Five Movies That Feature Bees
Mr. Bug Goes To Town
First released in 1941, this movie was supposed to be an adaptation of a Belgian book that follows a bee through the course of one year. When the studio was unable to get rights for the book, they made their own story, an animated feature about the adventures a grasshopper has when he returns to New York City from the country. The grasshopper faced threats from humans, an inter-insect marriage, property development and the challenges of finding a job in a big city. Even though the story morphed away from the main character being a bee, they bring in wonderful Mr Bumble and his beautiful daughter Honey and the honey shop they run. If you have not seen this movie before, you can look forward to the Blu-Ray release next summer.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Based on the classic collection, this movie is the long-form release of three previously released animated featurettes, with the addition of some new art that merges the stories together and a new fourth story. The first of the three is Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, where Winnie ventures through the Hundred Acre Forest, looking for some honey. Truly though, when wasn’t Pooh looking for honey? For a bit of trivia, this was the 22nd animated Disney film. Released in 1977, it was the last animated film Disney himself oversaw.
Jupiter Ascending
Mila Kunis discovers she’s a galactic queen when she unintentionally uses her powers to control bees in this 2015 space opera directed by the Wachowski siblings and also starring Channing Tatum. What follows is a gigantic, somewhat convoluted adventure through space. When we say convoluted, we mean that…it’s an odd one, but has some interesting twists.
The Secret Life of Bees
This film was based on the book released in 2001, which was written by author Sue Monk. The book was met with critical acclaim and spent 2 1/ 2 years on the New York Times best seller list. In this Will Smith-produced 2008 adaptation of the novel, a young Dakota Fanning plays Lily, a girl in South Carolina who escapes her haunted and troubling home life and becomes a beekeeper. A true coming-of-age story that acknowledges the predicament of loss and betrayal.
Bee Movie
This 2007 B-movie (pun intended) written, produced by and starring Jerry Seinfeld practically is a reunion of his long-running TV show. Seinfeld stars as non-conforming Bee-College graduate Barry Benson who meets a human and becomes a bee-rights activist. In the words of Roger Ebert, this movie doesn’t quite take off, but can probably be easily found in $5 DVD bin.