Over the Moon

***Over the Moon*** is a 2020 American-Chinese computer-animated musical science fantasy comedy-adventure film directed by Glen Keane and co-directed by John Kahrs, from a screenplay by Audrey Wells with the collaboration of Alice Wu and Jennifer Yee McDevitt. The film is 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. It is the first international film to be directed by Keane, who served as an animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios; and the second film produced by Pearl Studio, after DreamWorks' 2019 animated film *Abominable*.

The film was first shown at the Montclair Film Festival on October 17, 2020, followed by its Netflix and select theaters release on October 23.

## 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 awaits for him on the moon. In preparation for the annual Moon Festival, Fei Fei and her family make mooncakes for the village. However, Fei Fei's mother falls ill, and gifts her daughter a bunny named Bungee, before passing away.

Fei Fei, who still believes in Chang'e four years later, is upset when she learns that her father is engaged to Ms. Zhong, and is annoyed by her stepbrother, Chin. Fei Fei's family joins them for the Moon Festival celebration, and she remembers her mother. Inspired by a crane and the legend of Chang'e, 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 playful spirits, who then rescue them and take them to Lunaria.

They are introduced to Chang'e and her backup dancers the Lunettes, who are performing a concert for the citizens of Lunaria. Chang'e tells Fei Fei that she has brought a gift for Chang'e to bring Houyi back. Fei Fei takes a photo with Chang'e to prove to her dad 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 bring the gift to her before the last of the moondust falls so that she can bring Houyi back. 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 which Chin wins, further upsetting Chang'e, who cries in despair that she will never see Houyi again, causing a meteor shower with her emotions. While Chin is trapped in a chamber Chang'e kept him in, Bungee follows the Jade Rabbit into his work lace and ends up falling in love with him because he accidentally made her ears glow with lasers. Meanwhile, Fei Fei and the Biker Chicks head to her rocket's crash site, where Fei Fei meets an exiled Lunarian named Gobi having occupied the site. She discovers her Chang'e doll, which she suspects to be the gift, only to be betrayed by the Biker Chicks who take the doll and leave Fei Fei and Gobi in the rubble.

Fei Fei and Gobi head to Lunaria on the backs of giant toads, where Gobi reveals that Chang'e exiled him due to a song he sang to her about moving on. Fei Fei and Gobi catch up to the Biker Chicks, but during their scuffle, the doll is destroyed. However, Fei Fei discovers in one of her mooncakes a broken piece of an amulet and realizes that it is Chang'e's gift. They return to Lunaria’s palace and regroup with Chin and Bungee, and return the gift to Chang'e. Afterwards, Chang’e is finally able to complete a ritual with the amulet meant to bring back Houyi. Chang'e and Houyi are briefly reunited, but Houyi explains he cannot stay and begins to fade away as he tells Chang’e to move on. Refusing to accept this, Chang’e slips into a depression, causing all the light in Lunaria to extinguish.

Fei Fei tries to reach out to Chang’e, but the moment she enters Chang'e's state of sadness, she as well becomes depressed due to a vision of her mother. Realizing that they both must move on from their tragedies, Chang’e and Fei Fei encourage each other to find the new love all around them, for Chang’e in the form of the Lunarians and for Fei Fei in the form of Chin. This allows the two to accept their loved ones’ deaths and effectively move on from them, restoring life to Lunaria.

Chang'e thanks Fei Fei and allows her and Chin passage back home, excluding Bungee, who stays on the moon to be with Jade Rabbit, and lifts Gobi's banishment. Fei Fei and Chin bid farewell to the Lunarians and return home, where Fei Fei accepts her father and Ms. Zhong’s marriage and Chin as her brother. About a year later, Fei Fei is living happily with her new family and continues to believe in Chang'e.

## Voice cast

* Cathy Ang as Fei Fei, the 14-year-old girl who believes in Chang'e ever since the loss of her mother
* Robert G Chiu as Chin, Mrs Zhong's 8-year-old son 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 1,000 years ago
* John Cho as Ba Ba, Fei Fei's father
* Ruthie Ann Miles as Ma Ma, Fei Fei's late mother
* Margaret Cho as Auntie Ling, one of Fei Fei's aunts
* Sandra Oh as Mrs Zhong, Ba Ba's new fiancée and Fei Fei's stepmother
* Kimiko Glenn as Auntie Mei, one of Fei Fei's aunts

## Musical numbers

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The score was composed by Steven Price. Original songs were written by Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park.

## Production

On September 26, 2017, Pearl Studio hired Audrey Wells to write the script for the film called *Over the Moon,* which was based on an idea by Janet Yang about a retelling of the classic Chinese myth. 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 Disney 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”.

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 Sony Pictures Imageworks while traditional animation is being handled.

Steven Price is 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.

## 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.

## Reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 79% of 85 critic reviews are positive for *Over the Moon*, and the average rating is 6.80/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Although many of *Over the Moon*Template:'s narrative ingredients will seem familiar, the film's absorbing animation offers colorful compensation." According to Metacritic, which compiled 22 reviews and calculated a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, the film received "mixed or average reviews".

## References

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7. ↑ Glen Keane’s ‘Over the Moon’ Artfully Illustrates Healing from Grief Through Play
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9. ↑ Netflix Goes All Out to Wow Children as Streaming Wars Intensify
10. ↑ ‘Over the Moon’: How Glen Keane Leveraged His Disney DNA for Netflix’s Chinese Moon Goddess Fable
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