Maya the Bee (1975)

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Television series
German title the bee Maja
Country of production Japan , Germany
original language Japanese
Year (s) 1975-1980
length 25 minutes
Episodes 104 in 2 seasons
genre adventure
idea Waldemar Bonsels
music Takashi Ōgaki (Japanese version),
Karel Svoboda (German version)
First broadcast April 1, 1975 on TV Asahi
German-language
first broadcast		 September 9, 1976 on ZDF
synchronization

The Maya the Bee ( Japanese み つ ば ち マ ー ヤ の 冒 険 , Mitsubachi Māya no Bōken , dt. "The adventures of the Maya honeybee") is a German-Japanese cartoon television series from 1975. The film adaptation of the novels Maya the Bee by Waldemar Bonsels is because she Primarily originated in Japan, also viewed as an anime . In 2013 a new adaptation as a computer-animated series followed, also under the title Maya the Bee .

content

The series follows the life of Maya the honeybee from birth. From Kassandra she learns how to fly and collect pollen. Soon she flies further away from her stick, meets other animals, including the grasshopper Flip, and becomes friends with them. A frequent companion and best friend is the Willi drone .

In the film adaptation were u. a. the following figures or their names added:

production

The series goes back to an initiative by Josef Göhlen , the then head of the ZDF children's and youth program , who previously initiated the implementation of the children's book Wickie and the Strong Men in the anime series of the same name from 1974, Wickie and the Strong Men , had given. Together with the US illustrator Marty Murphy , an employee of the Hanna Barbera studios, Göhlen designed the characters and scripts for the first Japanese-German co-production at the first joint meeting in the USA. The series called Die Biene Maja in German was produced in 1975 by the Japanese animation studio Zuiyo Enterprise (later renamed Nippon Animation) as Mitsubachi Māya no Bōken ( み つ ば ち マ ー ヤ の 冒 険 ) with 52 episodes. The company Peter Films appeared as a co-producer on the German side and the Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi was also involved. The director was Hiroshi Saitō, who previously directed Wickie and the Strong Men and then Pinocchio . In addition to him, the directors Mitsuo Kaminashi and Seiji Endo were involved. The scripts were written by Fumi Takahashi and the character design was done by Susumu Shiraume .

After the success of the first broadcast, ZDF commissioned a sequel with another 52 episodes. These were primarily created at Wako Production by a different team than the first part. This time it was directed by Mitsuo Kaminashi . New figures such as the harvest mouse Alexander were also introduced.

synchronization

In German, Maja was spoken in the original series by Scarlet Cavadenti, who was eleven at the time, and Willi by dubbing writer Eberhard Storeck . Most of the speakers played several roles over the course of the series:

role Voice actor
Japanese ( seiyū ) German
season 1 season 2
Maja Michiko Nomura Runa Akiyama Scarlet Cavadenti
Willi Masako Nozawa Masako Nozawa Eberhard Storeck
Flip Ichirō Nagai Ritsuo Sawa Manfred Lichtenfeld
Flip's brother flap Manfred Lichtenfeld
Ant general Ichirō Nagai Hozumi Gōda Berno from Cramm
centipede Katsuji Mori Berno from Cramm
Termite Captain Berno from Cramm
Kassandra Miyoko Aso Reiko Yamada Lorley Katz
Miss Nelly, the cricket Lorley Katz
Spider Thekla Toshiko Sawada
Terue Nunami 		Noriko Uemura Tilli Breidenbach
Housefly puck Kōsei Tomita Kumiko Mizukura Season 1: Bruno W. Pantel
Season 2: Harald Baerow
Dragonfly Schnuck Keiichi Noda Fee by Reichlin
Margit Weinert
Butterflies Fairy from Reichlin
Snail nut Sachiko Chijimatsu Alice Franz
Hornet Queen Toshiko Sawada Alice Franz
bumblebee Kazuya Tatekabe Gusti Kreissl
Ladybug woman Gusti Kreissl
Harald Helga Anders
Little ant Seiko Nakano Christa Häussler
Stonefly Christa Häussler
Anton, the termite Christa Häussler
Kurt the dung beetle Sanji bunny Hideki Fukushi Harry Kalenberg
Max the earthworm Shō Hayami Michael Rüth
bug Shun Yashiro Michael Rüth
Wieland, the bark beetle Shun Yashiro Michael Rüth
Mole cricket Monika John
Silkworm Monika John
Beetle woman Inge Schulz
Iffi Reiko Suzuki Inge Schulz
Ant colonel Horst Sommer
Ant lion Horst Sommer
Grasshopper Horst Sommer
Mouse Alexander Keiko Toda Kurt Zips
Jimmy the firefly Shō Hayami Harald Baerow
old man Willy Friedrichs
Johann, the horse fly Kaneta Kimotsuki Mogens von Gadow
Queen bee Akiko Tsuboi Charlotte Kerr
Mother ladybug Seiko Nakano Margit Weinert
Female mosquito Margit Weinert
Alois, the ladybug poet Leo Bardischewski
Red-nose father Leo Bardischewski
Gustav Wolfgang Hess
Bumblebee General Wolfgang Hess
Cricket Harald Baerow
Guardian Harald Baerow
Beetle woman Doris Jensen
Caterpillar Doris Jensen
larva Doris Jensen
Madame Butterfly Hiromi Tsuru Hiromi Tsuru Doris Jensen
Harvestman Shō Hayami Ingo Baerow
Snap, the catchy tune Werner Abrolat
Carlos Werner Abrolat
Dr. Heinrich the snail Walter Reichelt

