‘Over the Moon’ can be said as a turning point in that push for world domination because it is not just another tiny toon and animated movie entry on Netflix’s slate but it definitely is a major Disney-level production overseen by a major with Disney-level talent. ‘Over The Moon’ celebrates Chinese culture as no mainstream American toon has before. But it does so in a way that’s so formulaically Western that it feels like the creative team took ‘Coco’ and dressed it up in another country’s colors, customs, and costumes.
‘Over the Moon’ is a 2020 American-Chinese computer-animated musical family fantasy film. The film was produced by Pearl Studio and Netflix Animation, and also animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks.
What “Over The Moon” Is About
It is about a girl named Fei Fei who suffers the horrible grief of losing her mother at a young age. Four years later, her father has moved on and is considering marrying again, sending Fei Fei for a loop. She’s not yet processed the loss of her mother and now she’s being asked to welcome another woman into that role, along with an annoying potential stepbrother.
Fei Fei panics and decides to basically explore her mother’s favorite legend about a moon goddess who is waiting there for the return of her lost love. She builds a rocket and takes off into the stars, sucked into a magical world of helpful dragons and bright creatures inspired by the Chinese tradition of the Moon or Mid-Autumn Festival. In visual terms, this is a space trip as imagined by someone on a bulk candy bender, splashed with more vibrant colors than we typically see on the gray orb.
When Fei Fei gets to the moon, she finds the legendary Chang’e, but she’s not exactly welcoming. Insisting that Fei Fei must bring her a gift, our heroine is sent on a quest to find the mysterious gift, which will be exchanged for a photo to prove the existence of Chang’e. If Fei Fei can show that the legend of a woman who has waited centuries for the return of her love is true then maybe dad wait a little bit longer to replace Fei Fei’s mother. A character named Gobi ends up by Fei Fei’s side almost as if someone yelled “Give me an Olaf!” during a production meeting and this was the result.
What Can Be Said About ‘Over The Moon’
‘Over the Moon’ might be one of the most gorgeous animated films ever made but it’s gorgeous in strange ways. It finds beauty as it whipsaws between wildly different tones and visual styles, working the contrast between the earthly and the celestial, between debilitating grief and gonzo fantasy. It’s a fairy-tale about loss that becomes a boisterous techno-sci-fi extravaganza, and it takes place on two worlds that, at least at first glance, couldn’t be more different. The cluttered story and the shifts in form might lose you from time to time, but the film conjures some genuinely powerful emotions.
For as long as children’s animation has existed, it has been used to confront how children process grief. It’s one of the greatest changes that a child can face, and the best family entertainment addresses it without talking down to young people. ‘Over the Moon’ doesn’t exactly talk down, but it clutters its serious themes every chance it gets. The music is generally forgettable. The visuals of ‘Over the Moon’ is so polished and refined that it resembles a video game more than cinematic animation that stands the test of time. It’s rich with color but thin on actual detail.
Sources: YouTube Netflix