''Over the Moon'' is a 2020
computer-animated
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
fantasy film
Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...
directed by
Glen Keane
Glen Keane (born April 13, 1954) is an American animator, author and illustrator. He was a character animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for feature films including ''The Little Mermaid'', ''Beauty and the Beast'', ''Aladdin'', ''Pocahonta ...
and co-directed by
John Kahrs
John Kahrs (born 1967/1968) is an American actor, animator and film director.
Kahrs attended NSCAD University, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1990.
He began his career at Blue Sky Studios in New York, where he worked as an ...
, from a
screenplay
''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993.
Background
After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...
by
Audrey Wells
Audrey Ann Wells (''née'' Lederer; January 25, 1960 – October 4, 2018) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer. Her 1999 film ''Guinevere'' won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.
Early life
Wells was born in San Francisco, ...
with additional screenplay material by
Alice Wu
Alice Wu (; born April 21, 1970) is an American film director and screenwriter, known for her films '' Saving Face'' (2004) and ''The Half of It'' (2020).
Both of her films feature Chinese-American main characters and explore the lives of intel ...
and Jennifer Yee McDevitt. The film was produced by
Pearl Studio
Shanghai Pearl Studio Film and Television Technology Co., Ltd, doing business as Pearl Studio, formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks, the trade name of Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Co., Ltd., is a Chinese animation f ...
and
Netflix Animation
Netflix Animation is an American animation studio and a subsidiary of Netflix. The studio primarily produces and develops animated programs and feature films.
History
When Netflix began to produce original animated content in 2013, all of them ...
, and animated by
Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pi ...
. It stars the
voices of Cathy Ang,
Phillipa Soo
Phillipa Anne Soo (born May 31, 1990) is an American actress and singer. Soo gained prominence for originating the role of Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway musical ''Hamilton''. She earned nominations for the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a ...
,
Ken Jeong
Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...
,
John Cho
John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the ''Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series.
Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian Ame ...
,
Ruthie Ann Miles
Ruthie Ann Miles (born April 21, 1983) is an American actress, best known for her roles in musical theatre and on television.
Off-Broadway, she has played Christmas Eve in ''Avenue Q'' and starred as Imelda Marcos in ''Here Lies Love'', winnin ...
,
Margaret Cho
Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...
, and
Sandra Oh
Sandra Miju Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian–American actress. She is best known for her starring roles as Rita Wu on the HBO comedy '' Arliss'' (1996–2002), Dr. Cristina Yang on the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005â ...
. The plot follows an adventurous girl named Fei Fei, who builds a rocket ship to meet a mythical
goddess on the moon.
''Over the Moon'' was first shown at the
Montclair Film Festival
Montclair Film is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit most well known for organizing the annual Montclair Film Festival (MFF) usually held in late April, early May in Montclair, New Jersey. The festival showcases new works from American and inter ...
on October 17, 2020, followed by its
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
and select theaters release on October 23. The film grossed $860,000 worldwide; it earned a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
nomination for
Best Animated Feature Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
, and was nominated for
Best Animated Feature at the
93rd Academy Awards
The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 2021 ...
. It is the final film that Wells worked on before her death, and it was dedicated to her memory.
Plot
A girl named Fei Fei is being told the legend of the Moon goddess
Chang'e
Chang'e ( ; , alternatively rendered as Chang-Er or Ch‘ang-o), originally known as Heng'e, is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. She is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology, most of which incorporate several of the following elem ...
who took a
potion for immortality, causing her to become a goddess and ascend to the Moon without her lover
Houyi
Hou Yi () is a mythological Chinese archery, archer. He was also known as Shen Yi and simply as Yi (). He is also typically given the title of "Lord Archer". He is sometimes portrayed as a god of archery descended from heaven to aid mankind. Oth ...
, and awaits for him there. In preparation for the annual
Moon Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese: / ), also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture. Similar holidays are celebrated in Japan (), Korea (), Vietnam (), and other countries in Ea ...
, Fei Fei and her family make
mooncakes
A mooncake () is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (ä¸ç§‹ç¯€). The festival is about lunar appreciation and Moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between ...
for the village. However, Fei Fei's mother falls ill, and gives her daughter a white rabbit 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 son, 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 "attacked" by 2 friendly
foo dogs, 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
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
that 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
The Moon rabbit or Moon hare is a mythical figure in East Asian and indigenous American folklore, based on pareidolia interpretations that identify the dark markings on the near side of the Moon as a rabbit or hare. In East Asia, the rabbit i ...
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.
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 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 half of an open
jade
Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
circle and realizes that it is Chang'e's gift. They return to Lunaria's palace, rejoin Chin and Bungee, and present the gift to Chang'e, who makes a full jade circle. Chang'e and Houyi are then briefly reunited, but Houyi tells Chang'e to move on before fading away. Refusing to accept this, Chang'e slips into a state of 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 also 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 love all around them. This allows the two to accept their loved ones' deaths, restoring light to Lunaria.
Chang'e thanks Fei Fei and allows her and Chin passage back home—excluding Bungee, who stays on the Moon 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 Mrs. Zhong's marriage and Chin as her brother. About a year later, Fei Fei is living happily with her new family and continues to look up at the Moon, watching as cranes fly up towards it in the night.
