Is there a particular message people will get out of this?
There is a message that I tried to install in there, but I don't think people are getting it. But they might, and the message is that it's really important to do your job well even if it's a small job. Because that's kind of the code of bee living. That's the way they live.
How does the writing process differ between animated movies and live action television?
The difference between a movie and a television show is that the movie is the pilot episode and the series finale rolled into one, and those are the two hardest episodes of any TV series - the first one and the last one. It's the toughest aspect of the storytelling - introduce characters, get you interested in them, take them through an interesting set of circumstances, and resolve the whole thing in a very amusing and satisfying way. It's torture and I would never do it again.
What in your life initially inspired your interest in Bees?
I crave organization, and I envy the utopian society that they have. Some of their science is fantastic - the development of the hexagon, the world's strongest geometric shape. It's used in carbon fiber in racecars and in spacecrafts. I mean, no one can improve on it.
Did you consciously modify your voice to capture the essence of a bee?
Well the only thing I did was I was a little younger. I'm 53 and he's [the character] just graduating college, so I tried not to do any hacking coughs or things that don't sound college-age.
I heard you were at dinner with Steven Spielberg when you just came out with the idea for the film. Is that accurate?
No, I made that up. It sounded good, didn't it? No, it's true, I had just come up with the idea. It wasn't an idea . just a joke really. A movie about bees called Bee Movie. And I certainly didn't have any idea for the movie. I just had the title. He liked the idea, and said, "That should be a movie." Then we went about inventing it.
You just appeared on 30 Rock. What was that like to go back to TV?
It was great. It was great to walk in, do the part, walk out and go, "Good luck with all that. You figure it out"
