Maya the Bee


Maya the Bee is the main character in The Adventures of Maya the Bee, a German book written by Waldemar Bonsels and published in 1912. The book has been published in many other languages and adapted into different media.
The stories revolve around a little bee named Maya and her friends Willy the bee, Flip the grasshopper, Mrs. Cassandra, and many other insects and other creatures. The book depicts Maya's development from an adventurous youngster to a responsible adult member of bee society.

Plot

Bonsels' original book contains fewer than 200 pages. The storyline is centered on the relation of Maya and her many adventures.
Maya is a bee born in a bee hive during internal unrest: the hive is dividing itself into two new colonies. Maya is raised by her teacher, Mrs. Cassandra. Despite Mrs. Cassandra's warnings, Maya wants to explore the wide world and commits the unforgivable crime of leaving the hive. During her adventures, Maya, now in exile, befriends other insects and braves dangers with them. In the climax of the book, Maya is taken prisoner by hornets, the bees' sworn enemies.
Prisoner of the hornets, Maya learns of a hornet plan to attack her native hive. Maya is faced with the decision to either return to hive and suffer her due punishment, saving the hive, or leaving the plan unannounced, saving herself but destroying the hive. After severe pondering, she makes the decision to return. In the hive, she announces the coming attack and is, totally unexpectedly, pardoned. The forewarned bees triumph over the hornet attack force. Maya, now a heroine of the hive, becomes a teacher like Mrs. Cassandra and shares her experiences and wisdom with the future generation.

Analysis of the book

It has been suggested that the book may have carried a political message, analogous to Jean de La Fontaine's or Ivan Krylov's work. According to this view, Maya represents the ideal citizen, and the beehive represents a well-organised militarist society. It has also elements of nationalism and speciesism. Maya gets angry in two instances. First, a grasshopper fails to distinguish between bees and wasps. Maya's verbal response includes calling the wasps "a useless gang of bandits" that have no "home or faith" . Second, a fly calls Maya an idiot, which prompts Maya to shout that she's going to teach "respect for bees" and to threaten the fly with her stinger. The critic interprets this to mean that respect is based on the threat of violence. Collectivism versus individualism is also a theme. Maya's independence and departure from the beehive is seen as reproachable, but it is atoned by her warning of the hornets' attack. This show of loyalty restores her position in the society. In the hornet attack part of the story, the bees' will to defend the hive and the heroic deaths of bee officers are glorified, often in overtly militarist tones.
In the post-WWII adaptations, the militarist element was toned down considerably, the hornets' role reduced, and the character of Willy, a lazy and quite un-warlike drone bee, was introduced. In the cartoon series, the briskly marching, but ridiculously incompetent ant armies provide a parody of militarism.

Main characters

1924 film

German director Wolfram Junghans made a 1924 silent version. It was restored in 2005 and released on DVD in 2012, with a new musical score.

1975 anime

Perhaps the most popular and widely known adaptation of the story is the Japanese anime Maya the Honey Bee. Originally aired on Japanese TV in 1975, the anime has been dubbed into 42 languages and screened on television in various territories, including China, South Korea, Australia, Austria, Germany, Ireland, the United States, South Africa, Peru, Portugal, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Croatia, Chile, Israel, Italy, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, Spain, Serbia, Finland, Poland, Ecuador, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Lebanon and Iran. The Japanese TV series was preceded by Tokyo Kodomo Club's musical play based on the short story, presented as Mitsubachi Māya, distributed on a LP album.
The original theme was composed by Karel Svoboda and sung by Karel Gott in the German, Czech and Slovak versions; Zbigniew Wodecki in the Polish version.

2012 TV series

In 2012 Studio 100 Animation produced a 78-episode, 13-minute TV series. The series was rendered in 3D CGI animation. A second 52 episode season aired in 2017.

Film series

A 2014 film adaptation based upon the 2012 series was released. In 2018, a sequel to the 2014 film, titled , released on March 1, 2018 in Germany and May 1, 2018 in United States.

Stage performances

Opera

Maya the Bee also served as the basis for a children's opera written by the Croatian composer Bruno Bjelinski in 1963. In 2008 it was staged in Villach, Austria as part of their Carinthian Summer Music Festival. This performance was distinguished by having the "bees" played by children and not professional opera singers as it is usually the case.

Puppet musical

Singer-songwriter Nancy Harrow created a jazz-musical version of the story, called The Adventures of Maya the Bee, that featured puppets by Zofia Czechlewska. Harrow's adaptation was produced in New York City by The Culture Project in 2000, and was revived in 2012.

Musical

On October 10, 2016, Belgian company Studio 100 created a Flemish stage musical called "Maya en de Pollenbollen" based on the 2012 series that has the people dressed in costumes for the characters from the show. The show contains songs made by Studio 100 with a few news songs created exclusively for the show. The musical centers around Maya alongside Flip and Beatrice celebrating Willy's birthday.

Video games

Developed by Crawfish, published by Acclaim. Originally developed as a South Park themed game before being reskinned.
Developed by Neon Studios, published by Acclaim.
Developed by Kiloo and co-published by Plan-B Media.
Developed by Shin'en Multimedia, published by Acclaim.
Developed by Shin'en Multimedia, published by Midway.
The Bee Game is an adventure video game released for Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance, developed by German studio Independent Arts Software. The game lets players experience the adventures of Maya the Bee and her friend Willie as they search for their friends, lost from a strong storm that has blown through Corn Poppy Meadow.
Developed by Studio 100, published by Bandai Namco Games Europe.
Mobile racing game. Developed by Midnight Pigeon in cooperation with Studio 100.

Merchandising

Many companies contributed worldwide to the success of the character by producing and selling merchandising. Most of them were drawn between 1976 and 1986 by the French licensed characters specialist André Roche. His works have included motifs for textiles, porcelain, books, comics and games, including a campaign for Kinder Surprise Eggs.