The Buzz About Bee Movie

Jerry Seinfeld talks about work, family and the impossibility of always balancing both.

by Amy Crelly

Jerry Seinfeld is back this month, with his first major project since his self-titled sitcom. The stand-up comedian’s new CG animated Bee Movie took him into brand new territory, but that’s exactly why he wanted to do it. In addition to writing the screenplay and serving as co-producer, Seinfeld also voiced the lead character, Barry B. Benson.

Barry rejects the drudgery of a life-long career in honey (the only career choice available to the bees in Barry’s hive) to make his own way in the world. When Barry encounters a cute Central Park florist named Vanessa (played by Renée Zellweger), the two become friends, and Barry quickly discovers a bunch of surprising facts about human beings, including this shocker: People steal bees’ honey! Determined to fight this form of exploitation, Barry decides he’ll do what any civilized modern bee would do: He’ll sue!

SP: What made you decide to become involved in a family movie?

JS: I didn’t think of it as a family movie. To me it was just a funny movie and an interesting format to work in. I was very interested in the look of CG animation, and I just kind of wanted to maybe give it a little different sound in terms of the writing and the attitudes of the characters.

SP: What will adults find in this film?

I think the comedy is a little different than they may have seen in other animated films, and I think it’s a little more similar to the kind of comedy that I do in the show [Seinfeld]. Not that it’s—It’s never risqué in any way, but just the tone of it, I guess, the humor in my show is somewhat—You’ll find it’s a similar feel in the movie.

One thing we found, in showing the movie to grown-ups and children, [was] that the children seem to get more into it, and the grown-ups are worried that the kids won’t get it because it’s smart. And the kids are getting it… The parents don’t understand that their kids are smarter than they think.

SP: Have your kids gotten a chance to see the movie?

I think they haven’t seen the whole thing, yet, and I think once they do… they’re going to really like that their dad is a bee…

SP: Do your kids appreciate your sense of humor, or are they too small yet?

No, they do. I have no trouble reducing myself to their level. Comedians tend to be very juvenile, and I love to kind of play games the way they play them and kind of act like they act. That’s fun for me.

SP: What are some of your favorite family activities?

[I like] putting all the kids on the bed and then trying to roll them all up in a blanket…And then piling them all up on top of one another. And I like giving them horsy rides. I like making up funny, crazy games... I like hitting them in the face with a pillow. I like when they push me in the pool. I like looking at them underwater. They’re very cute underwater.

SP: It sounds like you’re a pretty involved Dad… How do you balance work and family?

Well, the answer for me is: I am unable to. And, as a result, I’m not going to work as much after this because I have worked a lot in my life and now I want to make my family more important.

So, after this movie, I don’t know if I’m going to do anything for a while besides perform stand-up which doesn’t require that much time. You know, you can go out for a night or two and come home.

Bee Movie opens in theaters November 2.