Bee Movie (Widescreen Edition)
“Bee Movie” is a comedy that will change everything you think you know about bees. Having just graduated from college, a bee by the name of Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice—honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa (Renee Zellweger). He is shocked to discover that the humans have been
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Children Make Terrible Pets (Starring Lucille Beatrice Bear)
Check out this rollicking, humorous, and heartwarming twist on the classic “first pet” story about a young bear and her favorite pet boy!
When Lucy, a young bear, discovers a boy in the woods, she’s absolutely delighted. She brings him home and begs her mom to let her keep him, even though her mom warns, “Children make terrible pets.” But mom relents, and Lucy gets to name her new pet Squeaker.
Through a series of hilarious and surprising scenes, readers can join Lucy and Squeaker
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Fun with fresh message.,
I’ve seen all of the animated features since Toy Story, and liked this one better than most. It’s not as funny as Shrek, and overall not as good as Monsters Inc or Finding Nemo, but certainly in the better half, comparable to Cars, Ice Age, and Over The Hedge. During the first twenty minutes or so it seemed like it might offer nothing better than a series of Bee jokes, which I see has resulted in some negative reviews here. But the story develops as an allegory for frivolous lawsuits, but it’s the bee who brings the frivolous lawsuit here, so it doesn’t jump on the Hollywood blame-humans-first bandwagon, which is refreshing. Some of the results are predictable, some funny, but not preachy or trite. There’s at least one lawyer joke that had the audience in stitches, along with several other funny jokes.
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|Bee Movie Review,
Jerry Seinfeld has been away from the spotlight for some time now and 2007 marks the year of his return – but only as a voice in a computer animated film. While the premise is unique, the approach is generic, and the excellently animated, poorly executed family film will have difficulty avoiding the already popular classification that Bee Movie is indeed a B-movie.
Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) is an average bee approaching adulthood, who must decide upon a job in the hive. The catch is that once he chooses his job, he must keep it for the rest of his life. Unsatisfied with the monotony of working in the hive, he ventures outside where he meets a human woman, Vanessa (Renée Zellweger), who saves his life. Indebted, he breaks the Cardinal bee rule: never talk to humans. At first Vanessa has difficulty accepting the talking bee, but the two soon spend quite a bit of time together and Barry gets overly comfortable as she reveals that she is a florist. Enamored with Vanessa, despite the interspecies barrier, Barry learns that humans have been stealing honey from bees and selling and eating it. Infuriated, he sets out to sue the honey company, with the help of Vanessa and his bee pals.
Apparently bees drive cars, they are all cousins, and they can use their antennas as cell phones. The comical world the creators have devised for the bees is perhaps the most creative aspect of the film. Many parallels reside with Barry’s rebellious teen years and human childhood, as specifically referenced by a sensationally hysterical homage to The Graduate. From voting the queen bee into monarchy, to pollination, to insects on windshields and their attraction to lights, many of the typical insect behaviors are addressed and translated into humorous gags – supposedly their thinking is shockingly similar to humans.
The animation (from Dreamworks, the studio that brought us Shrek) as always continues to excel in its realism, from the cartoon movements and facial expressions of the characters, to the nearly flawless reflections and refractions of the inanimate objects and background environments. Barry gets stuck to a tennis ball and batted around in slow motion, and sucked into the engine of a car: both scenes and many more are executed with amazing editing and stunning camera movement that can only be achieved in computer animation.
Hysterical character designs and voice acting also add to the fun, with jocose performances by John Goodman, Patrick Warburton, Chris Rock and even voice cameos by Michael Richards (who many joked would play the role of an Africanized bee) and Larry King as Bee Larry King. What doesn’t work as well is the execution of the story. The film often contradicts itself with the reactions of the humans to talking bees, and with what Barry is capable of realistically doing as nothing more than a heavily personified insect. Some of the jokes elicit laughter, but most are on an unexpectedly low intelligence level, and ultimately the many entertaining bits are specifically aimed at younger audiences. As is often with computer animated films, visual perfection oftentimes overshadows the time spent trying to devise an enticing story, and Bee Movie falls in with the too-kid-friendly films that are quickly forgotten.
- Mike Massie
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|So much better than I thought it would be,
I didn’t care that this movie came out as Jerry Seinfeld is sometimes overhyped as being funny, when in reality, most the time he isn’t. I decided to rent this because a few other new releases were sold out at the video store. I get home, watch it and within minutes, am floored laughing. With a good message and superb humor, I went out today and bought this movie. I love it and if you appreciate cartoons with a good message, get this!
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|Some creatures don’t make great pets…,
Simple, funny, sweet…a story about a young bear who finds a boy in the woods and keeps him as a pet. Of course, she finds out that children can be a lot of fun but don’t really make good pets. They tear up the furniture, throw food,track mud everywhere, and are tough to potty train (especially using a litter box). I read this story to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders and they loved it. A great read aloud. They’re all hoping for a follow up book to find out if elephants make better pets than children.
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|Brilliant! Great Bday Gift,
Super story for ages K – 3rd Grade. Pictures as good as the words. Makes a great birthday gift; parents will laugh and kids will love it. Good for girls or boys too!
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|A fun, silly read!,
The book was about a bear named Lucy who found a kid and wanted to keep him as a pet. She called him “Squeaker.” The mother bear said that kids are bad pets, but she let Lucy keep him as long as Lucy was the one who took care of him.
I think kids will enjoy it because it is fun to read and silly that a kid would be a bear’s pet.
My favorite part was when Lucy couldn’t find Squeaker and she looked for him throughout the forest until she found him.
Both boys and girls, ages 2 to 7 would like this book because it is a funny book and the pictures of Squeaker’s antics would make them laugh.
Reviewed by Young Mensan Isaac, age 5
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