What A Cartoon Movie! - Bee Movie
Added 2024-09-30 04:00:09 +0000 UTCJerry Seinfeld: Master of stand-up, lord of the sitcom... animated bee? It happened! In the year 2007, the insanely popular comedian embarked on his newest project, where he would be the driving force behind a celebrity-fueled DreamWorks animated feature. (Which was the style at the time.) The result is what you'd expect from a movie originally pitched as a joke, and we podcasters are here to thoroughly report on a film that spends 90 minutes desperately flailing to justify its existence. So listen in, and please remember: someone had to cover it!
Comments
Fun podcast. Bee Movie is definitely bad, but there's a certain shitpost or "Youtube Poop" energy to it. Bee Movie has remarkably few decent jokes, but something about the fact it exists at all is kind of amusing. I'm in no hurry to rewatch it, but I can get why it's been meme'd so much over the years. I'd heard a lot of good things about the next film you're covering (Hotel Transylvania), but I had to turn it off after ten minutes or so. A seemingly endless onslaught of fart, butt, poop, piss, belch, random dancing, and "that just happened" type jokes. I'd almost prefer to watch a Minions thing.
N Rose
2024-10-17 21:55:30 +0000 UTCI'll never forget the Bee Movie marketing blitz. I remember seeing the video of him ziplining in the bee suit as a publicity stunt. The video continued with him still in the bee suit talking to someone on a yacht and the interviewer asks 'why make movies about bees? Kids are scared of bees' and Seinfeld insists they like bees. I wish I could find it again and judge whether this was a scripted deliberately Seinfeld-esque bit or a genuine tense interaction.
Joshua Marchant
2024-10-14 03:25:42 +0000 UTCRegarding the question of bee-human intimacy, I direct you to Avengers Vol. 3 #71. Henry may already know what I'm talking about.
Guy Incognito
2024-10-11 18:39:21 +0000 UTCI'm so happy I got to contribute to your history segment! Honestly, I hadn't watched the final movie through in full since the crew premiere way back when. Having memories of so many alternate lines, scenes, and acts from the 150 versions of the script I kept, my overwhelming feeling watching it now is, "THAT'S what they went with??" It really does feel like all of the, for lack of a better term, "edge" was removed from the movie before its release. I will always remember the gritty scene of Adam and Barry in a dive bar (a Schlitz beer can at the bottom of the tree their hive hangs above) getting drunk and talking about their futures. The queen bee scene had at least one genuine chuckle. There are far better versions of Ken's dialogue. Far better line readings from Jerry. Far better actors playing far better roles. Somewhere in all of the unreleased material, there's probably enough good stuff to make a solid, if unremarkable movie. It's also worth mentioning that all of Jerry's action vocalizations were added near the end of post production, and the movie used to play much better when his annoying voice wasn't punctuating nearly every moment. If you've seen the original concept art, you'll notice how unique and original Bee Movie was going to be, before it just collapsed under the weight of its own script. It's a genuine shame because the crew was incredibly excited to work with Jerry, and there was a lot of hope that he could counteract a lot of Katzenberg's tyranny. But ultimately, we were just swapping one man's hubris for another's. This was my first big job in the entertainment industry, and I couldn't ask for a better vertical slice of it than Bee Movie. It was utter insanity. I have so many stories I wish I could share about interactions with just about every cast and crewmember involved, and of course Jerry himself. Where everybody came from, what they thought of this production while it was happening, and where they went after, never ceases to fascinate me. I can't imagine why you'd EVER want to follow up on this movie, but if you want any more insight into the worst era of DreamWorks Animation, I'd be happy to chat. -Melissa
Mel
2024-10-09 22:58:31 +0000 UTCThis movie only deserves dot points: • Aussies sure love our Maccas • Jerry is just talking at a desk? Yup. Tracks. • Where is the sound design in this movie? Every clip was so stark. • Bee Larry King. Actually pretty good • Buzz Aldrin should totally have been on that plane
Pete Johns
2024-10-06 07:53:34 +0000 UTCI had the same experience in 2007 but I tuned into Seinfeld during the pandemic and it’s fantastic. There’s a reason DreamWorks was tripping over themselves to work with him.
