| Maya The Bee |
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| 1990s american television series | |
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The Adventures of Maya the Bee (in German ''Die Biene Maja und ihre Abenteuer'') is a book written by Waldemar Bonsels and first published in 1912 . In this children's storybook, Maya and her friends (Willy the bee and Flip the grasshopper) and many other insects have a colourful life. There was Mrs. Cassandra, Maya's teacher who teaches Maya the virtues of the bee nation. The book depicts Maya's development from an adventurous, thoughtless youngster to a responsible adult of bee society. 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-Filmarchiven, and screened in Hamburg and Helsinki. The story was also adapted by Japanese Animation company Nippon Animation into the Television Series ''Mitsubachi Maya no Boken'' (みつばちマーヤの冒険) in 1975 , later aired in English on the children's television channel Nickelodeon from 1990 to 1992 as ''Maya the Bee'' alongside other anime children's series such as '' Adventures Of The Little Koala '', '' The Littl' Bits '', '' Noozles '', and '' The Mysterious Cities Of Gold ''. Biene Maja is most popular in German speaking countries. In Germany, it is among the five most recognized characters by children. It has been broadcast continuously since its premiere on German television in the mid-1970's. 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. REFERENCES
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