Maya the Bee - Nick Knacks Episode

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Nick Jr continues it's trend as the number one spot for anime somehow with Maya the Bee, a cute little cartoon about a cute little bee girl based on a book written by a big time Nazi supporter. Uh-oh.
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[@PinkieLopBun]

Wow, thanks for the shoutout. I've loved Nick Knacks since the beginning and I'm glad I was able to contribute. I actually found more info on the show's origins through one of the sources on the German Wikipedia and I'd be surprised if it had anything to do with Hutch the Honeybee because it didn't make it to Germany until 1996. It was actually the idea of Josef Göhlen, who at the time was head of children's programming on ZDF. The characters were designed by an American artist named Marty Murphy, who had worked at Hanna-Barbera and UPA and was also a cartoonist for Playboy. (It is funny you mention the rip off thing though. When the first CGI movie came out, people on the internet that clearly knew nothing about it were calling it a Bee Movie rip off.)

[@julievaden2345]

O😅

[@jdenoe69]

I used to watch this with my Mom circa 1990-91. Thank you for covering this, Greg.

[@bullmonty764]

On a lighter note, I feel like we take for granted how much of a strangehold Haim Saban held on animation on Nick pre-Nicktoons, especially in regards to early anime

[@bluebaron6858]

What about his tokusatsu?

[@lainiwakura1776]

@@mattm7798 lmao I remember the "talking" bloodhound.

[@samwill7259]

Ironic that he's most well known for a live action franchise.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

He did. It was all about money.

[@bluebaron6858]

At least Saban didn't touch the shonen jump shows

[@CaitlynZ]

It's really good to see Maya outgrew her white supremacist upbringing. Good for her for learning and growing as an individual.

[@Poever]

She also outgrew her traditional animation upbringing for a CG reboot series decades later

[@mightyfilm]

The anime had a Hebrew dub, and it wasn't even the Saban one. Make of that what you will.

[@samwill7259]

Break the cycle, forget hate, be like Maya

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

I was especially surprised to learn that about Maya The B, since... You know. Then again, there's Tila Tequila...

[@tonberrytoby]

In Germany everybody over a certain age, and a surprisingly large proportion of younger people, remember Maya for exactly one thing. The extremely catchy theme song of the German version. Everybody knows it and nobody could tell you anything else about the show.

[@Ararig0175]

it is a bop.

[@morbidsearch]

I've heard there's a lot of bitterness in Germany over Italian dub intros getting far more attention than German ones

[@GoingRampant]

(looks it up) Yeah, I could see that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHeXhp-fiLiMmpI

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Yeah, Saban decided we Americans didn't need it. :-(

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@Dr. Quarex Germans and their grandiose ideas.

[@h0nkyJ]

Probably my earliest memories from Nick. I know my older sister loved this one, and I must've too. I can't wait for Knick Nacks to hit the huge Nick boom in '91! Great series..!

[@stvojay]

Solid episode. I watched quite a bit as a kid, amazing the presence Nick Jr had for anime back then. Looking forward to revisiting Wild & Crazy Kids on the next episode!

[@lonedragon3261]

Eagerly awaiting Welcome Freshmen. There's very little of it on KZbin but it reminded me how much I used to love it. Especially before the cast change.

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

Pull my finger!

[@therealduz-t6762]

Almost every episode is on Dailymotion uploaded by a user named “Freshman Student”.

[@CartoonsAndGameShows]

Don't remember Maya the Bee, probably cause I was born in 1990, but this was very interesting. You dive DEEP in the history and I really appreciate the time/effort you put into these. Really looking forward to your episode on Wild & Crazy Kids....

[@BluffsCastle]

The weirdest thing about Maya the Bee was that it (the book that is) was popular in Poland despite you-know-what

[@SaskRider2]

Can't wait for Wild & Crazy Kids next!

[@Mazinja]

Maya is another show that was pretty well known in latin america back when I was a child. I had no idea about the terrible undertones of the original book, sheesh. Wasn't expecting a Honeybee Hutch callback either. THAT series traumatized many a child of my generation. To paraphrase a local comedian: "every episode, Hutch would make a friend. Every episode, two friends would die horribly"

[@Undrave]

Yes! I was gonna comment on how Hutch is WAY worse than Maya! The one that stuck with me if the ep where Hutch makes friend with a mayfly who's only wish is to see the sea before dying... So they embark on a race to the sea because mayflies only live as adult for about 24 hours. The last scene is at sunset and they finally get to see the sea and Mayfly dies... ;_;

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

One of the first Nickleodeon programs I watched back when I was 5 in '92...