music

The German theme song Die Biene Maja was sung by Karel Gott and was also released on record. It comes from the composer Karel Svoboda and the lyricist Florian Cusano. The end credits were an instrumental version by the James Last Orchestra , which was not published at the time. In 2013 the song was replaced by a version sung by Helene Fischer . The theme song of the second season was sung by Karel Gott only in the first episodes and was later replaced by an up-tempo version by James Last (not identical to the end credits version), which was sung by a female choir. In contrast to the TV reruns, this was replaced by Karel Gott's version before all episodes were released on DVD.

A version of the film music recorded by Karel Gott and Norbert Dickel in 1996 as a possible club anthem for Borussia Dortmund under the title Schwarzgelb - Wie Biene Maja was less popular with the fans than the opponents of the black and yellow and was moderated by Stefan Raab , among others .

publication

The series was first broadcast in Japan from April 1, 1975 to April 20, 1976, by TV Asahi .

The first broadcast in the Federal Republic of Germany took place from September 9, 1976 to September 1977 every Thursday on ZDF , Austria followed ten days later. The series quickly developed into the most successful cartoon series on ZDF at that time; when it was first broadcast, an average of three to four million children between the ages of 3 and 13 watched. The title song sung by Karel Gott reached number 1 in the NDR hit parade as a Polydor single in early May 1977. A version localized by Saban Entertainment was shown by Nickelodeon in the United States. Other television broadcasts took place in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the Philippines and Portugal - often with many repetitions.

In the year after the end of the first broadcast, almost 40,000 letters were sent to ZDF asking for repetition, so that the series was repeated on Sundays from October 15, 1978 and a second season with 52 episodes was produced, that of September 1, 1979 until September 13, 1980 was first broadcast. In Japan itself, this production was only shown from October 12, 1982 to September 27, 1983 by TV Osaka , under the title Shin Mitsubachi Māya no Bōken ( 新 み つ ば ち マ ー ヤ の 冒 険 , "New adventures of the honeybee Maya"). This part of the series has also been translated into French, Dutch, Polish and Tagalog .

For the 25th anniversary of television, ZDF broadcast the Maya the Bee Show live from the Land Fleesensee holiday complex on September 2, 2001 , moderated by Aleksandra Bechtel and Gregor Steinbrenner . The broadcasting and exploitation rights for the series are currently held by the Belgian studio 100 Media.

meaning

Maja Biene , together with Heidi and Pinocchio, was one of the first Japanese productions that achieved a "considerable broad impact" in Germany and Austria and in the form of many licensed products (starting with collectible figures at Heimo, followed by comics and subsequently also fan articles of all kinds ). The success led ORF , ZDF and other German broadcasters to have other series produced in Japan or to buy from there. However, there was also sharp criticism of ZDF from the journalistic side. This went so far that the responsible producer was referred to as "insect-Jupp" and "criminal". However, contemporary criticism fell silent and the series, along with a few others, is viewed as a "cult"; Repetitions still get a lot of viewers. On American television, the series, along with other series aimed at children, formed a counterpart to action-heavy productions of Japanese origin such as Speed ​​Racer and Voltron , although not perceived as a Japanese production .

literature

  • Maya the Bee - Exciting Stories Book for the TV series based on the stories by Waldemar Bonsels Maya the Bee and her adventures and people from heaven . Studio 100 Media GmbH, ISBN 978-3-89736-421-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Not so fast, little bee , taz of September 1, 2001, p. 16.
  2. ↑ a b Why Maya the Bee is buzzing again . Funk Uhr 41/1978, p. 7.
  3. ↑ Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy: The Anime Encyclopedia. Revised & Expanded Edition . Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley 2006, ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5 , pp. 404 .
  4. ↑ Maya the Bee. In: German synchronous card index . Retrieved October 2, 2012 .
  5. ↑ Vote ! Which BVB anthem is the best? ( Memento from May 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) By Anne-Kathrin Neumann, May 13, 2011, Dorstener Zeitung
  6. ↑ Harald R. Fabian: Summ, hum, hum - how the little Maya the bee became a big star. Funk Uhr 25/1977, pp. 14-15.
  7. ↑ Studio 100 acquires extensive Maya the Bee rights mediabiz.de, July 27, 2009
  8. ↑ Bernd Dolle-Weinkauff: Fandom, Fanart, Fanzine - Reception in Germany in ga-netchû! The Manga Anime Syndrome p. 214. Henschel Verlag, 2008.
  9. ↑ Josef Göhlen: Suspicious, but successful - The path of anime to ZDF in ga-netchû! The Manga Anime Syndrome . Pp. 234 f., 238. Henschel Verlag, 2008.
  10. ↑ Patrick Drazen: Anime Explosion! - The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation . Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley 2002, ISBN 1-880656-72-8 , pp. 281 .