Steven Spielberg joined forces with Jerry Seinfeld and Seinfeld’s writers to create a visionary animated movie that would go on to become a cult hit. When Seinfeld asked Spielberg to make Bee Movie, he took it up with DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. Seinfeld got to the right person, as he later said that Katzenberg was the main reason the film happened.
Bee Movie‘s initial response wasn’t as great as expected. Fans and critics seemed to hate the film and criticized it for its lack of originality. However, over the years, the critical analysis of the film has been more in favor of the film. It is currently creating a buzz on Netflix, where it is streaming for free.
Steven Spielberg’s one DreamWorks film is making a buzz even today
Bee Movie explored a honey bee, Barry B. Benson, who sues the humans for exploiting the bees. He learns about the sale and consumption of honey among humans from his florist friend Vanessa Bloome. Jerry Seinfeld played Barry, while Renée Zellweger played the role of Vanessa. While the humor worked for the audience at the time, the concept received a lot of criticism.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 49% Tomatometer rating from 172 reviews and a 53% audience score from more than 250,000 reviews. The film’s box office numbers stood at $293.5 million against a $150 million budget. However, these numbers don’t reflect how the film is received today among audiences.
Seinfeld approached Steven Spielberg with his idea, who saw the potential in it. Spielberg’s vision for DreamWorks was recognized by the audiences only much later, and the film achieved cult status. The film rose in popularity after a bunch of memes emerged in the mid-2010s. It helped in a critical reevaluation, which led critics to view it as a genuinely well-made film.
Fast forward to another decade later, and the film has once again risen in popularity. Bee Movie is making its buzz on Netflix, where it is currently placed in the top 10 popular movies in the second week of June. According to Flix Patrol, the film is in second place, just behind Now You See Me. It is above films like Wrath of the Titans, Now You See Me 2, and The Wild Robot on the list.
Despite its unpopularity when it was released, Bee Movie received nominations in the Best Animated Feature category at the Annie Awards, Golden Globes, and Critics’ Choice Awards.
How did Bee Movie achieve its current legacy?
Years after Bee Movie debuted in theaters, it began appearing as internet memes. In 2015, transcripts of the film appeared on social media. In 2016, a viral video showed the film being sped up each time the word bee was said in the film (via YouTube). It compressed the film into a total of 7 minutes. Others would follow suit and reupload sped-up versions of the film.
The first viral video, titled “The entire Bee Movie, but every time it says bee, it speeds up by 15%”, amassed 6.7 million views. The internet popularity helped people go back to the film. It was subjected to a new critical analysis, and it was eventually deemed a cult movie.
Seinfeld found the reemergence of the film on social media weird, sharing, “[It was] kinda weird but pretty welcoming” (via Cartoon Brew). In a Reddit AMA, he shared that he did not intend to make a sequel to the film.
Bee Movie is now available for streaming on Netflix. (USA)
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
