Maya the Honey Bee

**Maya the Honey Bee** (みつばちマーヤの冒険 *Mitsubachi Māya no Bōken*) is an anime television series produced by Nippon Animation in Japan, the German Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) and Austrian Österreichischer Rundfunk. The series consists of 52 episodes and was originally broadcast from April 1 1975 to April 22 1976 on TV Asahi and other local stations across Japan. Based on the children’s book by Waldemar Bonsels, the anime series has become popular in continental Europe and has been rebroadcast in countries and languages all around the world since its premiere.

A sequel to the series, The New Adventures of Maya the Honey Bee (新みつばちマーヤの冒険 *Shin Mitsubachi Māya no Bōken)*, was produced in 1979 by Wako Productions and Austrian/German Apollo Film, Wien. The second series premiered in Germany (ZDF) from September 1979 to September 1980. It was very different, but not very popular, and did not premiere in Japan until October 12 1982 on TV Osaka. It lasted until September 27 1983. The music of the series was composed by the Czech Karel Svoboda.

## Development

The series goes back to an initiative by Josef Göhlen, a German children's author and television producer who at the time was head of children's programming at ZDF. He previously had success adapting Runer Jonsson's book Vicky the Viking for the small screen. In 1974, he flew to Los Angeles and met Marty Murphy, an American cartoonist and employee at Hanna-Barbera. There, the two designed the characters together and wrote the initial screenplays for this adaptation. Much like what he did for his adaptation of Vicky the Viking, he decided the series be animated in Japan, to save money. Zuiyo Enterprise (later renamed Nippon Animation) were brought in to animate 52 episodes. The directors were Hiroshi Saitō, Mitsuo Kaminashi and Seiji Endō. Fumi Takahashi wrote the scripts and Susumu Shiraume designed the characters.

17 months after its first broadcast in Japan, *Maya the Honey Bee* was first broadcast in West Germany on 9th September 1976 and a new episode aired every Thursday for the next 52 weeks.

The series quickly developed into the most successful animated series ever aired on ZDF up to that point. On its original airing, an average of three to four million children between the ages of three and thirteen watched. Due to this success, Josef Göhlen is known as "Insect-Jupp" by his peers in the television industry.

In the year after the end of the first broadcast, almost 40,000 letters were sent to ZDF demanding a rerun, so the series was repeated in its entirety every Sunday from 15th October 1978.

Around this time, a second season was in the works. This series, The New Adventures of Maya the Honey Bee (新みつばちマーヤの冒険 *Shin Mitsubachi Māya no Bōken)*, was animated at Wako Production by a completely different team. Mitsuo Kaminashi returned to direct this series. The new series premiered first on ZDF in West Germany, airing every Saturday from 1st September 1979 to 13th September 1980.

## Synopsis

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, brought up to be a worker bee, but it is difficult for her to understand and follow the strict rules of the hive because of her individuality and strong desire for independence, and has since then had interest in the outside world. Despite Mrs. Cassandra’s warnings, Maya wants to explore the wide world and commits the unforgivable crime of leaving the hive. Not accepting that her companions only dedicate themselves to making honey, she embarks on unforgettable adventures with her inseparable friend Willy. During her adventures, Maya, now in exile, befriends other insects and braves dangers with them. Each chapter is full of lessons about friendship, justice and issues about nature and the various animals that live there. Also noteworthy in the series are the grasshopper Flip with his wise advice, the spider Thekla with his detuned violin, Miss Cassandra with her teachings and many other unforgettable characters.

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 that they 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

 Maya
(マーヤ *Māya*)
 Willy
(ウイリー *Uirī*)
 Flip
(フィリップ *Firippu*)
 Miss Cassandra
(カッサンドラ先生 *Kassandora-sensei*)
Reiko Yamada (1982) | Jane Woods

## References

1. ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Season-I-Episode-1-INTRODUCTION/dp/B00KZN1GTQ
2. ↑ https://www.playpilot.com/no/en/series/maya-the-bee/s01-e51/
3. ↑ https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/10620-maya-the-honey-bee/season/1?language=en-US
4. ↑ https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00KXSPYLE/ref=atv\_dp
5. ↑ https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/10620-maya-the-honey-bee/season/2?language=en-US

## External links

* https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/29971/the-new-adventures-of-maya-the-honey-bee/episodes
* https://www.ranker.com/list/full-list-of-maya-the-bee-episodes/reference
* https://www.histreaming.com/ca/tvserie/the-adventures-of-maya-the-honey-bee