Joshua Marchant
2024-10-02 18:23:13 +0000 UTCBelieve it or not, the animation studio I work for got its name from Patrick Warburtons Seinfeld character. Ryan Cooper, Alex Leighton and Tim Evans wanted a fun memorable nonsense name for their new studio and landed on ’MukPuddy’. They’ve been producing Flash cartoons for New Zealand television for over 20 years and just finished the studios first ToonBoom project adapting Spike Milligans ‘Badjelly the Witch’ book. Keep an eye out for the good scenes and assume they were animated by me ;)
Joshua Marchant
2024-10-02 18:20:43 +0000 UTCLet's do more movies you truly enjoy or have something to say about. Listening to a five+ hour hate watch podcast is none to pleasant
Ryan Oliver
2024-10-02 03:59:27 +0000 UTCThey have Chef Boyardee saying “Uh-oh SpaghettiOs” which is not a Boyardee product. It’s a nitpick but makes me think they didn’t even begin to care about what they were doing.
Brian Hortin
2024-10-01 21:58:50 +0000 UTCI watched Unfrosted. It is 99% a space race parody where two companies are competing to make a successful toaster pastry. It’s a mess of ideas that don’t really hold together well. They add a Nazi doctor character so that they can do an Operation Paperclip thing, have a Romeo and Juliet plot between competing executives, an Apollo 1 astronauts burning up joke followed by a parody of Apollo 1 burning up where it involves a toaster, a Mad Men (actually the actors as their characters) scene, and then it builds to a January 6th thing with Thurl Ravenscroft played by Hugh Grant storming the Kellogg’s HQ. So yes is a mostly very dated Seinfeld humor then for some reason it gets obsessed with January 6th and adjacent things.
Brian Hortin
2024-10-01 21:57:00 +0000 UTCI think my sense of taste is totally out of whack but, like Chicken Little, I didn't mind Bee Movie. I know I just had to watch them once, unlike you guys (I don't think I'll ever watch them again) but both were short enough not to over stay their welcome and both were just a bunch of stuff that happened, which is sometimes enough. I never saw these movies when they were released, so thanks for giving me the push to fill these gaps. Looking forward to Hotel Transylvania next month, as I have seen and enjoyed that series, as I watched them with my kids as they came out.
David Thomson
2024-10-01 19:59:49 +0000 UTCI will never care to watch this movie...conversely, Leo was definitely a good movie with a nice lesson.
Frank Grimes
2024-10-01 18:47:06 +0000 UTCI swear to God if if Jerry’s family sign shop isn’t called SIGNFELD they need to be brought up on charges and go to jail.
Mr. Bad News
2024-10-01 17:06:19 +0000 UTCI forgot that they covered Road to El Dorado. That was a fun episode. I also would count the Aardman movies as their own thing. I shall rephrase my original quote. I hope that there is a 3D DreamWorks movie that the hosts end up liking. There are some good ones out there.
K-S-O
2024-10-01 13:09:02 +0000 UTCAt least for their 2D movies, if you want a positive WAC movie about a Dreamworks film, check out the Road to El Dorado one. (Also technically Chicken Run and Curse of the Were-Rabbit, though they're more Aardman films distributed by Dreamworks)
Harry Thornton
2024-10-01 04:37:20 +0000 UTCI thought Unfrosted was cute! It’s absurd and doesn’t take itself seriously. There was one particular scene (a cereal funeral) that is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long time, simply because it is so ridiculous.
Sabrina
2024-10-01 02:30:09 +0000 UTCNext time you guys cover a DreamWorks movie, I hope that it is one that you end up liking.
K-S-O
2024-10-01 02:23:38 +0000 UTCOk Henry, Seattle Cinnamon Roll talk: Macrina, a local chain has amazing cinnamon rolls (the real star is the cream cheese frosting). Recommend it if you have a craving.
marathedemon
2024-10-01 01:36:40 +0000 UTCI saw this movie as a kid with no nostalgia or fondness for Seinfeld and it did not enhance the viewing experience This podcast however, made want to watch Seinfeld for the promise that more engaging people are around him
Tricia
2024-09-30 22:46:09 +0000 UTCI have not seen Bee Movie but I did get the Bee Movie book for Christmas from my mom (for some reason, I guess my mom knew I liked the show Seinfeld). Now I'm really curious to find it and give it a glance over. Hopefully it's still on a bookshelf at my parents' house.
Jonathon
2024-09-30 18:30:57 +0000 UTCNoooooo what have you done! XD The cringeometer is showing near lethal doses, I'll do my best to listen even if it kills me! (I imagine lots of Jerry Seinfeld narcissism shaming which is totally fine though)
David Louis
2024-09-30 04:44:04 +0000 UTC
