Hutch is a small honeybee who got separated from his mom when his home was destroyed by invading wasps, and he now desperately wants to find her back. It's the beginning of an adventure that will make him meet all kinds of friendly insects who try to help him out, but unfortunately for most of them, they will not survive the end of the episode...
It is difficult to review a series like Hutch the Honeybee. One has to consider that in Europe and America the series was heavily edited with almost 1/3rd of the episodes missing. Only 65 episodes were broadcast, yet instead of concluding the first series finale, they added on top of it episodes from the 1974 series too, changing it and making it less dramatic.
In Europe series had another problem. Maya the Bee was already super popular since the 70s-80s and Hutch was shown in the mid-90s. Despite being older than Maya the Bee, there was no way it could hope to surpass it
in popularity, despite featuring even more episodes than Maya. Add also the edits, the later arrival and this series seemed like an inferior copy of Maya and was not as well remembered. Btw the Japanese voice actress of Aya in the second series was also the voice of Maya the Bee!
A review based on the Japanese unedited version will have to scrap the anime most remember in their childhood, making it necessary to rewatch it in its entirety. This also does away with the feeling of nostalgia, because I review it as an adult
First let me add some facts:
I got the mux of the Italian dub. Series contained 91 episodes. I counted how many episodes did not include a dub: 31!
31 episodes were edited out of a 91 episodes series, more than 1/3rd! Though I noticed some episodes not translated to Italian, had an Arabic dub.
All episodes are sad and serious for a kids series but in this case they had to omit the episodes with the more controversial topics.
Though this was not the sole reason. In some cases there was a continuity issue where an episode showed excerpts from a cut episode, so there was no way they could dub it.
This affects the background story of a major side character later on, since one episode devotes some background info on him.
Some other cut episodes include content that would have caused quite a reaction on European and American TV.
-kids and adults beating the elderly
-a son killing his father
-girls and boys that become friends with Hutch, die
-parents dying in front of their children
-children dying in front of their parents
-mc sometimes becoming too violent himself
-boy hitting his father
-characters getting tortured or dying while working as slaves
-a girl getting beaten and robbed, yet she lies in order to protect the guy that did this to her.
-predatory birds dying a violent death due to electrocution
-genocide mainly caused by human intervention, eg pesticides, child insect collectors, road work, pollution, bags made out of insects etc
-an insect child, successor to the throne, getting born with mental disability because of a prank
-bees revering a bee keeper as their god, even showing their angel souls rising up
-a mother torturing her fragile and bullied child to make it tough
-in one episode I noticed that the dub toned down the voices of some wasps that were heard to be eaten by spiders. In the original, actors screamed with all their might, making it more similar to a horror movie!
1974 series has some cruel episodes too, especially in the beginning, though series is not as good, lasting only 26 episodes and with a rushed ending too. Introducing a rival there did not work out as well.
Overall it would have been an emotional rollercoaster for a child to watch such a cruel series. Even as an adult I had to shut off my emotions in many cases. This was simply too much.
One reason such a series would never be shown today, especially in its entirety.
To the particulars:
(Animation,design, art):
for a 1970s series and with so many episodes, they had to make some concessions to everything. Character design though is very good and charming, never failing to win the viewers sympathy. Even as an adult I liked some of the characters. As a child that loved insects, I'd have adored it. 1974 series is significantly better in that department, though with less episodes. But one has to take into account that they tried to portray the various birds, some insects, animals (dogs, cats, rats, moles, bats etc), snakes, and lizard predators as realistically as they could.
Music, sfx, dialogue:
This is what makes the series shine. This has to be one of the best 70s series in that regard. All dialogues are full of expression and transfer the character's suffering to the viewer, both old and young. Music is also very touching and dramatic where need...bee. It can become lyrical too, like it happened with many 70s kids series. Sfx are well taken care off. The predators especially the birds have their own distinct creaks and they even added cicadas and the sounds of human tools are also heard. You can hear the background sfx like crickets at night too.
Story:
With very few exceptions, most episodes are standalone. Despite the big number of 91 episodes, very few were boring or uninteresting. Every episode had something new to offer and as one would expect, most would end up in a dramatic or tragic way. No setting remains static, character travels through various places, interacting with the insect world and experiencing the cruelty both from insects, humans and other animals. In the end series gets a proper conclusion. One reason I thought the sequel was really unnecessary, still it was decent so as not to ruin the first series.
