Maya the Honey Bee
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is an
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
produced first by Zuiyo Enterprise and
Asahi Broadcasting Corporation is a certified broadcasting holding company headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Until March 31, 2018, it was a unified radio and television broadcaster serving in the Kansai region. On April 1, 2018, its radio and television broadcasting divisions ...
of Osaka. After the first 6 episodes, Zuiyo Enterprise would split into Zuiyo Company and Nippon Animation, which retained the rights of the series. The series consisted of 52 episodes and was originally telecast from April 1975 to April 1976 on the NET (now
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...
) network, with which ABC (not to be confused with the Tokyo-based TV Asahi) is affiliated. Based on the classic children's book ''The Adventures of
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 first Ame ...
'' by
Waldemar Bonsels Waldemar Bonsels (21 February 1880 in Ahrensburg – 31 July 1952 in Ambach, Münsing) was a German writer. Waldemar Bonsels's most famous work is the children's book ''Die Biene Maja und ihre Abenteuer'' (''Maya the Bee and her Adventures ...
, the anime series has become extremely popular in Europe and has been rebroadcast in countries and languages all around the world since its premiere. A film edited from the first few episodes was released on 15 December 1977. Two English-dubbed versions of the series exist, a South African version produced by Sonovision for the
South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...
(SABC), using a translated version of the theme tune used for the German dub, and featuring English South African accents for the characters; and a
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
version with an entirely new theme tune, and a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
voice cast, produced by
Saban Entertainment Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and S ...
, which was broadcast from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 1992 on the children's television channel
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
. ''Maya the Bee'' aired alongside other juvenile-targeted anime such as '' Adventures of the Little Koala'', ''
Noozles ', also known as ''The Wondrous Koala Blinky'', is a 26-episode anime by Nippon Animation Company that was originally released in Japan in 1984. It depicts the adventures of a 12-year-old girl named Sandy and her koala friends, Blinky and Pinky, ...
'' and ''
The Littl' Bits is a Japanese anime television series with 26 episodes, produced in 1980 by Tatsunoko Productions in Japan in cooperation with TV Tokyo (then an independent station; what became the TV Tokyo network was not organised until 1982, thus the show ...
'' as part of Nickelodeon's
Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
block of programming for young children. 65 episodes were dubbed. A second ''Maya the Bee'' series, , was a co-production made in 1979 by Wako Productions and Austrian/German Apollo Film,
Wien en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
. The second series first premiered in Germany (
ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
) from September 1979 to September 1980. The very different and cartoon-like second series, which lasted for 52 episodes, was not very popular and did not premiere in Japan until 12 October 1982, on
TV Osaka is a television station affiliated with the TX Network in Osaka, Japan. The mascot character is "Takoru-kun" (たこるくん). History Television Osaka, Inc. was founded in 1981 as part of the reorganization of Tokyo Channel 12 Ltd (now TV To ...
, and aired through 27 September 1983.


Story

The story centres on Maya, an inquisitive, adventurous and somewhat flighty young honeybee, and her adventures in the forest around her. Maya is 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 last two episodes of the first series, 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. As may be expected, Maya, after severe pondering, 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.


Characters

; : :The main character of the story, an inquisitive, adventurous and somewhat flighty young honeybee. ; : :A young drone (male bee) who is Maya's best friend. He is always tired, hungry, skeptical, also somewhat of a coward but generally good-natured. Prone to jealousy when Maya's attentions turn to others. Often reluctantly dragged into adventures by Maya. He is an original character in the anime. ; : :A wise, top-hatted grasshopper, a good friend of Maya and Willy. ; : :Maya's teacher and chief authority figure (mostly in the first animated series).


Staff


Japanese version

* Production: Zuiyo Eizo then Nippon Animation * Executive producer: Kōichi Motohashi * Series directors: Hiroshi Saitō, Mitsuo Kaminashi, Seiji Endō * Script: Hikaru Sasa, Hitoshi Kanazawa * Screenplay: Fumi Takahashi * Character Designs: Susumu Shiraume * Animation Directors: Susumu Shiraume, Takao Ogawa, Hayao Nobe * Sound: Yasuhiro Koyama * Theme songs (performed by Chīta and the Honey Bee Choir, words and music by Seizō Ise): ** OP – ** ED **# **# performed by Yōko Maekawa


American version

* Executive producer:
Haim Saban Haim Saban (; he, חיים סבן; born October 15, 1944) is an Israeli-American media proprietor, investor, and producer of records, film, and television. A businessman with interests in financial services, entertainment, and media, and an e ...
* Supervising producer: Winston Richard * Writer: Tim Reid * Voice Direction: Tim Reid, Kathleen Fee * Associate producer: Eric S. Rollman * Executive in charge of production: Jerald E. Bergh * Music by: Haim Saban and
Shuki Levy Shuki Levy ( he, שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as ''The Real Ghostbusters ...


Home video

Several episodes of Saban's dub were released on VHS by
Video Treasures Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television ser ...
in the United States and
HGV Video Productions HGV Video Productions, Inc. was a Canadian home video company that was originally formed in 1989 as the Canadian branch of Video Treasures, Burbank Video, Media Home Entertainment and GoodTimes Entertainment GoodTimes Entertainment, Ltd. was an ...
in Canada under the Saban Video label.


References


External links


Maya the Bee – Nippon Animation Official Site
* * {{Nippon Animation Maya the Bee 1975 anime television series debuts 1979 anime television series debuts 1982 anime television series debuts Nickelodeon original programming 1976 German television series debuts 1980 German television series endings German children's animated adventure television series German children's animated comedy television series Japanese children's animated adventure television series Japanese children's animated comedy television series German-language television shows Nick Jr. original programming YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming CBC Television original programming Nippon Animation Television shows adapted into comics Television shows based on children's books Animated television series about insects Television series by Saban Entertainment TV Asahi original programming TV Tokyo original programming ZDF original programming 1970s children's television series