Maya the Bee (film)

Maya is a young bee, who does not like to follow the rules of the hive. One rule is to not trust any hornets that live beyond the meadow. The Royal Jelly is stolen, and the hornets are suspected to be the ones who have stolen it, with Maya as the suspect accomplice. Nobody in the hive believes that she is innocent, and nobody except for her best friend Willy stands by her. They journey to the hive of the hornets, and Maya and Willy discover the culprit. The two friends bond with the other members of the opulent meadow. ==Voice cast==

• Coco Jack Gillies as Maya, a young bee girl. • Kodi Smit-McPhee as Willy, a young bee boy, 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 bee teacher at the bee school and Maya's mother at heart. • Jacki Weaver as Buzzlina Von Beena, the royal counselor of the beehive and 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, an evil and stubborn bug-eating spider. • Stavroula Mountzouris as Lara, a ladybug who is Willy's love interest. • Sam Haft as Drago, a dragonfly. ==Production==

Universum Film distributed the film in German-speaking territories through Buena Vista International, while StudioCanal handled the distribution in Australasia. The film is directed by Alexs Stadermann, and produced by Patrick Elmendorff and Thorsten Wegener from Studio 100 Animation in Munich; and Jim Ballantine and Barbara Stephen from Buzz Studios in Sydney. The film was produced in association with Flying Bark Productions and the channel ZDF. This film was Coco Jack Gillies' film debut, voicing the role of Maya. Gillies was 9 years old at the time of production. ==Reception==

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, of critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of . Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Frank Hatherley of Screen Daily positively assessed the visuals and action scenes, along with Coco Jack Gillies' performance as Maya. Although Michael Rechtstaffen of The Hollywood Reporter thought the film wouldn't generate "much of a buzz beyond female preschoolers", he praised its story as well as the cast's performances. Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times questioned the film's dialogue and ending scenes, and later called it a "self-consciously uplifting treacle some adults insist kids want". Writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, Jake Wilson called the film's plot a "wearyingly familiar story", but praised the animation as well as Maya's characterisation. Accolades ==Sequels==

A sequel, Maya the Bee: The Honey Games, was released on 26 July 2018. having the same cast but having a somewhat different crew and production companies. Another sequel, Maya the Bee: The Golden Orb, was released on 7 January 2021. It was scheduled to be released in Australia on 17 June 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was pushed back. An upcoming spin-off film called Arnie & Barney is scheduled to be released in 2026. ==See also==