Computer animated movies about talking animals hit saturation point this year. Barnyard, Over The Hedge, The Wild and on and on and on. I genuinely can’t tell you which was which and who starred in what. And I don’t care either.

But news that Jerry Seinfeld is co-writing and starring in a Dreamworks cartoon about bees got my attention. Even the title: Bee Movie made me chuckle… and is a reminder of just how lazy a title like Barnyard is.

Seinfeld stars as a bee who leave the hive and discovers that humans eat honey. So he sues us. “I think I’m bringing a different humorous sensibility to an animated movie,” Seinfeld told Newsweek. “There’s a lot of attitude in the jokes, the same way it was on the show.” So hopefully Bee Movie will have a more cynical edge to it than your average animals-talking-like-people snoozefest.

The cast sounds great, with the likes of Renee Zellweger, Chris Rock, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman and Rip Torn providing the voices. There’s even a part for Eddie Izzard, who’s surely running out of time to do something in Hollywood worthy of his talents. Maybe this will be it.

We’ll find out when Bee Movie buzzes into theaters (sorry) November 2007

If you enjoyed Team America, but found it a little too… American, then good news. Edward McHenry is busy filming a British answer to the puppet satire for Swipe Films. Jackboots on Whitehall imagines that Germany defeated England in World War II, but was then beaten back by a superior Scottish army. It’s a bit like a backwards Braveheart.

“It’s Team America in style and tone but without the strings,” Swipe’s Frank Mannion said. “We are using specially made Action Man type action figures, and purpose built models of Hadrian’s Wall, Downing Street, etc. It is a tribute to the script’s originality and to Edward’s directorial vision that we have assembled such a starry British cast lending us their extraordinary vocal and comedic talents.”

Those vocal talents include: Tom Wilkinson, Alan Cumming, Richard O’Brien, Richard E Grant, Sanjeev Bhaskar (from Goodness Gracious Me) and Rosamund Pike, who are all hard at work right now. Filming the puppets will begin early 2007.

The Simpsons Movie is getting closer every single day.

When FOX first aired the trailer during a Sunday night episode I was in a pool hall, paying no attention to the show. But as the trailer started, an awed hush descended as everyone stopped, stood and stared – pool cue in hand – at the not very big TV screen hanging in the corner. This movie is a big deal.

The teaser, trailer and unfinished scene are all inside…

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