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YMMV / Maya the Bee

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  • Accidental Innuendo: The fact that an animator snuck in image of a large penis in the background of the episode "King Willi" gives the episode title (which was obviously chosen separately from that rogue decision) a whole new meaning.
  • Americans Hate Tingle: The 3D remake has gotten a very lukewarm reception in Germany, not all of it because They Changed It, Now It Sucks!; the scripts are legitimately horrible and rely completely on Cliché Storm, in no small way because the episodes are so short in order to be cheaper; anything that might be scary for children was removed completely and the music - save for the opening, which was a remake of the original - is completely uninvolving. The CGI incarnation later received better reception after the first movie was released in 2014 and the arrival of Season 2.
    • Meanwhile, the series is pretty much completely unknown in the US; Nick Jr. aired the Saban dub in the early 90s, and Sprout has broadcast the CGI series, but that's pretty much it. It's so unknown there, that some have even mistaken Maya the Bee Movie as a Bee Movie rip-off of all things (notably from Quinton Reviews video on "Bee Movie Knockoffs" from January 2018).
  • Awesome Music: "Who's a friendly little bee, playing oh so happily..."
  • Can't Un-Hear It: Ewa Złotowska's performance as Maya has left a strong impression with Polish fans of the series. Especially since knowing that she's still actively voicing Maya on occasionally tie-in material (such as Maya the Bee albums, a brief speaking role for Amadeo's remix of the theme song, and the PC Game).
  • Friendly Fandoms: In Japan, parts of Europe (mainly in Spain, Portugal, and Italy) and South America, fans of Maya The Bee get along very well with Honeybee Hutch, another anime that also stars a bee and other insects.
  • Funny Moments:
    • Saban's dub of "Maya and the Ants," after one of the ants accidentally loses the rowing pole during a rowing expedition.
      Ant Commander: Digger, you dropped the pole. Do you have any ideas, hmm?
      Digger: Yes sir. [yelling] HELP! WE'RE DRIFTING! SOMEBODY SAVE US!!!
      Ant Commander: Digger, I said *not* to panic! You're an ant! Act like one!
      Digger: Yes sir. [yelling] YOO-HOO! WE'RE NOT SCARED OR ANYTHING, BUT IF ANYONE OUT THERE COULD GIVE US A HAND, WE'D APPRECIATE IT! HELLOOOO!!!
      Ant Commander: [exasperated] Digger, sometimes I think there's no hope.
    • In Episode 50 - "Sailing The High Seas", after meeting a crab, Maya asks Willy if he'd be interested in going on a sea adventure with her. Willy's response?
      Willy: Oh Maya, I can't. I've lost my swimming costume.
    • In "Lara's Secret Love", we find out Arnie apparently writes letters to himself because no one else wants to. Even better is he insults himself.
      • From the same episode, Maya's friends first tease Lara about her letters, but when Maya reads them aloud, they're moved to tears.
    • Willy and Maya's first meeting in Miss Cassandra's class, in the anime.
      Maya: I suppose you've heard of me?
      Willy: Yes, but only bad things. You ask so many questions you make everyone want to scream.
    • In "Willi With The Ants", Flip's suggestion to restoring Willy's memory is to just scream in his face. It doesn't work.
    • In Germany, Asfalt Hütte made a humorous song about Willy called "Das Biene Willi Lied", which is about Willy singing about Maya and his friends. The lyrics can be found in the video description found in the video link.
  • Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Maya is apparently very popular in Portugal and Italy.
    • And Latin America, too!
    • And in Spain, it also became very popular. Actually it is one of the few series (together with Heidi, Girl of the Alps, Mazinger Z, Haha wo tazunete sanzenri -a. k. a. Marco- Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya and Captain Tsubasa) that everybody knows of, including non-anime geeks.
    • The series is very popular in Belgium, since the series is currently owned by Studio 100 (the current right holders) and the franchise is prominent at numerous Studio 100 owned theme parks (Plopsaland De Panne, Plopsa Indoor Hasselt, Plopsa Coo, and Holiday Park). The Flanders region of Belgium even received an exclusive musical stage show based on the CGI series called "Maya en de Pollenbollen". The main characters (notably Maya and Willy) also made appearances at numerous special events held by Studio 100, such as their annual Sinterklaas show "De Grote Sinterklaas Show" Maya the Bee alongside numerous Studio 100 characters (such as Samson En Gert and Kabouter Plop) perform for Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piete and sing with each other.
    • The series is HUGE in Poland to the point that Maya's Polish voice actress recorded cover songs (Mostly Polish children's songs) sang by Maya herself. Studio 100's newest indoor theme park was even called "Majaland Kownaty" which opened on September 29, 2018 in Warsaw, Poland. The franchise also has a very dedicated adult fanbase in Poland. The country even gained an exclusive extended version of the theme song performed by Zbigniew Wodecki which he often performed at various concerts in Poland.
