Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The production company behind children's animated show Maya the Bee said a drawing of a penis that appeared in an episode was "a very bad joke."
Production group Studio 100 issued an statement obtained by the Hollywood Reporter on Friday addressing the image added in by one of the show's artists after the episode was removed from streaming service Netflix, which licenses Maya the Bee in the United States.
"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," production group Studio 100 said on Friday. "The origin of this image obviously results from a very bad joke from one of the 150 artists working on the production."
Studio 100 apologized to Maya the Bee viewers and promised legal action in response to the incident.
"This is indeed unacceptable to the Studio 100 Group as owner of the brand and all its partners and doesn't reflect the quality of its work and its values," the company said. "Legal action has already been started. Studio 100 very much regrets this incident and would like to offer its sincere apologies to all Maya the Bee fans. At the same time the company is taking all suitable technical measures to remedy the situation."
Studio 100's managing director, Katell France, told Variety that while the company is seeking legal action against the offending artist, a specific suspect has not yet been identified.
"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," France said.
While the issue is being settled, the production company said the scene has been recreated with the appropriate background and reinserted in a new master version of the episode that is being distribute to broadcasters.
