Story
In Maya the Bee: The Honey Games, Maya (voice of Coco Jack Gillies) is an enthusiastic young bee who believes in herself and really wants to help others. The Queen (Justine Clarke) has an estranged sister, the Empress of Buzztropolis (Marney McQueen). Maya hears that the Empress has ordered the Queen’s hive to give half of its meagre store of honey to the Honey Games, despite the fact that the Queen’s hive might not survive the winter. Maya is furious and sets out to deal with this injustice.
Unfortunately, Maya and her best friend Willi (Benson Jack Anthony) make the situation far worse when their meeting with the Empress goes terribly wrong. Maya suddenly finds herself competing in the Honey Games for the survival of her entire hive. She and Willi must encourage their team of misfit bugs to work together to defeat the cruel Violet (Linda Ngo) and her team of champions from Buzztropolis.
Themes
Threats to survival; competition
Violence
Maya the Bee: The Honey Games has some violence and accidental harm. For example:
- During a dragonfly race, several bugs bang together and crash into the bushes.
- Maya crashes into two guards from Buzztropolis.
- Maya and Willi inadvertently crash into the Empress, cover her with honey and stick to her.
- Competitors throw pollen puffs at each other.
- Giant drops of water knock bugs off course.
- Maya crashes into a honey cup and breaks it.
- Violet tries to push Maya and her team mates off their dragonflies.
Content that may disturb children
Under 5
In addition to the violent scenes mentioned above, Maya the Bee: The Honey Games has some scenes that could scare or disturb children under five years. For example:
- There is a giant monster turtle in a maze, and competitors are warned not to wake it. Willi accidentally rouses the creature, much to the horror of his team mates. The turtle crashes through the maze, dragging terrified bugs with him. The scene ends well, but very young viewers might be concerned by the glowing eyes and the raging turtle.
- Towards the end of the movie there’s a creepy shadow lurking in the darkness. It’s an evil spider, which wants to trap and eat the young bugs. Violet and her team are caught in the spider’s web and look like they’re about to be killed when Maya and her team come to their rescue. Some very young viewers might be disturbed by the scenes with the spider.
From 5-8
Most children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in Maya the Bee: The Honey Games.
From 8-13
Nothing of concern
Over 13
Nothing of concern
Sexual references
Nothing of concern
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Nothing of concern
Nudity and sexual activity
Nothing of concern
Product placement
Nothing of concern
Coarse language
Maya the Bee: The Honey Games has some name-calling, including ‘loser’, ‘loser bugs’ and ‘mixed up bunch of weirdos’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Maya the Bee: The Honey Games is an animated movie with a predictable plot, which is aimed at young audiences. Some scenes might scare very young viewers, so we recommend parental guidance for children under five years. The movie is likely to lack interest for most children over eight years.
These are the main messages from this movie:
- We should all believe in ourselves.
- Everyone has a special talent.
- By working together, we achieve far more than we ever could alone.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include:
- kindness towards others
- forgiveness and understanding
- responsibility for our own actions
- teamwork.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about honesty and learning from our mistakes, as well as listening to parents’ advice about some situations rather than taking things into your own hands.