    • The series has been enjoying popularity in Greece since the early 2000's when Modern Times bought the distribution rights to it, getting many books and DVDs, the theme song being featured in "Children's TV Favorites" CDs (as well as an instrumental karaoke version) and being one of the company's biggest franchises in general.
    • On the flip side, the second anime series (made in 1979) is more or less completely forgotten in Japan, where it wasn't even broadcast until 1982.
  • Growing the Beard: Besides Belgium, the CGI series has gained mixed reception in parts of Europe (especially in the series's native country Germany). After the beginning of Season 2 the series started gaining more positive feedback in some parts of Europe. The character animation improved, making the characters more expressive and alive, while the episodes received better writing.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: The series as a whole takes a rather dark turn for those who've read about Waldemar Bonsels's outspoken antisemitism and support for the Nazi regime. Which is morbidly ironic considering how the series is quite popular in Poland despite Nazi Germany's invasion of the country in 1939.
  • Heartwarming in Hindsight: In one episode of the CGI series, Willy eats some pollen that causes him to say whatever he thinks of his friends out loud no matter how rude or hurtful the comment might be. It's made clear he can't control it and can't stop until Miss Casandra makes an antidote for him. Yet throughout the episode he never says anything bad about Maya, meaning he had no negative thoughts about her.
  • Heartwarming Moments:
    • The Latino Spanish song called "Maya Y Willie" which is dedicated to Maya and Willy's relationship.
    • One episode of the anime involves Maya taking care of a baby bird who appears to have no mother. Maya feels bad for it and decides to take care of it, and goes as far as singing it a lullaby and carrying it around in circles to make it go to sleep. Flip, Willy and the other insects are shocked that Maya is taking care of a baby bird, since birds are predators to them. After Flip finds Maya falling asleep after singing a lullaby to the baby bird, it finally learns to fly and leaves the meadow, with Flip being the only witness. He actually feels proud for Maya being able to take her kindness to a new level, even when it's an animal that is a predator to the others.
    • In episode 102 of the anime, after breaking Willy out of a block of ice, Maya and the others believe he froze to death and begin to mourn. However, after warming up under the sun, Willy wakes up and wonders what everyone is so upset about. Maya quickly grabs him and gives him a smooch on the cheek.
    • In the movie, after Willy wakes up, Maya, who thought he had died, quickly hugs him tightly and apologises.
      Maya: I am so sorry. Are you still my friend?
      Willy: Of course! You must never let a friend go Maya, especially your best and only friend.
    • Pretty much any time Maya gives Willy a kiss on the cheek.
    • This moment from "Dragonfly Express".
    • This adorable song features Maya and Willy singing together to the French children's song "Promenons-Nous dans le Bois" ("Let's Walk in the woods (The Wolf Song") in English). In the song, Thekla plays the role of the wolf and tries catching Maya and Willy once both characters finish their verses.
    • In "Question of Confidence," while it does backfire later, Maya and her friends letting Willy win a game of rugseed and cheering for him because they want him to be confident and happy.
    • From the same episode, Willy saving Maya from both a frog and almost drowning.
    • In honor of the anime's 40th anniversary in Japan, Nippon Animation created two special◊ illustrations of Maya and Willy together◊.
    • The 2018 song Biene Maja, Unsere Freundin from the album Biene Maja - Liederalbum Sing mit uns! is about Maya's kindness and friendship with the bugs from the meadow. Most of the song is performed by Maya's friends with Maya performing a few lyrics in between.
  • Moment of Awesome:
    • In the movie, Willy is angry at Maya for not wanting to return to the hive with him. After he flies off in a huff, he runs into a frog who tries to eat him. However, he's so angry at the time, he just kicks the frog's tongue back into its face and warns it that he's not in the mood.
    • In "Field Trip", Maya is being chased by a bird. Willy is understandably afraid, but when he hears Maya call for help he immediately flies at the bird and jumps on its beak to get it away from Maya. He then torments and attacks it until the bird gets fed up and flies away.
  • Older Than They Think: The South African English dubnote  actually predates the more familiar U.S. dub by Saban.
  • Periphery Demographic: Maya the Bee is very well-known in continental Europe. The series is very popular in its native Germany, as well as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium! However in Poland, Maya The Bee is so popular that a Polish singing group called "Akcent" made a song based around Maya and her friends. The group would commonly play this song at popular teenage/adults clubs in Poland.
  • Questionable Casting: The first film was live action and was produced in the 1920s. That said, the actors in the film were all live insects.
