Enter your search terms Web curledupdvd Submit search form	BEE MOVIE Actors: Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton Director: Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith   Studio: Dreamworks Animation DVD release: 11 March 2008   Runtime: 90 minutes (1 disc) Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, Blu-ray DVD features:Audio tracks (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, Spanish), Subtitles (English, Spanish, French), 1080p/AVC MPEG-4, Audio Commentary, Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Alternate Endings, Interactive Features, TV Shorts, Music Video, Trailers Gosh, we've missed Jerry Seinfeld since his show left the air (it was called Seinfeld, in case you've forgotten). Sure, he'd surface for the occasional TV appearance, but we kinda had to go cold turkey for a while. Well, he's surfaced again in Dreamworks' Bee Movie, playing a bee named Barry B. Benson. Bee Movie is another in the great cartoon tradition about social insects who go against the establishment. Pixar's A Bug's Life, Dreamworks' Antz, and Warner Brothers' The Ant Bully preceded, and Bee Movie upholds the mantle quite well. Barry's a bee in a huge hive full of other bees. He's just graduating after a grueling three days of college and needs to decide what monotonous task he'll undertake as a lifelong career. His higher-ups are pleased to indicate that they'll work their bees to death. Barry's friend Adam (Matthew Broderick) is eager to get started, but Barry's not. He'd like to see the world, so he manages to get himself associated with an elite group of square-jawed daredevils known as Pollen Jocks. They go out into the world collecting nectar and spreading pollen everywhere. Out in the world (New York City, of course), his life is saved by Vanessa (Renee Zellweger), and Barry breaks the cardinal rule of bee-dom: he speaks to her. They end up becoming good friends, and there is an attraction between the two. (I'm not sure America is ready for interspecies relationships, especially in animated films. They don't take it too far, however. How could they?) Barry discovers that humans sell obscene amounts of honey, exploiting enslaved bees. Barry becomes outraged and sues humanity. Bet you didn't expect courtroom drama coming into this, did you? Barry goes tarsus to toe with classic good ol' boy litigator Layton T. Montgomery (John Goodman). There are surprise witnesses and all the usual courtroom accoutrements. Bee Movie really is a fun flick. The kids actually learn something about nature, and the adults get to enjoy Seinfeld's wry wit once more. Everybody wins! The extra features on Disc 1 are quite good. There are alternate endings and deleted scenes (storyboards pieced together so the filmmakers can see if it works). "Jerry's Bee Movie TV Juniors," which ran on network TV promoting the movie, are all here, and the live-action trailers are included as well. The commentary with Jerry and a raft of creative talent is included for a deeper experience. Directors, producers, writers, and an editor all contribute for a bouncy, fun chat about the film. The Disc 2 extra features are fun as well. We get "The Tech of Bee Movie," the feature we've come to expect since "The Tech of Shrek." This includes all sorts of fun tidbits on the making of the film. You can learn to pollenate with Pollination Practice, enjoy "We got the Bee" music video, and investigate the "Ow Meter," which details the relative pain of different bees' stings (stay away from bumblebees!).
		reviewed by Eric Renshaw
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