'The Bee Movie' opens Nov. 2

BY GLENN WHIPP>FILM WRITER

Jerry Seinfeld co-wrote, produced and does the lead voice in the upcoming DreamWorks animated "Bee Movie," and he felt such ownership of the material that he was there for the recording of every line of dialogue in the movie.

So you'd think Seinfeld would be the go-to guy to talk about the 82-minute film, which follows the relationship between a florist (Renee Zellweger) and a bee (Seinfeld) who becomes outraged upon learning that humans eat honey.

And he probably is. But when the subject of the movie's tone comes up, there's some disagreement between Seinfeld and co-writer Spike Feresten. The crux of the disagreement? Could Seinfeld, whose eponymous television show lived by the "no hugs, no learning" rule, actually deliver heartwarming comedy?

"We couldn't manufacture a heartwarming moment if we tried," Feresten says. "I laugh a lot when I watch this movie. And I know my heart isn't warm."

Counters Seinfeld: "I think it's sweet. Sweet, but not sappy sweet, OK? It just made for a more interesting story to take it to some different places than I've ever gone as a writer."

Feresten was one of several writers that Seinfeld employed from his TV show during the four years it took to bring "Bee Movie" to the screen. It was a long haul, much more work than Seinfeld ever imagined.

"After we finished the first draft, Jerry broke out the Cohibas and said, `Well, it's done,' and we just laughed at him," Feresten remembers. "We told him, `You have no idea of what you're getting yourself into.' "

Now that the movie is in the can, Seinfeld, 53 and the father of three, has a few minutes to light up another cigar and really celebrate.

I read where you banned any and all puns from the script. Of course, this same article made mention of the "buzz" surrounding the film.

Bee-Bay. Bee Arthur. Bee-yonce. We kept a yellow legal pad, and any time a writer came up with one, we added it to the list. Nobody wanted to go on that list. Not intentionally, anyway.

What about promotional tie-ins? If the bee is angry about people eating honey, where does that leave Honey Nut Cheerios?

We have this thing where the bee character is going to have a little sticker to put on products that have honey in them and him saying, "I've got no problem with this."

Little kids are terrified of bees. It reminds of me of "Ratatouille." Did you see that?

I live in New York City, so rats are not high on my entertainment priority list.

That's it exactly. People find rats disgusting. And bees send kids screaming.

The bee pops up quite a bit in their little world, especially in books. There's something about bees. They occupy an elevated position above the other insects. I don't know if it's the graphics or the honey or the flowers or the stinger.

After four years, you must be tired of thinking about it.

You never envision anything in life to be as much work as it actually is. You want a house? You take some wood and nails, you build a house. What's the big deal?

You didn't have to be there at every recording session.

Since it was mine and since I wrote it and I was in it, I really wanted to be involved in the recording sessions. Having written it, I knew what the intention of every scene was.

It was a lot of fun for the actors, too. We made up stuff as we went along. There's a scene with Chris Rock that was completely improvised. I started interviewing him - he's playing a mosquito - and he'd improvise answers and that's his scene in the movie.

There's a report that DreamWorks made you sweeten the tone.

It wasn't ever at DreamWorks' urging. We found those moments on our own as we were writing.

Does that mean you're getting softer?

I'm sure I am. With three kids, I've definitely softened up. The thing that I'm proudest of is that this movie has its own personality. The conversation is different, the tone is different. The animals and the humans fully engage each other. You don't usually see that in these animated movies.

With three kids, I imagine you've seen a few.

I have, yeah. Sometimes you have humans, but they don't sit and have coffee. In this movie, they do.

You've been back in New York for a few years now. You said you really feared for your sense of humor if you stayed in L.A.

I was afraid that if I continued to live in L.A., at a certain point, having good abs would really become important to me. And I thought, "Once you have really good abs, that's the end of being funny." I can't think of one funny person who has good abs.