Maya The Bee 2: The Honey Games – Charmingly Animated with Great Underlying Messages
After a slow harvest season, the very survival of the hive is threatened. Maya, and her sidekick, Willy, go to Buzztropolis, where the Empress invites them to participate in the Honey Games. But if they lose, the hive will have to give the Empress all of their summer honey! Needless to say, Maya and Willy’s teammates are neither enthusiastic nor athletic, but Maya remains positive and exclaims that “every bug has a talent!” Can Maya and Team Poppy win and secure her hive’s future? Only if Maya is able to gain new friends and learn about teamwork, responsibility, and overcoming their differences! Bonus features: The Making of Maya the Bee 2; Original teaser and trailers. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Jolleen M. comments, “I really enjoyed watching this! This animated film has many underlying messages without becoming confusing.” Raquel Y. adds, “This is definitely a charming DVD for the younger set. My favorite part about this engaging film is the colorful, expressive animation. The voice actors certainly give their all to their whimsical and distinctive roles. Adult juror Tina B. wraps it up with, “The visual appeal of this DVD is appropriate and interesting enough for the youth it was designed for. The DVD is animated and colorful and lively in action to keep the interests of the intended audiences.” See their full reviews below.
Maya The Bee 2: The Honey Games
By Jolleen M., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 13
I really enjoyed watching this! This animated film has many underlying messages without becoming confusing. Each of the characters have their own strong personalities which makes their interactions interesting. The plot line is intriguing also.
The main character, Maya is a bee who dreams of competing in The Honey Games. One day she has a chance to make her dream comes true, but it will put her entire city at risk. The Empress demands Maya’s city to give up half of their honey to contribute to The Honey Games. They aren’t allowed to participate, but are forced to give up their honey. Maya believes that this is outrageous and challenges the Empress. If Maya wins, she doesn’t have to give up any honey. But if she loses, they have to give up all of their honey and her city will starve.
Maya (Coco Jack Gillies) is a well developed character. Coco Jack Gillies makes her voice distinctly sound differently which is good for Maya who goes thr
ough a lot of emotions. Gillies can sound distressed, guilty, ecstatic and hopeful.
The animation is done really well. The quality is great and all of the little details contribute to make it seem very realistic. The music also is very suitable for the film and sets the mood in the various scenes.
My favorite part is when Maya’s best friend Willy realizes that Violet, a bee who is a bully, is trying to sabotage them. Willy has a slight crush on Violet, which blinds him of all the mean things she is doing to Maya. Finally Willy realizes what is happening and stands up for Maya. Even through all these hardships, Maya and Willy find it in their hearts to forgive Violet for everything that she has done. That is one of the messages in this film.
Other messages address how everyone has their own special talent, how you should believe in yourself and that no matter how small you are, you can still make a difference. These messages are really important an
d give kids a lot of self confidence. I love how they incorporate all of these wonderful messages into the story without making the film trivial.
I give this DVD 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 3 to 10. This DVD is available now so, be sure to check it out.
Maya the Bee 2: The Honey Games
By Raquel Y., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 14
This is definitely a charming DVD for the younger set. My favorite part about this engaging film is the colorful, expressive animation. The voice actors certainly give their all to their whimsical and distinctive roles. Bugs and bees are endowed with wonderfully human traits which make this a charming film for families.
Maya (Coco Jack Gilles) is brave, determined and smart. She wants to help all the inhabitants of Poppy Meadow. The bee kingdom’s most royal leader, Empress of the Bees (Marney McQueen) has ordered the bees of Poppy Meadow to “contribute” half their summer honey harvest to her hive in Buzztropolis.
Maya The Bee 2: The Honey Games is the
follow-up to the television series Maya the Bee and one previous film called, Maya the Bee Movie. Young Maya is the heroine, supported by her best friend Willy. She is optimistic, brave and loves helping others. Each of Maya’s adventures results in the little bee learning important life lessons and sharing those lessons with others.
It is filled with positive messages, beautifully incorporated into the storyline. Maya isn’t always the best team player, but she takes responsibility for her mistakes. The many featured characters shine as they learn something about their own uniqueness, about self-confidence and trying new things. Honesty counts most of all. Even Violet, the potential bully, and the arrogant and smug Empress ar
e touched by Maya’s contagiously optimistic spirit, love of freedom and passion for fairness. Young viewers who are comfortable with mild cartoon action and suspense will enjoy this. This is a cannot miss film that kids everywhere and anywhere will enjoy.
I give this DVD 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 5 to 8. You can catch this film on DVD and Blu-Ray now so, look for it.
Maya the Bee 2, The Honey Games
By Tina B., KIDS FIRST! Adult Juror
My six-year-old granddaughter really enjoyed this DVD. The storyline is quite interesting in showing the life of bees and how they gather honey and support the Queen and all the other bees in the colony. The story line continues with the Queen Bee of Poppy Meadow and her bees gathering honey for the winter. She realizes that they may not have enough honey for the hive to last the winter when she gets word that the Empress, her estranged sister, has declared that the Queen’s colony has been selected for The Honey Games. The Hive of Poppy Meadow is required to honor the Empress to donate 50% of their honey. They don’t have enough hon
ey for their own hive to survive the winter, so the request is a difficult one to abide by. Maya and her best friend Willie go the Empress and please their case.
The story line is easy to follow and suitable for the target audience. The vocabulary and concepts are also right on target. There is a lot of teamwork shown and sometimes Maya tries things on her own but soon realizes that is a mistake and relies on her friends to help. There are some consequences and they are repaired by the characters in a nice way. Each becomes more respectful of the others as time passes.
The visual appeal of this DVD is appropriate and interesting enough for the youth it was designed for. The DVD is animated and colorful and lively in action to keep the interests of the intended audiences. I feel that the storyline of this is quite entertaining for youth and the pictures of the bees are so cute! The characters on the cover are so interesting you wonder what kind of trouble are they about to get into!
In terms of the message of this story, as the story develops, we discover that the Empress and the Queen are actually sisters that do not get along. Towards the end they make up and realize they love each other and miss being together. Forgiveness becomes the overall theme as we see the sisters resolve their differences. Also, during the competition games the contestants learn a few lessons about fairness and love. I give this DVD 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 5 to 9.
