-kids-series-on-netflix/ a rogue animator sneaking in a carving of a penis inside a hollow stump.]]

* AbsenteeActor:
** Willy is surprisingly nowhere to be seen in the episodes "Vote For Me!" and "Dung Ball Drama". No explanation is given for his absence either.
** Miss Cassandra doesn't appear at all in "The Honey Games".

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Episode 35 of the CGI series had to be pulled from Creator/{{Netflix}} due to [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-childrens-show-producer-says-penis-drawing-was-very-bad-joke-one-artist-1042147 a rogue animator sneaking in a carving of a penis inside a hollow stump.]]

* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIhXLH179D8 Willy has a very laid back character theme]] in foreign versions of the original anime compared to the Japanese and American dub.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThVWgfQx-MI Flip has his own character theme (Not present in the original Japanese version) which he sang in the first episode of the anime.]]

* ThemeTuneCameo: In one [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wsYkE-NLOyI German trailer for the sequel]] by Studio 100. A male lightning bug can be heard humming the German theme song by Karel Gott before starting a race.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

''The Adventures of Maya the Bee'' (''Die Biene Maja und ihre Abenteuer'') follows the life of Maya, a honeybee, and her numerous adventures. Other adaptations add more characters that were not present in the original book, such as Maya's friends Willy, also a honeybee, and Flip, a grasshopper.

''The Adventures of Maya the Bee'' (''Die Biene Maja und ihre Abenteuer'') follows the life of Maya, a honeybee, and her friends Willy, also a honeybee, and Flip, a grasshopper.

* FourLeggedInsect: Just look at the page image. But Flip has four hands and two legs and it's even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in one episode of the new CGI cartoon.
* FunnyAnimal: For the most part, insects walk around as bipeds and act just like humans. Some of them even wear clothes. BeePeople, in a way.

A third movie, currently titled ''The Golden Orb'', will be released sometime in [[https://www.studio100film.com/en/films/maya-the-bee-3/ 2021]], and a web series is in [[http://kidscreen.com/2017/08/30/maya-the-bee-gets-master-toy-partner/ development]]

On October 2016, Studio 100 created a musical based on the CGI series called "Maya en de Pollenbollen" (''Maya and the Pollen Bulbs'') starring Maya, Willy, Flip, Beatrice, and Thekla. The musical involved Maya, Flip, and Beatrice planning a surprised birthday party for Willy. However, the musical was only shown in the Flemish regions of Belgium. The same musical later had it's second run in the Fall of 2017.

* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: There are four different theme songs to each incarnation when the series got an animated adaptation.
** The Karel Gott theme present in every version of the anime except the America, Italian, Arabic, and Japanese versions. The Arabic version uses a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMWtRU0r3qo shorter version of the song in old promotional material on VHS tapes.]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** In "Roll on the Holidays", Flip can be seen holding his [[https://youtu.be/vZKyGEbaBUw?t=402 head]] the morning after a party, implying he has a hangover.
** In "Love Struck," Kurt tells the Queen [[https://youtu.be/_fHPwDs_EWc?list=PLMYCgmZvQyZYJf6YXh5ItyedFaWLT3x7N&t=384 "Listen to your pheromones."]] While there are different kinds of pheromones, the fact that he is in love with her at the time, it's clear which [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_pheromone kind]] he is talking about...
** [[http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/23/maya-the-bee-creators-speak-out-after-penis-appears-in-netflix-kids-show-it-was-a-bad-joke-6951101/ Read this]] and you'll know why Netflix had to remove an episode from its service.

In Fall 2014, Creator/Studio100 (the current rights holders) released a film starring the character called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faxsvLsBdOE "Maya The Bee: The Movie"]] which was released in Germany on September 11, 2014, with an English version released in Australia on November 1, 2014, and in the U.S. (direct-to-video) on May 19, 2015. At some point in 2015, the film was made freely available to stream for members of Amazon Prime and has since garnered a massive amount of positive attention. The movie aired on Creator/{{Sprout}} that summer, followed by the TV series in September. On October 2016, Studio 100 created a musical based on the CGI series called "Maya en de Pollenbollen" (Maya and the Pollen Bulbs) starring Maya, Willy, Flip, Beatrice, and Thekla. However, the musical was only shown in the Flemish regions of Belgium.

The animated ''The Adventures of Maya the Honeybee'' is probably the best-known incarnation. It was originally created in Japan between 1975 and 1979 with a total of 104 episodes over two series with 52 episodes each, but [[NoExportForYou only 55]] of these were ever broadcast in North America during its run in the early [[TheNineties 90s]] (with 45 the episodes in the dub from the first series and 10 from the second). The series itself has been dubbed into over 40 languages all around the world and has even spawned a number of video games.

A new Maya cartoon with 3D rendered graphics aired in 2014 for 78 episodes of 13 minutes each, with Creator/AndreaLibman in the title role. [[http://www.studio100animation.net/series/maye-the-bee/ Another season]] consisting of 52 episodes began airing in France March 2017. The English dub of season 2 began airing in the UK September 2017.

A third movie, currently titled ''The Golden Orb'', will be released sometime in [[https://www.studio100film.com/en/films/maya-the-bee-3/ 2020]], and a web series is in [[http://kidscreen.com/2017/08/30/maya-the-bee-gets-master-toy-partner/ development]]

** The CGI reboot uses the Karel Gott version sung by Helene Fischer while the other dubs used the Studio 100 theme.

[[caption-width-right:320: It's going down.]]

* VagueAge: While Maya and Willy are stated to be babies or children, they have the appearance of a young adult or a preteen child. Doesn't help that in Germany, Maya is voiced by a young girl in every incarnation of the series, while Willy is voiced by a grown male. Tiji's website says that [[https://www.gulli.fr/Chaine-TV/Dessins-animes/Maya-l-Abeille/Personnages#Maya Maya is 8]], but this has never been stated in the series, so whether it's true or not is hard to say. The fact that they are insects who may avert HumanlikeAnimalAging further complicates the case.

* VagueAge: While Maya and Willy are stated to be babies or children, they have the appearance of a young adult or a preteen child. Doesn't help that in Germany, Maya is voiced by a young girl in every incarnation of the series, while Willy is voiced by a grown male. Tiji's website says that [[http://www.tiji.fr/Heros/Maya-L-Abeille/Personnages Maya is 7]], but this has never been stated in the series, so whether it's true or not is hard to say. The fact that they are insects who may avert HumanlikeAnimalAging further complicates the case.

In Fall 2014, Creator/Studio100 (the current rights holders) released a film starring the character called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faxsvLsBdOE "Maya The Bee: The Movie"]] which was released in Germany on September 11, 2014, with an English version released in Australia on November 1, 2014, and in the U.S. (direct-to-video) on May 19, 2015. At some point in 2015, the film was made freely available to stream for members of Amazon Prime and has since garnered a massive amount of positive attention. The movie aired on Creator/{{Sprout}} that summer, followed by the TV series in September.

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Most of the dubs for the anime uses the German soundtrack and background music. While the original Japanese version is mostly quiet and had some emotional music when things got pretty terrible. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhAbLGKmdkU Even the Japanese intro and credits sounded more cute and relaxing]] compared to the Jazz and orchestrated music used for the credits and intro in most versions of the anime. The original Japanese audio is kept in the Arabic dub.

The British dub[[note]]As opposed to the Saban's original U.S. dub[[/note]] can now be seen on Amazon Instant Video in the U.S. All of the shows episodes are available. [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwQyoTjGiCPvQuREgcSgX_JDmOC3_yIaP The episodes can also be viewed here.]]

* InNameOnly: The movie and the book embrace the exact opposite themes. The movie has an [[ControlFreak order obsessed villain]] in place of of having Maya learn conformity, parodies militarism instead of glorifying it and the main theme is about opposing speciesism and embracing open borders as opposed to promoting racist ideals.

* CarnivoresAreMean: As part of CarnivoreConfusion.