Beebylon (partially found Swedish animated film pitch; early 2000s)

Poster for the film

Status: Partially Found

Beebylon is a Swedish film pilot by Per Umaerus and Henrik Wallgren that was pitched to Dreamworks in December 2001 ^[1] but was rejected because the script was too childish.^[2]

Plot

The young, curious bee Bix Mellifeira lives in Beebylon, a giant beehive, located under the roof tiles of the Josefsson family's house. Bees are small intelligent creatures with a sense of touch, but otherwise, they are not so different from us humans. When they leave the hive, they always have to first put on a yellow and black striped flight suit to look like we think they do. Bix is a media bee and works in the TV tower in the city sector Apodea. It is she who, during a crisis meeting at the editorial office, hatches the idea for "One with Man" - a nature program about the world's strangest animal - man. The TV show becomes a huge success and changes life in Beebylon forever. The bees are starting to imitate the behavior of humans. Queen Atabar rules in Beebylon, a strict but fair regent. She follows the filmed features of the Josefsson family with interest. In her court, however, she has the evil alderman bee Cyrus, who does everything to stop Bix Mellifeira's fantastic program.^[3]

Availability

In May 2007, two trailers for the film were uploaded in different qualities^[4] and on June 27th, 2023, a different trailer was uploaded with new clips^[5]. Attempts to contact other crews have been made, but they have not been successful. ^[6]

On November 20, 2023, Wat Zat Song? user Clydencee discovered that the beginning section of Beebylon's music matches with "Intro", by Lee Jung Hyung, which released on October 1st, 2001, at approximately seventeen seconds in, although this is just speculation.^[7] On Jan 17, 2024, animator Björn Ringholm uploaded more footage to his Youtube channel, featuring the full high quality song from his previous uploads on the topic and some behind-the-scenes clips.