Summary

• Bee Movie taught us about bees, love, and awkward humor, with Jerry Seinfeld apologizing for the weird relationship between a bee and a florist.
• Seinfeld used his commencement speech to stress the importance of humor in navigating life's challenges, despite any discomfort it may bring.
• Despite Bee Movie's cult status, a sequel is unlikely as Seinfeld has dismissed the idea.

Bee Movie taught audiences many valuable lessons, including the harm of bee smokers, the importance of bees to our ecosystem, and that a bee that sounds like Jerry Seinfeld can destroy a relationship and steal someone's girlfriend. Seinfeld recently addressed that last point during a commencement speech at Duke University. Bee Movie follows Barry Bee Benson (Seinfeld) as he fights for justice for all bees against the humans who steal honey, all while falling in love with Vanessa (Renée Zellweger), a local florist.

During his speech, the comedian and actor discussed topics like passion, failure, education, and using humor to make sense of the world. On that last point, Seinfeld brought up his starring role in the 2007 animated comedy Bee Movie, and addressed the film's strangest aspect. Seinfeld said:

"I made a cartoon movie about bees you may have watched as a child. If any of you felt slightly uncomfortable about the sexual undertones in the relationship between Barry the bee and Vanessa, the florist who saves his life, I would like to apologize for that now."

The line got a laugh from the audience, and the members of the University behind Seinfeld. The comedian then used that set up to make his point about the importance of humor in the world. Seinfeld continued:

"I may not have calibrated that perfectly, but I would not change it. The slightly uncomfortable feeling of awkward humor is OK. It's not something you need to fix... Not a lot of life makes sense for you to be able to survive it without humor."

Bee Movie 2 is Probably Never Happening

While it may seem inconceivable to modern audiences, considering the film's cult status in the age of the internet, but Bee Movie was not well received when it released in 2007. The film sits at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the audience score just slightly better at 53%. With the film's cult-status comes a fresh campaign for a second installment. However, Jerry Seinfeld squashed those hopes years ago. During a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA), the comedian was asked if he would be returning for Bee Movie 2. Seinfeld's answer immediately shot down the idea. Seinfeld said:

"I considered it this spring for a solid six hours. There's a fantastic energy now for some reason, on the internet particularly. Tumblr, people brought my attention to. I actually did consider it, but then I realized it would make Bee Movie 1 less iconic. But my kids want me to do it, a lot of people want me to do it. A lot of people that don't know what animation is want me to do it. If you have any idea what animation is, you'd never do it."

Jerry Seinfeld currently stars in Unfrosted, a comedy 'biopic' telling the true story of the invention of the Pop Tart. Despite a strong comedic cast, including Hugh Grant, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Burr, Christian Slater, and James Marsden, the film has failed to impress fans or critics. Unfrosted has also debuted with one of the worst openings for any Netflix movie of all-time.

Unfrosted is now available to stream on Netflix.