Story
Barry B. Benson (voiced by Jerry Seinfeld) wants to be no ordinary bee. The thought of working himself to death doesn’t appeal to him much and so he goes beyond the bounds of his hive and out into the world where he encounters Vanessa (Renee Zellweger), a florist, who saves him from being swatted by her angry boyfriend, Ken (Patrick Warburton). Barry breaks a cardinal rule of bees, talks to Vanessa and the two become firm friends.
Barry’s life takes on a new dimension however, when he discovers that humans steal bee honey and enslave bees to produce honey for them. He takes his righteous anger to the high court but when he wins his case, Barry is unprepared for the disaster it unleashes.
Themes
None of concern
Violence
There is some violence in this movie including:
- Bees are swatted and sprayed at with insect repellent.
- A boss bee hits a worker bee.
- Barry slaps his friend Adam (Mathew Broderick) across the face.
- The Pollen Jock bees behave in a bullying and aggressive fashion.
- Barry gets hit with a tennis ball. He attaches himself to it, and then gets hit from player to player.
- Barry lands on a windscreen and gets into the car engine, is hit by the fan blades, attacked by a dog and causes cars to crash.
- Barry flies repeatedly into a window, into a light globe, is nearly swallowed and attacked by humans.
Sexual references
There are some mild sexual references in this movie, including:
- Adam tells Barry’s parents that Barry and Vanessa are ‘making out’.
- Montgomery asks Barry if he’s Vanessa’s ‘bed bug’.
- Barry’s uncle talks about when he made out with a cricket.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
- Bees are drugged by smoke
- Barry chokes on someone’s cigarette smoke
Nudity and sexual activity
None of concern
Product placement
None of concern
Coarse language
None of concern
Ideas to discuss with your children
Bee Movie is an animated comedy, which will appeal to older children and adolescents. Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include community spirit and co-operation. Parents could discuss with their children the way that upsetting the balance of nature can have catastrophic results.