The Red and Black

Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Variety

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It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - Jerry Seinfeld dressed in a yellow bumblebee costume?

Crowds of people saw just that during the Cannes Film Festival in May as Seinfeld flew in the sky hanging from a wire.

All to promote his animated film from DreamWorks, "Bee Movie," Seinfeld dressed as his character for this stunt and live action trailers.

"I don't get scared by heights or imminent death. So I had a good time with it," Seinfeld said in a conference call.

"Nobody could believe I would really do it. But to me, it was just fun and crazy."

The thought of Seinfeld doing anything in the spotlight excites fans that buy past episodes of his self-titled sitcom on DVD.

Since the show's finale nine years ago, he has continued to perform stand-up across the country and write, including the script for "Bee Movie," hitting theaters today.

"This movie is really like if I had been born as a bee, what kind of things would I say and do," Seinfeld said. "I've tried to bring the same attitude and tone that I normally do to this."

The film focuses on one particular drone, Barry B. Benson, voiced by Seinfeld.

He has just graduated from college and doesn't want the inevitable job at Honex, making honey for humans. He rebels and finds friendship in Vanessa Bloome, a florist Renée Zellweger lends her vocals to.

Matthew Broderick is Benson's best friend, Adam, and Chris Rock voices a mosquito named Mooseblood.

"I usually cast people just because I think they're funny and fun to hang out with, and if I think they can do the part," Seinfeld said. "Most of these movies aren't made with the actors recording together, and that was something that I insisted upon because I like the feeling of two actors being together."

Seinfeld said the hardest part of making the film wasn't the comedy but the computer aspects.

After the success of "Shrek" and "Madagascar," DreamWorks knows its way around animation, but this was Seinfeld's first time.

"It just looked like fun, and I thought it would be an interesting way to try and do comedy for me, a different way," he said.

The cartoon aspect drives children to the theaters, but this movie contains the same sarcasm and wit Seinfeld brings to other projects.

"There doesn't seem to be any specific target audience for it - everybody seems to find it funny," he said.

"I'm very happy that I feel like this movie is really a very good companion to the type of humor that we did in 'Seinfeld,' in that, if you like comedy, you'll be able to relate to it."

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