Over the Moon is a 2020 animated musical fantasy comedy film directed by Glen Keane and co-directed by John Kahrs, from a screenplay by Audrey Wells. The film was produced by Pearl Studio and Netflix Animation, and animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks. It stars the voices of Cathy Ang, Phillipa Soo, Ken Jeong, John Cho, Ruthie Ann Miles, Margaret Cho, and Sandra Oh. The plot follows an adventurous girl named Fei Fei, who builds a rocket ship to meet the mythical goddess on the Moon Chang'e.
Janet Yang, a film producer, conceptualized Over the Moon's story as a modern retelling of the Chang'e myth, on which Wells based the screenplay; after Wells' death in 2018, additional screenplay material was provided by Alice Wu and Jennifer Yee McDevitt. Keane, a veteran animator from Walt Disney Animation Studios, marked his feature directorial debut with Over the Moon, and took a research trip to Shanghai in order to accurately depict Chinese culture for the film. Although initially written as a non-musical, Keane thought of using music to advance the film's story, for which he hired three Broadway musical composers to write Over the Moon's original songs, and midway through production, Keane's former Disney collaborator John Kahrs was recruited as co-director. Staunchly dedicated to the film's production, Keane later stated that "I've never worked on a film that I'm more proud of".
Over the Moon was first shown at the Montclair Film Festival on October 17, 2020, followed by its release on Netflix and in select theaters on October 23. The film earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature Film, and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 93rd Academy Awards. It is the final film Wells worked on before her death and was dedicated to her memory.
Contents
Plot
A girl named Fei Fei is being told the legend of the Moon goddess Chang'e who took a potion for immortality, causing her to become a goddess and ascend to the Moon without her lover Houyi, and waits for him there. In preparation for the annual Moon Festival, Fei Fei, a 5 year old, and her family make mooncakes for the village. However, Fei Fei's mother falls ill, and gives her daughter a white rabbit named Bungee. She passes away when Fei Fei is 7.
Fei Fei, now 11, who still believes in Chang'e four years after her mother’s death, is upset when she learns that her father is engaged to Mrs. Zhong, and is annoyed by her energetic 8 year old son, Chin, who has a pet frog. Fei Fei's family joins them for the Moon Festival celebration, and Mrs. Zhong brings up the topic of Chang'e. When a debate sparks over whether she is real, Fei Fei asks her father to confirm that she is. When he hesitates to answer, a distraught Fei Fei runs up to her room. Inspired by a crane, she decides to build a rocket to the Moon to prove that Chang'e is real. She designs a rocket that resembles a Chinese paper lantern in the shape of a rabbit that uses fireworks to boost her speed. Her rocket almost succeeds until she realizes that Chin snuck aboard her rocket and they begin to crash to Earth. Suddenly, the rocket is captured in a mystical beam of energy and taken to the Moon. They crash-land after being beset by 2 friendly winged guardian lions, who then rescue them and take them to Lunaria.
They are introduced to Chang'e and her backup dancers, the Lunettes. Chang'e tells Fei Fei that she was supposed to deliver a gift for Chang'e to bring Houyi back. Fei Fei takes a photo with Chang'e to prove she is real, but Chang'e takes the photo from Fei Fei and demands the gift. Fei Fei doesn't know what she is talking about, and a frustrated Chang'e announces a competition to find her gift before the last of the moondust falls. Fei Fei gets upset with Chin and leaves him, getting a ride with the Biker Chicks to the crash site. Chin sees some Lunettes with the photo and is captured by Chang'e who demands the location of the gift. Chang'e challenges Chin to a game of ping pong to learn the location of the gift, but Chin wins, further upsetting Chang'e. Chang'e cries in despair that she will never see Houyi again. While Chin is trapped in a chamber by Chang'e, Bungee follows the Jade Rabbit into his workplace. Meanwhile, Fei Fei and the Biker Chicks head to her rocket's crash site, where the former meets an exiled Lunarian named Gobi. She discovers her Chang'e doll, which she suspects to be the gift, but the Biker Chicks snatch the doll and leave Fei Fei and Gobi behind.
Voice cast
Cathy Ang as Fei Fei, a 11-year-old (12 at the end of the film) girl who believes in Chang'e ever since the loss of her mother.
Brycen Hall as young Fei Fei.
Robert G. Chiu as Chin, Mrs. Zhong's 8-year-old son (9 at the end of the film) and Fei Fei's stepbrother.
Phillipa Soo as Chang'e, the mythical Moon goddess who yearns to be with her true love Houyi again. The outfits worn by Chang'e in the film were designed and created by haute couture Chinese designer Guo Pei.
Ken Jeong as Gobi, a pangolin Lunarian and former royal advisor who was exiled a thousand years ago.
John Cho as Ba Ba, Fei Fei's father.
Ruthie Ann Miles as Ma Ma, Fei Fei's late mother.
Sandra Oh as Mrs. Zhong, Ba Ba's new fiancée, later wife and Fei Fei's stepmother.
Margaret Cho as Auntie Ling, one of Fei Fei's aunts.
Cho also voices Gretch, one of the Biker Chicks.
Kimiko Glenn as Auntie Mei, another one of Fei Fei's aunts.
Glenn also voices Lulu, one of the Biker Chicks.
Artt Butler as Uncle, Fei Fei's uncle.
Butler also voices Bill, one of the Biker Chicks.
Irene Tsu as Grandma, Fei Fei's grandma.
Production
On September 26, 2017, Pearl Studio (then known as Oriental DreamWorks) hired Audrey Wells to write the script for the film called Over the Moon, which was based on an idea by Janet Yang to retell the classic Chinese myth of Chang'e, a goddess on the Moon, through the story of a young girl who wished to prove her existence. On February 6, 2018, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film and Glen Keane was set to direct. However, during this, Audrey Wells died in 2018. The film was dedicated in Audrey Wells' memory.
While studios like Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar have become known to use groups of people known as the Braintrust and Story Trust to help with the script, Keane said that "Creative decisions here aren’t made by committee". Steven MacLeod, a storyboad artist for DreamWorks Animation, served as the film's head of story.
The city of Lunaria was inspired by the cover of Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon and the paintings of Joan Miró. Animation was provided by Pearl Studio and Sony Pictures Imageworks, and required 120 animators.
Steven Price was confirmed to be the film's composer while new original songs are being handled by Christopher Curtis (from Chaplin: The Musical), Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park (from KPOP the Musical).
The cast was announced in June 2020.
Soundtrack
The score was composed by Steven Price and recorded at Synchron Stage Vienna. Original songs were written by Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park.
Release
The film was released in select theaters and on Netflix on October 23, 2020. Prior to its October 23 debut, Over the Moon was shown at the Montclair Film Festival on October 17. A day before its release, a book written by animation historian Leonard Maltin about the history about the film called Over the Moon: Illuminating the Journey, was released on October 22. In January 2021, Netflix reported 43 million households had watched the film.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of 100 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Although many of Over the Moon's narrative ingredients will seem familiar, the film's absorbing animation offers colorful compensation." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "Sometimes it's OK for an adventure to be just an adventure, and this one gets in the way of its own assets, while pointing to the potential of future journeys from the Netflix animation team."