[@thegayghost872]

I was not expecting nazi bees in my Nickelodeon retrospective

[@Cameroo]

Naz-Bees~

[@studio366]

I did nazi it coming, either.

[@samwill7259]

Maya outgrew her racist upbringing and she's doing her best. Be like Maya

[@ivane5110]

I'm surprised that some US outfit never took the two bee cartoons and reworked them to be part of the same continuity like has been done with so many other Japanese properties. And great video; the German details especially That's what I like about this channel; you can sit down to hear about "that 80s bee cartoon" and deep-dive suddenly into politics and one of the possible roots of total global war. Very cool.

[@meyerj75]

Every time this came on, I was like, "Darn. Whatever happened to Dusty's Treehouse?"

[@princess_ama]

I think the South African dub wasn’t used in the US because goods and other things from South Africa were often boycotted in the 80s and early 90s as a way to protest apartheid.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

That'll do it.

[@arlequinelunaire418]

Another example was Glomgold in the original DuckTales not being given a South African accent (sorry for the late reply)

[@carmineknight9123]

Loved to learn about this!!

[@mrbanks456]

Had no idea how much history this bee girl has. I went down a rabbit hole when I discovered the CG Heidi series and now hear I am.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

It all goes back to Europe!

[@angelawildman122]

Love this channel! It was Nick Jr. that made me an anime fan!

[@mightyfilm]

I often wonder what other anime Nick Jr. could have aired. I'm completely convinced the "Albert and Sydney" dub of Doraemon was intended to sell to the channel, but was refused by Nick's heads. Anyway, I've noticed that with these anime based on European stories/comics, there's usually a Western made sequel series. Maya isn't the only CGI remake series. Little Viking Vikke also followed up with a CGI series and movies, also based on the Japanese designs. And it's weird that Samurai Pizza Cats shares a lot of voice actors with Arthur, isn't it? I've noticed some Saban dubs use that same dubbing pool also utilized by Cinar.

[@PinkieLopBun]

I kinda wonder if Saban attempted to sell Button Nose to Nick Jr. They dubbed it in 1994, but that was the year Nick Jr. started to invest more in original programming, so they probably wouldn’t have been interested. I also read once that the 1990 Moomin anime was supposed to air on Nick Jr., but I haven’t found anything to back that up. I don’t think it would have been out of place though.

[@bluebaron6858]

I wonder why the Canadian actors stopped being used and Saban started using the LA talent pool for honey bee hutch and eagle riders etc

[@mightyfilm]

@@PinkieLopBun Anpanman would have been perfect for the line up. It was a preschool series to begin with, after all. Most of the shows they pursued seemed to not be very successful in their home country. Plus, i always liked how during the early 00's anime boom, Nick refused to pick up any licenses for the main channel (some did eventually pop up on Nicktoons), but they were a staple in those early days. Guess when they were the cheaper alternative to developing a show on their own it was okay, though.

[@eliaveloso1869]

@@PinkieLopBun Same here,I have always wondered if Saban tried to sell Button Nose to Nick Jr back in 1994 too.Some of the shows on Nick Jr back in 1994-1995 were not original at the time.Nick Jr was still airing European/Canadian cartoons along with Lassie and Muppet Babies at the time.Heck I remember seeing Lil Bits being on Nick Jr as late as 1994-1995 until Papa Beaver’s Storytime took it’s place (French/Canadian cartoon).Maybe there was no room for Saban to put Button Nose on Nick Jr or maybe Saban was trying to put it on local syndication on local stations for dead time slots on weekend mornings (6:00am-7:00am time).

[@Cameroo]

Never really watched the show but the lead character designs were really charming. Thanks again for the great retrospective!

[@SpongeyTheEditor]

The first time I ever heard of Maya was through the reboot';s movie called "Maya the Bee Movie". No guesses as to what my mind went to based on the last two words lol

[@PinkieLopBun]

You weren’t the only one to think of that.

