Animation

Barry B. Benson (voice of Jerry Seinfeld) is your average honeybee. Despite having recently received his diploma from bee college and being virtually guaranteed a bright future in honey, Barry feels he has the skills to pursue a number of different career paths and resents the fact that his employment opportunities are strictly limited to producing the sweet nectar. Upon breaking away from the hive and developing a friendship with an insect-loving New York florist (voice of Renée Zellweger), Barry makes the shocking discovery that human beings eat honey in mass quantities. Having finally found his calling in life, the infuriated Barry decides to sue the human race for stealing all of the honey that his fellow bees work so hard to produce. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are back in director Tim Hill's computer-animation/live-action hybrid following the further adventures of the world's most adorable singing trio. Songwriter Dave Seville (Jason Lee) has been struggling to gain recognition in the music industry for some time, and despite the fact that his former college roommate (David Cross) is now a high-profile powerbroker at Jett Records, Dave still can't manage to get a break. Things soon start to look up, however, when Dave discovers three singing chipmunks hiding out in the branches of a Christmas tree in Jett Records' world headquarters. Realizing that these woodland crooners cold prove to be his ticket to the big time, Dave does his best to transform Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler), and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) into the next great pop sensation. As adorable and talented as they may be, though, these bouncy little critters aren't quite domesticated just yet; they still have a wild streak in them a mile wide, and it isn't long before Dave's life, home, and career are in utter chaos. But staying mad at such lovable little creatures is next to impossible, no matter what kind of mischief they might get into. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Richard Rich, who directed several full-length animated features for Walt Disney Studios, helmed this ambitious cartoon feature about the founder of the Islamic faith. In the year 610 A.D., the city of Mecca had become overrun with criminal and immoral behavior, dominated by crooked businessmen, gamblers, and drunkards. The Quarysh, the ruling body that controlled Mecca, had been overtaken by corrupt men who served the needs of the wealthy at the expense of the common people. The lone exception among the Quarysh was the forthright and principled Abu Talib (Eli Allem), who championed the rights of the poor and disadvantaged. Abu Talib was also the guardian of Muhammad, his nephew, whose parents died when he was young. A man of deep faith, Muhammad prayed every day in a cavern on the outskirts of town, and one day he was visited by the angel Gabriel, who gave him the task of spreading a new faith to the world which would honor the one God who watched over all. Muhammad took this charge seriously and set out to tell the world of this new faith, but the men of the Quarysh were threatened by Muhammad's teachings, so much so that he was forced to exile himself to Medina in order for the new faith to survive. In accordance with Islamic law, Muhammad is never shown onscreen in this film. Muhammad: The Last Prophet was originally scheduled for release in the United States in early 2002, but following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the film was shelved in the U.S. due to widespread hostility and misunderstanding toward Muslims -- ironically, just the attitudes the film was created to confront. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide