History Literature / MayatheBee

* CanadaEh: Saban's English dub was recorded in Montreal, and it shows in the voice actors' accents. The same voice actor stable was used for various other Saban and [[Creator/CookieJarEntertainment Cinar/Cookie Jar]] productions.

* DolledUpInstallment: ''Maya the Bee & Her Friends'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor was originally going to be released as a ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' game. Development for the latter was complete and ready to be [[UsefulNotes/BetaTest released to manufacturing]], complete with magazine ads and all, but days before it was going to be sent to Nintendo for approval, series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker pulled the plug on the release as they felt that a ''South Park'' game for a platform owned mostly by children would be [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids crossing the line]]. The ''South Park'' / ''Maya'' codebase would later be reused in ''[[Creator/MaryKateAndAshleyOlsen The New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley]]''. The ''Maya'' game was released as it was only in Europe.

** The CGI reboot uses the Karel Gott version sung by Helene Fischer while the other dubs used the Studio 100 theme. The French/Walloon release of the first movie actually used the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5ETrrgdsAY Karel Gott version performed by Jenifer.]]

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1418_1252.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320: Willy and Maya.]]

''"Maja Maja"''\\
''"Maja Maja"''\\
''"Maja, erzähle uns von Dir"''[[note]]"We meet our friend bee Maja today" "This little cheeky bee Maja" "Maja, everyone loves Maja" "Maja Maja" "Maja Maja" "Maja, tell us about yourself"[[/note]]

* NowWhichOneWasThatVoice: The voice actor's names for the South African English dub are unknown as they were never listed in the credits.

A well-loved German children's book created by Waldemar Bonsels, which was made into multiple {{animated adaptation}}s, as well as a live action film. [[WTHCastingAgency "Starring" live insects]].

* 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.[[note]]In the Japanese release of the anime, both Mayas were voiced by adult females impersonating children, as was [[Creator/MasakoNozawa Willy]]. Both English dubs have Maya played by an adult female and Willy by an adult male.[[/note]] Gulli's'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.

A well-loved German book created by Waldemar Bonsels, which was made into multiple {{animated adaptation}}s, as well as a live action film. [[WTHCastingAgency "Starring" live insects]].

A new Maya cartoon with 3D rendered graphics aired in 2012 for 143 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 on March 2017 and Belgium the follow months. The English dub of season 2 began airing in the UK September 2017.

** In Italy, the anime received [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJJb8e8ockI a new theme song]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdWqmwiXATU three new]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0seBtrJQKnw songs]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI-_tRxNKKA for the credits.]]

''"Maja, erzähle uns von Dir"''[[note]]"We meet our friend bee Maja today" "This little cheeky bee Maja" "Maja, all love Maja" "Maja Maja" "Maja Maja" "Maja, tell us about you"[[/note]]

A well-loved German book created by Waldemar Bonsels, which was made into multiple {{animated adaptation}}s, as well as a live action film. [[WTHCastingAgency Starring live insects]].

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Both the anime and CGI series ignore the fact that drones are eventually kicked out of the hive by the workers or die when mating with the queen, and instead have them working with the females.

** Colonel Paul and his army consists of male ants and only male ants. In real life, the females, much like bees, do all the heavy work. A male ant's job is to mate with the queen then die.

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: The book ends with Maya returning to the hive and staying there after the queen requests her to do so. While Season 1 of the anime ends in a similar way to the book, the anime's 2nd season has Maya once again living in the meadow ([[RetCon though it's never explained why]]), and in the last episode, the queen once again asks Maya to return to help around the hive, but after seeing how much Maya misses her friends in the meadow, the queen gives her permission to return to the meadow and live there permanently with Willy and the other insects.

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: The book ends with Maya returning to the hive and staying there after the queen requests her to do so. While Season 1 of the anime ends in a similar way to the book, the anime's 2nd season has Maya once again living in the meadow ([[Retcon though it's never explained why]]), and in the last episode, the queen once again asks Maya to return to help around the hive, but after seeing how much Maya misses her friends in the meadow, the queen gives her permission to return to the meadow and live there permanently with Willy and the other insects.

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: The book ends with Maya returning to the hive and staying there after the queen requests her to do so. Season 1 of the anime ends in a similar way. However, in the anime's 2nd season, Maya is once again living in the meadow ([[ContinuitySnarl though it's never explained why]]), and in the last episode of season 2, the queen once again asks Maya to return to help around the hive. But after seeing how much Maya misses her friends in the meadow, the queen gives her permission to return to the meadow and live there permanently with Willy and the other insects.

A third movie, ''The Golden Orb'', was originally intended to be released in [[https://www.studio100film.com/en/films/maya-the-bee-3/ 2020]], but due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic, it was held back and instead released in 2021.

The South African English dub[[note]]As opposed to 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.]]