Bee Movie is a computer-animated film starring Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Megan Mullally, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Oprah Winfrey, Eddie Izzard, and Patrick Warburton. Produced by DreamWorks Animation, it is directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner, and slated for release November 2, 2007 by Paramount Pictures. Its title is a play on the term "B movie".

Bee Movie is the first motion-picture script to be written by Seinfeld, who co-wrote it with Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, and Andy Robin. The cast and crew include some veterans of Seinfeld's long-running NBC sitcom Seinfeld, including writer/producers Feresten and Robin, and actors Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld character David Puddy), and Larry Miller (who plays the title character on the Seinfeld episode "The Doorman".)

The film was produced by Jerry Seinfeld, Christina Steinberg and Cameron Stevning. It was written by Jerry Seinfeld, Andy Robin, Barry Marder and Spike Feresten. The production was designed by Alex McDowell, and Christophe Lautrette was the art director. Nick Fletcher was the supervising editor and music for the film was composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams.

Synopsis

Having just graduated from 3 days of college, a bee by the name of Barry Bee 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 (Renée Zellweger). He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bees' honey for centuries, and ultimately realizes that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race for stealing their precious honey. Because of this, Barry wins the lawsuit, and all honey in the world is confiscated and returned to the bees. But now, Barry and Vanessa realize that now all the honey in the world is back, every bee has been put out of a job, and thus cannot earn money for their families. Barry also realizes that without bees pollinating the flowers, the plant life is dying and producing no more oxygen. To set things right, he and Vanessa find a way to re-pollinate the flowers and get the bees their jobs back before the balance of nature shifts for the worse.


Trailers

Two teaser trailers have been released for the film that feature Seinfeld dressed in a bee costume, attempting to shoot the film in live-action. Eddie Izzard portrays the director, and Steven Spielberg suggests to Seinfeld in the second trailer to just do it as a cartoon. Upon the release of the first trailer, it was announced[citation needed] that three of the live-action teasers would be released in total.

In the second trailer, Steven Spielberg is taking a picture of himself and a pretty female Assistant Director, referencing the camera gag Ellen DeGeneres pulled on him during the 79th Academy Awards. Also in the second trailer, the bear that jumps out at Barry is Vincent the bear from Over the Hedge, another Dreamworks movie.

The third trailer was released with Shrek The Third, but this was not a live-action teaser. The fourth trailer was released on the Bee Movie official website, and revealed most of the film's plot. According to a recent trailer, Cinnabon is featured in the movie.

In addition, 2 weeks before the release, NBC will air 22 humorous behind-the-scenes skits called "Bee Movie TV Juniors", all of which are staged and tongue-in-cheek in nature.

The popular internet site Gaia Online has been featuring a great deal of promotional material for the film.


Cast

Jerry Seinfeld as Barry Bee Benson
Renée Zellweger as Vanessa Blume
Chris Rock as Mooseblood the Mosquito
Matthew Broderick as Adam Flayman
Kathy Bates as Janet Benson
Patrick Warburton as Ken
John Goodman as Layton T. Montgomery
Megan Mullally as Trudy, Honex Tour Guide
Barry Levinson as Martin Benson
Rip Torn as Lou Lo Duca
Oprah Winfrey as Judge Bumbleden
Eddie Izzard as Bee Army General
Ray Liotta as Himself
Larry King as Himself
Larry Miller as Buzzwell
Tom Papa as Splitz/Klauss Vanderhayden
David Herman as Gammel the Italian Greyhound Michael Richards as Bud Ditchwater the squirrel Chuck Martin as Andy the crow Conrad Vernon as Freddy the worm

Ray Liotta has a small cameo playing an animated version of himself. Megan Mullally was originally voicing the Queen of the hive and had even recorded her lines, yet due to film cuts, her character was cut. Jerry Seinfeld still wanted her to have a part in the movie, so he gave her the role of the Honex Tour Guide. At one point, Uma Thurman, Rebecca Soler, Robert Duvall, and Tim Blake Nelson were all attached, yet they dropped out for various reasons.