[@PublicDomainArchive1]

Maya the bee won't be public domain until next year in Germany. Its Waldemar Bonsels died in 1952.

[@BJWanlund]

Oooooh NICE. The next episode is a show I watched INCESSANTLY and still love to this day!

[@gatorboymike]

Even though I watched Nickelodeon and my brother watched Nick Jr. starting in 1991, I never saw this show or even any commercials for it. In fact, the first time I ever heard of Maya the Bee was in the 2010s, when I was watching Pat the NES Punk's videos. He started singing the Maya theme song whenever he suffered a crippling blow to his mental health.

[@MikeLovesRabbit]

"I hope you like dizzy baseball" BOY DO I

[@yubnub1]

I loved that show when I was a kid. I glad you finally did an episode on Maya the Bee. You're great! I don't care about the Nazi-like past of Maya because I will not allow that spoil my childhood or my love I have for the character. I am that isn't the case and I got to know Maya the Bee the way it is now. BTW, just about every fictional character in the world got a bit of a dark history.

[@vgtrp]

And here I thought Ren and Stimpy would be the next video with a controversial creator, silly me. Anyway, I enjoyed the show as a kid, and hopefully it will get a proper home video or streaming release.

[@Phoenix85006]

Loved this show!

[@Jangobadass]

"Before Toonami, before 4Kids, before Saturday Anime, the #1 spot for Japanese animation on American television was Nick Jr. of all places" I wonder how many otaku's heads are going to explodes hearing that...👀

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

No, we had anime elsewhere before here.

[@JamesLewis2]

@@ChristopherSobieniak, I think that quote meant the leading or primary outlet for anime in the US, not the first place it was ever aired in the country; I too am aware that Speed Racer aired in syndication before Nickelodeon existed.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

@@ChristopherSobieniak did the first Astro Boy anime air on NBC?

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@SlapstickGenius23 Not really. It was syndicated by NBC's film division to any station that wanted to run it, but was not a network show.

[@slashingkatie7872]

I do wonder if Maya was the inspiration for Vi the Bee from Bug Fables who was a rebellious bee who left her hive to adventure with other bugs.

[@itsjayden8002]

The theme song is kinda fire 🔥 🔥 🔥

[@joeyphillips6597]

I never really watched this show much as a kid, just wasn't my thing, but the theme song was so memorable and catchy. great work as always. Can't wait for the next one.

[@bluebaron6858]

Saban also dubbed the honey bee hutch show as well and I think the main character was voiced by Joshua Seth, tai from digimon.

[@jbanks979]

Honestly all of these are so fascinating. Would never have guessed a show with a theme song that catchy coming from such a dark place.

[@angelinacamacho8575]

Wasp fact: wasps will steal honey from bees and will kill them if necessary.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Now we know.

[@mewdreamer]

This is another show that I apparently watched when I was little, but I have no memory of it. My parents brought up Maya the Bee as something that I'd watch on Nick Jr. Although, hearing the theme song felt vaguely familiar. I don't think I've watched the intro on KZbin before, but it just felt like it was tapping into those old memories. I also wasn't expecting the series to be loosely based on a book or for the book to be full of nationalism.

[@weirdotzero7065]

Nick Jr walked so Toonami can run.

[@garnetmuganda5851]

you also had the sifi channel and brodcast sydication and harmony gold dubs on brodcast

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@garnetmuganda5851 You can see how history unfolded.

[@WDCallahan]

I was aware of this series, but never watched it. However, I have read the book in translation and it was beautiful!

[@TheItachiIshtar]

Given how anti-Semitic Waldemar Bonsels was, it's kinda ironic that the producer of the English dub of the original Maya the Bee TV series would be Haim Saban, who is Jewish.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

To him, I'm sure it was a business and didn't bat an eye at the content as long as he had something to sell.

[@lainiwakura1776]

For the longest time I thought it was Myra the Bee... Also yay, Wild and Crazy Kids!

[@angelinacamacho8575]

I thought it was Maya and the bee

[@LikaLaruku]

Never realized it before, but this anime has a strong 50s/60s influenced art style. Might as well have been done by UPA.

[@PinkieLopBun]

The characters were actually designed by someone who worked at UPA.