Voice cast
* Cathy Ang as Fei Fei, the 13-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
Phillipa Anne Soo (born May 31, 1990) is an American actress and singer. Soo gained prominence for originating the role of Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway musical ''Hamilton''. She earned nominations for the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a ...
as
Chang'e
Chang'e ( ; , alternatively rendered as Chang-Er or Ch‘ang-o), originally known as Heng'e, is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. She is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology, most of which incorporate several of the following elem ...
, the mythical
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
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
''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...
Chinese designer
Guo Pei
Guo Pei (, , born 1967) is a PRC Chinese fashion designer. She is best known for designing dresses for Chinese celebrities, and in America for Rihanna's trailing yellow gown at the 2015 Met Gala. Guo is the first born-and-raised Asian designer to ...
.
*
Ken Jeong
Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...
as Gobi, a
pangolin
Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (, from Ancient Greek ϕολιδωτός – "clad in scales"). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: '' Manis'', '' Phataginus'', and '' Smut ...
Lunarian and former royal advisor who was exiled a thousand years ago.
*
John Cho
John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the ''Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series.
Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian Ame ...
as Ba Ba, Fei Fei's father.
*
Ruthie Ann Miles
Ruthie Ann Miles (born April 21, 1983) is an American actress, best known for her roles in musical theatre and on television.
Off-Broadway, she has played Christmas Eve in ''Avenue Q'' and starred as Imelda Marcos in ''Here Lies Love'', winnin ...
as Ma Ma, Fei Fei's late mother.
*
Sandra Oh
Sandra Miju Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian–American actress. She is best known for her starring roles as Rita Wu on the HBO comedy '' Arliss'' (1996–2002), Dr. Cristina Yang on the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005â ...
as Mrs. Zhong, Ba Ba's new fiancée, later wife and Fei Fei's stepmother.
*
Margaret Cho
Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...
as Auntie Ling, one of Fei Fei's aunts.
** Cho also voices Gretch, one of the Biker Chicks.
*
Kimiko Glenn
Kimiko Elizabeth Glenn (June 27, 1989) is an American actress and Broadway performer known for portraying Brook Soso in the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black'', for which she received three ensemble Screen Actors Guild Awards. She also st ...
as Auntie Mei, another one of Fei Fei's aunts.
** Glenn also voices Lulu, one of the Biker Chicks.
*
Artt Butler
Arthur M. Butler (born October 13, 1969), known professionally as Artt Butler, is an American voice actor. He is best known for his voice roles as Captain Ackbar in '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'', Rafael Diaz in ''Star vs. the Forces of Evil'' a ...
as Uncle, Fei Fei's uncle.
** Butler also voices Bill, one of the Biker Chicks.
*
Irene Tsu
Irene Tsu (; born November 4, 1945)Cf. Lisanti & Paul (2002), p.293 is a Chinese American actress who made her debut in the film adaptation of ''Flower Drum Song'' in 1961, and has had many subsequent roles in TV and films. She was featured playi ...
as Grandma, Fei Fei's grandma.
* Clem Cheung as Grandpa, Fei Fei's grandpa.
*
Conrad Ricamora
Conrad Wayne Ricamora (born February 17, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Oliver Hampton on the ABC television series ''How to Get Away with Murder'' (2014–20). As a stage actor, he is noted for his roles in th ...
as
Hou Yi
Hou Yi () is a mythological Chinese archer. He was also known as Shen Yi and simply as Yi (). He is also typically given the title of "Lord Archer". He is sometimes portrayed as a god of archery descended from heaven to aid mankind. Other times, ...
, Chang’e's true love
Soundtrack
The score was composed by
Steven Price. Original songs were written by Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and
Helen Park.
Tracklist
Production
On September 26, 2017,
Pearl Studio
Shanghai Pearl Studio Film and Television Technology Co., Ltd, doing business as Pearl Studio, formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks, the trade name of Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Co., Ltd., is a Chinese animation f ...
hired
Audrey Wells
Audrey Ann Wells (''née'' Lederer; January 25, 1960 – October 4, 2018) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer. Her 1999 film ''Guinevere'' won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.
Early life
Wells was born in San Francisco, ...
to write the script for the film called ''Over the Moon'', which was based on an idea by
Janet Yang
Janet Yang (born July 13, 1956) is a Hollywood producer and current President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Yang's award-winning film and TV credits include '' The Joy Luck Club'', ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'', ''Dark M ...
about a retelling of the classic Chinese myth. On February 6, 2018,
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
acquired distribution rights to the film and
Glen Keane
Glen Keane (born April 13, 1954) is an American animator, author and illustrator. He was a character animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for feature films including ''The Little Mermaid'', ''Beauty and the Beast'', ''Aladdin'', ''Pocahonta ...
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
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
's album ''
The Dark Side of the Moon
''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...
'' and the paintings of
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona i ...
.
Animation was provided by
Pearl Studio
Shanghai Pearl Studio Film and Television Technology Co., Ltd, doing business as Pearl Studio, formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks, the trade name of Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Co., Ltd., is a Chinese animation f ...
and
Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pi ...
.
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
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
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
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."
Peter Debruge of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' 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."
Accolades
References
External links
*
*
Original screenplayby
Audrey Wells
Audrey Ann Wells (''née'' Lederer; January 25, 1960 – October 4, 2018) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer. Her 1999 film ''Guinevere'' won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.
Early life
Wells was born in San Francisco, ...
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