Lodged in a strip mall between a Hooters restaurant and a Tequila Rain nightclub is the Novi, Michigan, Emagine theater complex. It's big, it's ugly, and, like nearly everything in Novi, it lives right next to the freeway.

But on Monday, the mammoth eyesore was transformed into a hotbed of  Hollywood excitement as comedian Jerry Seinfeld paid an in-the-flesh visit to Emagine to shake hands and kiss babies on behalf of his new, animated DreamWorks collaboration, Bee Movie.

Patient, affable, and engaging, the Emmy/Golden Globe winner meandered down the red carpet (which was actually charcoal gray with yellow caution tape) as a local high school marching band blasted away by the front doors. I thought their opening number, "Rock and Roll (Part 1)" was an interesting choice to promote a kid's film, as it was originally co-written and performed by a convicted child molester. But hey, that's just me.

Actually, irreverence seemed to be a theme at the event, with Seinfeld delivering a cheeky monologue before revealing scenes from the film, which stars himself, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Chris Rock, and others. "I have found that fear, threat, and intimidation work well with children," he joked, addressing a ¾-packed theater audience of press people and school children. "I didn't realize how funny it is to bop somebody over the head until I had kids. I learned a lot about their little pea brains."

It's exactly that kind of irreverence that colors Bee Movie, a tale of a worker bee (Seinfeld) who makes his way out of the hive to fall in love with a human (Renee Zellweger) and, ultimately, launches a legal crusade to stop humans from packaging and selling honey. Sounds dumb, I know, but it looks fantastic. And with silly guest spots from A-list friends like Oprah, Sting, Larry King, and Ray Liotta, it could wind up being a pretty fun little film.

And, lest you think it's all adorable kid's stuff, consider this scene: Seinfeld's character, Barry B. Benson (the bee), is swimming in his honey pool while daydreaming about the human Vanessa (Zellweger). In his vision, Vanessa picnics and flirts with him before boarding an ultralight aircraft to fly away. When Barry is roused from his dream, Vanessa crashes into a mountainside in a violent, explosive fireball.

We'll have to wait 'til November 2 to see if Bee Movie is any good. But one thing's for certain: Care Bears it ain't.   

Wendy Case is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Arts & Entertainment.