[@SuperCrazyDiscoKangaroo9001]

Pretty sure based on local TV Schedules from that time, it aired on a local channel in Sydney, Australia in the mid 1980s and yes its the South African version.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

It’s a pretty weird thing that a classy South African English dub of a Japanese-German coproduction aired on regional Australian tv. Never mind the fact that despite how infamous Apartheid still is, it first aired in South Africa, mainly because of South African Gen Xers not knowing it was an anime show of the book.

[@t.w.mackay11]

17:02 I'd recognize that voice anywhere! Willy in Japanese was voiced by Masako Nozawa, the voice of Goku, Gohan, and Goten in Dragon Ball and DBZ!!!

[@daveybelladonna9295]

Wild & Crazy Kids, now we're talking!

[@Mafon2]

I liked it as a kid.

[@steakysteaky6]

small correction: Studio 100 is actually based in Belgium

[@mikesilva3868]

Saw this show on. Nick jr on Nickelodeon I was 7 in 1991 until I was 8 in 1992 great tv series 😎

[@JetstreamGW]

"Who you might recognize... Sardo from _Are You Afraid of the Dark..."_ First off, how dare you, that's Sardô, (no Mister), accent on the dô! :P Secondly, Sardô was the best character on that show, bar none. :D I even used him as an NPC in a TTRPG I was running.

[@mr.tomraypaz6085]

I do remember Maya The Bee.

[@jamesmoss3424]

Maya the bee 🐝 is still around today. 😀👍

[@emerickscott]

i love the series. I still can't understand why when autoplay is set, it doesn't go to the next episode. It just goes to something random. After this one, it should be #92, but I guarantee it won't.

[@candidgamera]

Wow. Had no idea about the dark origin of Maya the Bee, of all things.

[@samwill7259]

Not the last Nick cartoon about a small, light haired girl, starting with an M and ending in Bee Aight that coincidence something?

[@CoreyCrookz]

The Mighty B!

[@EmperorSeth]

Can you imagine the emotional wishlash this episode would have caused if you didn't warn us in that last episode's preview? Yikes!

[@sebastianmoreno5814]

Maya the Bee being written by a pro Nazi dude. Did not see that coming. The thing with the wasps. Like, I hate wasps but did the dude had to describe them like he was talking about marginalized people? Like, yikes. Though the show itself looks cute admittedly.

[@Montork]

this was a fave as a kid. like, big fave.

[@NoahFineburgh]

For some reason I thought this would be skipped. I loved the theme song. It’s a kids cartoon but after looking at these Anime kids shows. Maya just holds up.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Check out Vickey The Viking, you'll live it!

[@Lynn17]

I mostly remember this show for the theme song and not the plot.

[@TimeStudyQuinn]

I like how you called it Captain N: The Gay Master

[@samfeldstein4498]

How many more shows of 1990 do we have left?

[@doublec3]

I don’t understand why there’s no other 90’s episodes like this one anymore. The newer ones aren’t as good. It’s a real shame you can’t watch this older version..

[@darktetsuya]

uh yeah massive yikes on the whole book thing, wow. but I do remember seeing this one on occasion. may have to look up an episode or two!

[@GoingRampant]

I imagine there's something to be said about Saban being Israeli and the subversion of Nazi themes here, but I'm not sure what point to make other than, "Huh. That's a connection."

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Saban just picked whatever looked sellable, edited and redubbed the plots and handed them off on TV channels like it was nothing.

[@angelinacamacho8575]

"Whose a friendly little bee...created by a nazi?"

[@DirtiestDMusic]

Okay, a preemptive question about Wild & Crazy Kids: I swear I remember seeing an episode of the show that ends with the revelation that it was all a dream in the minds of the hosts. What was this? The end of the pilot episode? The end of the SERIES? I'm desperate to learn the context for this if possible. Childhood me couldn't believe that a game show of all things went for the "it was all a dream" ending.

[@BotmanR]

I think that may have been the ending to the Cowboy/Rodeo themed episode? Not sure.

[@Showsni]

Had no idea the original book had such a disturbing history. Glad to see the franchise moved away from that!

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Yep, none of this! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKGle6aMrJVjZtk

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

19:39 That's Sardo. No mister, accent on the O

[@beipiaosaurus]

Another interesting entry. I liked the show as a kid, but don't remember the mouse character at all. I had an insect collection (turning to powder in the garage as we speak) and was a fan of field guides, so the nature facts were no doubt appealing. I do find it ironic that in trying to show better ethics, the story ends up being less logical for its society of invertebrates.

