There is a lot going for Over the Moon, especially since the director of the movie is none other than the legendary Disney animator himself, Glen Keane. He served as a supervising animator for movies like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Tarzan. Now it seems like Pearl studios (The co-studio behind Dreamworks Abominable) and Netflix has teamed up with help of Glen Keane to bring us a movie set within Chinese myths and legends.
As a little Girl, Fei Fei is told stories from her mother about a moon goddess named Chang’e who is trapped on the moon thanks to drinking a potion. She still awaits on the moon to hopefully be reunited with her true love Houyi. Cut to years later, Fei Fei unfortunately loses her mother to an illness and to make matters worse, Fei Fei’s father is engaged to a new woman who has a son named Chin who Fei Fei despises. After a fight with her family about her mother’s beliefs about the moon goddess Fei Fei and her adorable pet rabbit bungee decide to build a rocket to the moon to find out if the moon goddess is real. She and Bungee make it to the moon but soon discover that Chin has stowed away and when they find the Chang’e the moon goddess, things get a little trickier.
Let me start off by saying Holy Cow! The animation in this movie is freaking Phenomenal. The level of detail put in this movie is really something. It’s mainally a traditional CGI movie but with the added twist of having some 2D animation thrown in which is very refreshing. The fictional city of Lunaria is rich with neon colors and the city streets of China are overflowing with culture and life. Of course since Glen Keane worked on animated musicals for most of his career, there was no doubt about it that there had to be musical segments in this movie as well. Admittedly they are not as hummable and memorable as in the best Disney movies, but nevertheless they are beautiful and filled with a passionate energy that is hard to resist.
The story in this movie might as well be compared to Dreamworks Ambominale. Another movie that runs on familiar ingredients that have been used in other movies and yet its execution is what makes the movie worth watching. With that said, I did find a lot of things I liked and disliked at the same time. It's pretty common in most family movies to have a dead parent but to actually see a widowed father engaged to a new woman from a child’s perspective is quite rare and new territory. The overall message is very impactful if yet redundant and you do feel invested in Fei Fei throughout her journey of acceptance. though I kinda do wish there was a little more interaction with the step mother and Fei Fei before she goes to the moon. Heck, I kinda wish we got to see more of Fei Fei and Chin interacting off each other during the journey on the moon and they actually do at first, but then they separate them ¼ of the way through and I thought there was some waisted potential that could have made their acceptance for one another more impactful.
I can definitely state that Over the Moon is a pretty good effort from Netflix, Pearl Animation studios and longtime animation director Glen Keane. It’s got a lot of familiar ingredients that we have seen before but they executed those ingredients to the best they could that In the end, still makes for an entertaining experience. This film had a lot of time and care thrown in and there was a lot of imagination and wonder that managed to put a big smile on my face.
(Final Grade: B)