The Adventures of Maya the Bee (Dutch: Maja de Bij; German: Die Biene Maja und ihre Abenteuer; Italian: L'ape Maia; Polish: Pszczółka Maja; Serbian: Пчелица Маја/Pčelica Maja; Slovenian: Čebelica Maja; Croatian: Pčelica Maja; Slovak:Včielka Maja; Bulgarian: Пчеличката Мая; Czech: Včelka Mája; Hungarian: Maja a méhecske; Spanish: La abeja Maya; Turkish: Arı Maya; Hebrew: Maya hadvora; Arabic: El nahhla zayna) is a book written by Waldemar Bonsels and first published in 1912. Maya the Bee (みつばちマーヤの冒険, Mitsubachi Maaya no Boken or The Adventures of Maya the Honeybee) is an anime television series produced by Nippon Animation Company in Japan. ... Image File history File links DieBieneMajaIhreSchonstenAbenteuerBookCover. ... For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ... “TV” redirects here. ... “Animé” redirects here. ... Nippon Animation logo. ... TV Asahi Corporation ) (TYO: 9409 ), also known as EX and Tele-Asa ), is a television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. ... The logo of TV Tokyo. ... Television Osaka, Inc. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Serbian (; ) is one of the standard versions of the Shtokavian dialect, used primarily in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and by Serbs in the Serbian diaspora. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Arabic redirects here. ... Waldemar Bonsels (21 February 1880 - 31 July 1952) was a German writer of childrens books. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

In this children's storybook, Maya and her friends (Willy the bee, Flip the grasshopper, and Mrs. Cassandra, Maya's teacher) and many other insects have a colourful life. The book depicts Maya's development from an adventurous, thoughtless youngster to a responsible adult member of bee society.

Films

Wolfram Junghans, a German photographer, directed a live-action full-length film version of the story in 1924. It is considered to be the first full-length film to star live insects. The film was restored in 2005 by the Finnish Film Archive together with the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, and screened in Hamburg and Helsinki.

Perhaps the most popular and widely known adaptation of the story is the anime television series Mitsubachi Maaya no Boken (The Adventures of Maya the Honeybee). Originally aired on Japanese TV in 1975, the anime has been dubbed into numerous languages and screened on television in various territories, including Australia, Germany, the United States, South Africa, Portugal, Canada, Belgium, France, Latin America, Israel, Italy, Greece, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Bosnia, Slovakia, Spain, Finland, Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Russia, Turkey, Lebanon as "Zena", and Iran as "Nikoo" (نیکو). “Animé” redirects here. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The plot

The original book of Bonsels is actually quite short, less than 200 pages. The storyline is centered on the relation of Maya and her society, the adventures serving to educate the young Maya. In the TV-series, on the other hand, the relative importance of the adventures is increased.

Maya is a bee 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. Despite Mrs. Cassandra's warnings, Maya is imbued with desire to explore the wide world and commits the unforgivable crime of leaving the hive. During her adventures, Maya, now exile, befriends other insects and braves dangers with them. In the climax of the book, Maya is taken prisoner by hornets, the worst enemies of the bees.

Prisoner of the hornets, Maya learns of a hornet 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.

Main Characters

• Maya (Bee)
• Willi (Drone, Maya's best friend. Lazy, good-natured)
• Flip (Grasshopper. A wise friend of Maya and Willi)
• Kurt (Dungbeetle who likes to be a "rose-beetle")
• Puck (Fly)
• Kassandra (Bee, Teacher at the Bee-School)
• Thekla (cross spider)

Video games

• Maya the Bee and Friends (mobile - 2006)

Developed by Kiloo and co-published by Plan-B Media. Cell Phone redirects here. ...

• The Bee Game (Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance - 2007)

Developed by Midway NDS redirects here. ... “GBA” redirects here. ...

Merchandising

A lot of companies participated worldwide to the success of this bee by producing and selling merchandising articles. Most of them have been drawn between 1976 and 1986 by the French licensed characters specialist André Roche, for example motives for textile, porcelain, games, publishers, including the realization of a campaign for the Kinder Surprise Chocolate Eggs of the Ferrero Company.

References

• Anime News Network: Maya the Bee
• The Finnish Film Archive (Nov. 23, 2005). "Esitykset: Maija Mehiläinen" (in Finnish). Retrieved Jan. 20, 2006.
• cinefest - International Festival of German Film Heritage. Retrieved Jan. 20, 2006.
• Maya the Bee at the Internet Movie Database