It’s time for another story and this one is as cute as the others but involves some buzz; some bee buzz! By now you most certainly have seen these little two bees in the Zoobe shop, but you might not know too many things about them. Maya, the cute bee, and her friend Willy, want you to know their story: how they were brought to life, where else you can see them, what they are doing in the Zoobe app and how they can help you create the most beautiful and unique messages. Are you in?
About Maya and Willy
Previously, we have shared with you the stories of Paddington and Om Nom. If you liked them, we are sure you’ll love the sweet bees too. Maya the Bee has a long history. She is the main character in the German book, comic book and animated TV series “The Adventures of Maya the Bee”. The animated films are based on a book written by Waldemar Bonsels in 1912. You didn’t expect this, right? That means they were created more than 100 years ago.
The stories show the little bee and her friends, including Willy, living adventures in the nature and facing difficult situations in a life of a bee.The book presents Maya's development from an adventurous kid to a responsible adult member of the bee society. Right from the beginning we realize that Maya is not a common bee – she has all kinds of questions and doesn’t want to obey the unwritten rules she doesn’t understand.
Maya loves freedom and decides to live in the meadow by herself, unlike other bees that choose to live in the hive. She is good, fair, happy, fearless, ready to help everybody and enjoys sleeping in a flower, under the stars.
Maya is very adventurous, and this often causes problems but she gracefully escapes all of them. She is the most popular and most influential person in the meadow while her friend Willy always follows her. But, unlike Maya, Willy is lazy, clumsy, loves food and he can be cowardly and sometimes even jealous. However, generally, he’s a good bee and a loyal friend. He tries to protect Maya, but most of the times, the adventurous bee is the one who saves him. Maya thinks that Willy is super lazy, but he's “the best friend in the world”. Willy is always by her side when she goes on adventures to discover new beautiful spots in the meadow.
With such a success, it was inevitable that companies would take advantage of the demand and started producing and selling Maya the Bee merchandising. Many were produced between 1976 and 1986 and included toys, porcelain, books, comics and even a Kinder Surprise Eggs campaign. Later on, in 1999, games featuring Maya and Willy were launched and continued to upgrade until nowadays.
Maya in the Zoobe app
In March 2014, Maya the Bee – the movie was launched and was a big success for kids of all ages. Just one month later, Maya and Willy have joined the Zoobe family, to be closer to you: not just on a TV screen, but in your own phone, borrowing your voice and meeting your friends.
And they were a hit from the start. In the Zoobe app, you can choose to use Maya or Willy, both of them having different options and backgrounds: the Happy Birthday one, enjoying the sun and freedom background or even both of them in the same screen, one of them being in the behind, listening to what the other friend has to say.
These are great characters to use for wishing your friend Happy Birthday, sending spring messages or sharing different videos with your BFF – just because you are best friends – you don’t need a reason for that, don’t you?
If you still want to watch more videos, check out this Maya and Willy playlist. Don’t forget to tell us in the comments what other Zoobe character you’d like to know more about and we’ll make sure your wish is being fulfilled.