  • Signature Scene: The brief moment in the intro of the anime, where Maya is seen sitting in a water lily and shedding a big teardrop. It was even used in the intro of the CGI series.
  • Squick: Ben's dung balls. Being a dung beetle, he always has one with him. And he has a habit of kissing them affectionately.
    • Speaking of Ben's dung balls, "Keep Ball Rolling" involved a fly using one of Ben's balls as a nest to lay her eggs in. Granted, she laid her eggs off screen, but still. In fact, it got so bad that Moral Guardians would take to Sprout'snote  Facebook page to complain about the episode because of that scene, with some even begging the network to remove the episode from the airwaves altogether.
  • Tear Jerker: There's one extremely sad moment in The Movie when Maya thinks Willy deserted her, she begins weeping. It first starts out as a high pitch shriek for a second, but it becomes quiet. The somber music playing does not help.
    • Later, she finds the Queen on her deathbed, and Maya is trying to keep the queen alive. Thankfully, the queen gets better.
      Maya: (voice breaking) Oh no, no, no.. stay with me, please! I'm sorry, Miss Queen. It's my fault. I just—I just wanted to see the outside world. (sobs) If I had stayed in the hive like a good bee, I could've stopped the Advisor...
    • In the CGI episode "Willy's Bottle", Willy gets stuck in a bottle, rolls into a forest and goes missing. Maya looks everywhere for him as sad music plays. After having no success, she lands on a vine and starts crying.
    • Willy crying towards the end of "Maya Don't Go!"
    • One episode of the anime involves Flip rescuing insects from a fire and injuring himself in the process. Maya is later seen searching for him, but gets notified by one of the bugs that witnessed the event and tells the whole story to her. Maya is seen tearing up and is very anxious about Flip. She is then seen desperately searching for him while crying in the process. She's so worried about Flip that she is unaware that Willy is in front of her and bumps into him. Willy then gets up and asks Maya what is wrong, she says "Willy" and suddenly cries hard while he's holding her in his arms. While Maya and Willy search for Flip they find Alexander, who reveals that he found Flip. Alexander then takes Maya and Willy into his home, where she discovers Flip recovering from a head injury. Maya is so relieved about Flip still being alive that she cries into his chest.
    • The Japanese and Arabic versions of the anime has Cassandra returning to the hive badly injured. When Maya learns from Flip that something very bad happened to her teacher, she is seen flying as fast as she can in tears until she finds the other students tearfully waiting for her to return. The other students, including Willy, then start crying loudly when they see Cassandra, thinking that she's dead, until she starts talking briefly. Miss Cassandra then starts crying when she hears the other students, including Maya, breaking down at the sight of her. Before Maya leaves the hive, she heads to the room where Miss Cassandra is resting. She decides to talk to her teacher in private and starts tearing up as she's saying farewell to her. Once Maya leaves the room, Cassandra sheds a Single Tear. This scene is cut in other foreign broadcasting of the anime.
    • One notably sad moment in the anime is Flip saving Maya and Willy from a Venus flytrap. After Flip rescues Maya and Willy, who got trapped inside the Venus flytrap, Flip quickly jumps inside and opens up its mouth. Maya and Willy quickly escape, but are horrified that Flip is now trapped. Flip is heard yelling (with his hands and legs visible from its mouth) until it stops moving. Willy tries to get Flip out of the trap but notices his limbs aren't moving. Willy then starts panicking until he passes out. After Willy wakes up from his brief panic attack, he starts bawling thinking Flip is dead. Maya tries calming him down but starts tearing up herself, thinking he's gone. Suddenly they hear a noise from inside the flytrap and Flip found a way to escaped and survive, much to the surprise of Willy and Maya.
  • Toy Ship: There is some implied Maya/Willy.◊
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Polish fans of the series were not happy when the voice cast was replaced for the DVD dub. Especially Ewa Złotowska who's been voicing the titular character for almost 50 years.
  • Values Dissonance: It goes without saying since the original author, Waldemar Bonsels, was an outspoken antisemite and Nazi sympathizer. Even though the book was written 8 years before the official formation of the Nazi party, it still contains many elements of nationalist and xenophobic rhetoric such as this, which was nixed from the anime and future adaptations:
    "The first rule that a young bee must learn… is that every bee, in whatever it thinks and does, must be like the other bees and must always have the good of all in mind. In our order of society, which we have held to be the right one from time immemorial and which couldn't have been better preserved than it had been, this rule is the one fundamental basis of the wellbeing of the state."
  • What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Starting as early as in the third chapter of the book, we see just how cruel the world of insects really is...
    The dragon-fly regarded Jack Christopher contemplatively.
    “Yes, he is a dear little fellow,” it replied tenderly and—bit Jack’s head off.

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