TORONTO - Jerry Seinfeld says he's always wondered: What's the deal with bees?

The beloved comic was in Toronto on Wednesday promoting his new film, "The Bee Movie," a computer-animated production from Dreamworks about, you guessed it, bees. Not Bubble Boy, not Peterman, not the Soup Nazi - but honeybees.

"One thing people always ask me is 'Why'd you want to do a movie about bees, Jerry?"' said Seinfeld as he took the stage at a downtown theatre after charming both the media and about 100 fans on an impromptu "red carpet" that was, in fact, striped black and yellow.

"And I just thought bees were funny. They live in a small company. They have a product. They have offices. They have bosses. They have employees. They have schedules. So it seemed like a little corporation hanging from a tree, and I thought that was a good situation for a movie - you could tell a good story about what goes on in that company."

Seinfeld, 53, co-wrote the script for "The Bee Movie" and provides the voice of Barry Bee Benson, a young bee who questions whether there isn't more to life than making honey. Renee Zellweger is the voice of his human love interest - their romance begins when her character prevents him from being swatted to death by a thug with a bee allergy.

Seinfeld and the film's director played snippets of the film on Wednesday. If the laughs from the assembled crowd and the powerhouse promotional machine behind the movie are any indication, Seinfeld and Dreamworks founder Steven Spielberg will likely have a big hit on their hands when the movie goes into release on Nov. 2.

It all started, Seinfeld said, when he ran into Spielberg four years ago and told the famous director about a typically whimsical idea he'd had the previous night.

"I had this thought that it would be funny to make a movie about bees and call it 'Bee Movie' and if I hadn't seen him the next day, I'm sure I would have completely forgotten about it and the movie would never have happened," he said. "But I happened to mention it and he said: 'That is a good idea for a movie. Let's make it."'

Not surprisingly given the mighty Spielberg-Seinfeld collaboration, "The Bee Movie" boasts an all-star cast, including Chris Rock, Matthew Broderick and Kathy Bates, with funny cameos from Ray Liotta, Sting and Oprah Winfrey herself, who lends her voice as the judge who presides over Barry's attempts to sue a big honey-maker.

Seinfeld has been avidly promoting the film for months, including showing up in a bumblebee costume at the Cannes film festival in May, and NBC will have a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film to air two weeks before the release.

The show is comprised of 22 behind-the-scenes, tongue-in-cheek skits. Seinfeld showed two of them on Wednesday to loud guffaws from the assembled crowd.

Indeed, nine years after "Seinfeld" went off the air, the urbane comedian - he says he still loves doing standup more than any other form of entertainment - can still crack up the crowds.

He broke into a mini-standup routine on Wednesday, and his take on parenthood - he now has a girl and two boys - was deliciously Seinfeldian.

"I had kids late," said Seinfeld, dressed in a pink shirt, black blazer, jeans and sleek black loafers. "I was one of those guys who didn't quite get it. I'd see couples pushing strollers and I would think: 'Why would you do that? Why would you want someone living in your house who craps in their pants while they're looking you right in the eye?"'

He adds that the birthday party circuit is something he still cannot abide.

"The worst part about having kids is that they develop these so-called friendships with other little kids and you get sucked into this children's birthday party infinity wheel of hell starting over every year. I go to these birthday parties now and I envy the pinata - I wish someone was beating on me with sticks until my head fell off."

He's equally unsentimental about his "Seinfeld" years, saying there would be no "Seinfeld" movie like the "Sex and the City" movie that's currently in production in New York.

"No, I don't think so," he says almost apologetically. "It was a lot of fun, we had a great time on that show but I don't miss it. It's kind of like college - you miss it, but you don't want to go back."

He's still close to his Seinfeld castmates, however, and says they all plan to attend "The Bee Movie" premiere in November.

"They'll all be there and Michael has small part in the movie," he said. "I just saw them a few weeks ago, actually - we did a roundtable where we interviewed each other for the last DVD of Seinfeld that is coming out at the end of the year. It's great. We always have a good time."