Characters:
MC is Hutch, his mother and later his sister Aya. In the sequel they also add a ladybug and a rival, a wasp boy. Still I preferred the fewer character of the first series. I liked Hutch because unlike other kids series, he is by no mean perfect. He has his shortcomings and occasionally is revengeful and laughs with the suffering of others. Yet in the end he always manages to reconcile with others and himself via all the suffering and cruelty. I think this is the most important lesson the series gives and it was so tragically edited and changed in the dub.
Overall:
I would recommend the series, problem is to whom.
-Viewers of the old edited series will want to remember it as they saw it, without many tragic scenes and a different ending, although the true one. A better alternative would be to watch other Tatsunoko series like Demetan or Pinocchio, since they at least remained unedited in the dubs.
-Kids? It is way too heavy, tragic and serious for kids today and so out of touch with today's cartoons and anime. Plus that design and animation will seem too crude. For older cartoons, Mr Bug goes to Town is a much better option and of course the obvious choice, Maya the Bee, that is far less violent.
Best option would be the first "documentary" , the 1920s movie of Maya the Bee with real insects!
-Viewers interested in old Japanese animation without edits? Only in this case will I recommend it. Notice that so far those episodes are untranslated and will likely remain so for a long time.
Series served its purpose showing the 70s kids about the toughness and cruelty characters had to face, mainly with Hutch but also with Demetan the Frog. Yet in the end they always had hope and looked forward. In a sense Hutch, unlike Demetan, came far too late, almost 20 years later. TV landscape had changed and it was one reason this shock factor would not work out, hence it was edited.
If you want to see what is the difference between a Japanese and an American or European kids series, you have just to look for the first series of Hutch the Honeybee.
Strangely enough, this series has a long history with a sequel, remade movie in 2010, and a spinoff. The studio that made this was Tatsunoko Production, a long standing studio that is still in the industry today. Ippei Kuri, the man whom co-founded the studio, was the lead episode director and series production director worked along with another now-veteran anime industry man by the name of Yoshiuki Tomino or better known as the man behind all things Gundam. Unfortunately, at the time of this review only four known episodes of the show were able to be found. However, they really show off why the show
was quite good for 1970.
For a show aimed at young children, this anime is actually quite violent, depressing, and has many sad undertones. Honeybee Hutch starts out with a scene depicting the entire bee hive being attacked by a swarm of swaps that proceed to murder everyone, stand over the corpses, and drink their honey. The bee queen somehow escapes leaving the bodies of her children behind. A sole female worker bee from another hive (whom also escaped a genocide of her own) happens upon a single egg left and raises this bee as her own among her 9 other children. However, Hutch is different because he is not part of the hive. The other kids bully him and isolate him constantly. Hutch inevitably is told by his pseudo-mother he is actually an orphan, so an upset Hutch sets out on an adventure to find his real bee mother.
Each of the other episodes follows a formula in which Hutch will befriend another insect such as a child grasshopper and by the end of the episode another insect or creature higher of the food chain will murder/eat said insect Hutch has befriended. For example, the child grasshopper’s parents are eaten by a lizard in front of Hutch and the child with half the corpses hanging out of the lizard’s mouth. Despite the constant death and destruction surrounding Hutch, he remains a hopeful optimistic idiot which the viewer can’t help but feel for.
Character art is quite reminiscent of a cross between an old Disney and warner bros cartoon, and yet Hutch’s face and expressions usually makes him seem “special” most of the time. Music plays a huge role in the show. It always matches the mood of the scene ever changing and adapting including most insects knowing how to play an instrument leading to episodes focused around that character. Watching the 2010 remake movie is evidence of these things.
Much of the show can be compared to the movie “A Bug’s Life” how the insects interact with each other and world such as children insects using a shape of a leaf as a slide. No doubt that movie took a lot from this show.
Overall, based on what was seen and little understood language wise, events and character expressions show the viewer more than enough to understand what is happening. That says a lot to the caliber of Honeybee Hutch. It is a real shame more episodes could not be found because it was actually pretty good despite coming out in 1970.