So, about Jerry Seinfeld's return to the screen.

He ruled the small screen, but as animated pictures go he's hardly master of his domain.

"Bee Movie" sports wonderful animation and a nicely-conceived corporate structure where bees graduate from college in 3 days and get right to work doing one of a myriad of jobs, all of which concern making honey.

Seinfeld is Barry B. Benson (get it...his initials are all Bs). is a new graduate, but he questions his job options. He yearns to be a pollen jock, which wear bomber jackets and venture out of the hive and into the various forms of danger a bee might encounter.

He meets a human woman (voiced by Renee Zellweger) and her obnoxious boyfriend (Patrick Warburton aka Putty from Seinfeld) and soon he discovers that humans (apparently led by Ray Liotta) have been stealing honey for their own selfish needs for years, and many of his kinfolk have been forced into a life of slavery to producer that sweetest of nectars.

So what does he do? He sues the human race.

It's a nice premise that contains seeds for a potentially meaningful, entertaining and funny satire of lawsuits, racism, and slavery, but Seinfeld (also a co-writer) never adequately mines the material. He instead relies on his endless supply of "what is it with..." one-liners that are often funny, but don't advance the plot.

By the end of the film our heroes are sitting on an airliner and we're really not sure why. We get stuck in Manufactured Danger mode, because the filmmakers wanted something exciting happening at the end, despite the fact that the plot naturally screeched to a complete stop about 5 minutes before.

There are several funny bits, including cameos by Sting (who Barry takes to task for his bee-infringing moniker, and Ray Liotta as a honey pitchman is amusing.

Also a fantasy sequence where Barry imagines a relationship with the human woman is hysterical.

But a few funny moments and an hour and a half of cute doesn't equal a good animated picture, no matter what the DreamWorks people try to tell you.

Bee Movie lacks any kind of subtext. The overarching message seems to be "just shut up and do what The Man wants you to do and everything will be fine."