[@Montork]

these candian vas did so so many characters.. hearing them i can lit remember like 10 different chars each.

[@bluebaron6858]

Samurai pizza cats comes to mind for me

[@Montork]

@@bluebaron6858 i think of the wizard of oz anime style series.. and the little flying bears.

[@phill1830]

Is there a place that has all the episodes in the Haim Saban dub? I see you have many clips in great quality from different episodes.

[@Clay3613]

I didn't know this existed, I have an ex named Maya who dressed as a bee once...

[@MissAshley42]

I never got beyond the theme song on this one. It was a bop, but it signaled that the show itself may be too "kiddy" for my discerning, 9-year-old tastes. I had no idea the property had such a. . .wild backstory. Woof. (Side note: What's with that CG version? It looks like a daytime TV ad for an antidepressant.)

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Well, Europe loves it.

[@Undrave]

Fun little callback to a previous video: Remember Nathalie Simard from that Going Great episode? Well she sang Maya the Bee's theme song for the French Canadian broadcast!

[@PinkieLopBun]

Oh yeah, she did (except she was on Going Great, not Spread Your Wings).

[@Undrave]

@@PinkieLopBun Oops! Fixed it!

[@misterzygarde6431]

I’m surprised that the book that Maya the Bee is based on was realistic

[@RainbowMilk1996]

I forget that Saban used Canadian-based voice casts as much as LA-based casts. I don't know why tho.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Probably a union thing if they wanted to avoid using US voice talent.

[@RainbowMilk1996]

@@ChristopherSobieniak I noticed that whenever Saban used Canadian talent, the cast usually gets credited for what role, meanwhile LA voice actors either don't get credit at all or are just listed in alphabetical order w/out crediting their role.

[@PKSandman]

Next time: My crazy, crazy dreams get explained! Oh boy...

[@RobobTheGreat]

3:27 *South African dub...because any other dub got a copyright strike.

[@hella_lugosi]

South African Willy The Bee sounds like Strong Sad

[@theblarneystone1023]

Is this original broadcast? If yes, then why is the audio so bad?

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I'm sure these are VHS rips from personal collections.

[@likeanyonecaresabouthandles]

As mentioned in the video, the Saban dub of Maya The Bee is a victim of Keep Circulating The Tapes. The show has not been seen on television ever since it left Nickelodeon airwaves in 1992. One of the only way that episodes have been saved up for preservation is through old VHS recordings of those TV airings…which doesn’t always have the best HD quality. There were also 3 official VHS tape episode compilations of Maya The Bee’s Saban dub (made by Video Treasures), but these tapes are very rare, and can reach prices of $300+ when they hit the auction websites. Tape #2 has been uploaded to KZbin. The other 2 tapes have not.

[@sawbonesquad4876]

22:10 That's a small problem with a lot of children's shows that have a(non-anthro) animal cast I feel.

[@leegoldsmith2028]

Why did that spider have a human face?

[@IloveGucio]

To this day I cant believe Gucios english name is Willy 😓

[@WDCallahan]

It's sar-DO! No 'mister', accent on the DO.

[@TheEman590]

I was waiting for someone to say that! My sister and our friends loved Are You Afraid of the Dark.

[@evanhernandez1820]

Has anyone talked about how catchy the Saban intro is?!

[@scott6902]

Yo I don’t even comment on videos. But I was watching some videos at work, and this came on. I can’t tell you how bad this show was. Just the theme song as a child made me go outside or turn on the NES. it’s even more bad now that I know it’s nazi propaganda. SMH.😂😂😂

[@Tacom4ster]

Cool episode, I hope for Verhoeven to do a reboot

[@chrisjt86]

19:39 It's Sar-DO!

[@VahanNisanian]

So it seems the voicework in the Nickelodeon version was recorded in Canada. Wild & Crazy Kids is next.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Saban always did that, it's either Montreal or some LA studio.

[@firerrhea1086]

Kids show nostalgia or hardcore activism? Kinda weird this upload is combining the two... probably should keep that separate

[@resmith29]

Big fan of channel STOKED FOR WILD N CRAZY KIDS1111