David Farnor | On 23, Sep 2017

The creators of Maya the Bee have apologised for the drawing of a penis that was discovering by a user streaming the show on Netflix.

The cartoon, which streams on Netflix in the UK, USA and other countries, was made in 2013. This week, though, an eagle-eyed viewer spotted an adult drawing that had been sitting in the background of the show for years. Chey Robinson posted on Facebook about the drawing, which is in Season 1, Episode 35, and the image went viral.

“Please be mindful of what your kids are watching. I did NOT edit any images whatsoever, this is ‘Maya the Bee,’ Season 1, Episode 35,” Robinson wrote. “I know I’m not going crazy and I know that something like this shouldn’t be in a kids’ show whatsoever. I’m extremely disgusted by it, there should be no reason my kids have to see something like this. I don’t know if they’re gonna do something about this or what, but there’s no reasons why this should be in this show.”

Netflix responded swiftly by removing the offending episode from the streaming site altogether. Netflix, however, does not make the show: it is produced by French company Studio 100 Animation. Now, they have issued a statement apologising to parents and children.

“An absolutely inappropriate image has been discovered in a four-second fly-by scene in one episode of the total of 78 episodes of the series,” Studio 100 said. “The origin of this image obviously results from a very bad joke from one of the 150 artists working on the production.”

Legal action has “already been started”, said the company, although its Paris-based MD, Katell France, told Variety that they were still unable to identify the artist responsible, which meant that charges have not yet been pressed.

“We are desperately searching for the person who did this, but it is a complicated task, considering the large number of people who were involved in France and Asia,” said France.

The company has recreate the scene in question with the correct background and is re-inserting it into a master that is currently being delivered to broadcasters around the world, including Netflix. Episode 35 is expected to be back up and streaming in the near future.

“Studio 100 very much regrets this incident and would like to offer its sincere apologies to all ‘Maya the Bee’ fans,” added the company’s statement.

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