L'Apemaia

I have watched few episodes of this Japanese-German cartoon from the 1970s on YouTube before. I thought I never watched any old anime TV series like that before in my entire life. It looks pretty interesting and I like it. I heard it was shown on RTÉ 2 and the ITV/BBC long time ago. Wish I watched it as a kid.

I know it is loosely based on the 1912 German children's novel by Waldemar Bonsels.

I'm sure it looks better than that silly 2010s reboot series and its films.

If you are interested in bees, you'll love this 1970s anime TV series. It isn't just for kids, you know. It is for everyone including the fans of Maya the Bee.

In German, this series was called "Biene Maya", in English "Maya the Bee". It features two young bees having adventures out and about, discovering new things and helping other insects. Among their friends are a wise grasshopper, they also encounter ants, beetles, earthworms, and some not so nice wasps and the spider Thekla.

I would say the target audience is 2 - 8 year old children. The animation is good for its age, but you do notice that the series is over 25 years old, however, it holds up very well compared to modern children's TV series, especially as the characters and story lines are well thought through.

Most 20 minute long episodes will convey values such as friendship, helping others, etc., but the messages are never too blatant.

I have been looking for this cartoon for so long. I used to watch all the time when it used to be aired on Nickelodeon (when it was still cool). I don't remember much, but I remember Maya, another bee and a grasshopper and their many misadventures. I do remember that they were mortal enemies with hornets. It was a very humble cartoon. It wasn't exciting, i wasn't overly done. A great piece of animation for the kiddies and family to enjoy!

Strong, courageous, independent, curious, brave, and FUN! Maya was all this and so much more. She was like the kids watching: discovering life bit by bit, unencumbered by preconceptions. Mistakes were bound to happen but they were never squandered, they were used instead as stepping stones to maturity.

Maya, in a sense, helped me grow up.

Also, like Vicky the Viking, Maya had gorgeous design and visuals that still feel modern today.

I am almost 40 and I'm not ashamed to confess I have the complete DVD collection at home. Extremely popular in Europe this TV show is just as charming and lovely as it was back in 1975. Maybe the animation isn't as great for today standards but it doesn't matter, it works perfectly. I don't know in other countries but here in Spain the show got even better thanks to a wonderful dubbing cast who just captured the real magic of each character. And of course we cannot forget that wonderful intro song that it's known for everybody in Spain...You only have to start singing the first lines and probably somebody will join you. Wanna try? :-)