In toon

The best: Jerry Seinfeld in "Bee Movie"

Here's an instance where the uneven DreamWorks animation got something right. Although the studio's publicity branch besieged the airwaves with so many gimmicky pre-release promotional stunts (including behind-the-scenes shorts blanketing NBC's prime time block) that some viewers must have felt it wasn’t even necessary to see the movie.

That’s a shame, since Seinfeld brought his patented gift for imbuing the mundane with a touch of the surreal to the character of Barry B. Benson, a bee fighting for honey profits from humans. His familiar riffs touched on everything from the fear of getting smacked by a rolled-up Italian “Vogue” to the cluelessness of Larry King: “I mean, really, what is the deal with Larry King?”