Over the Moon (2020 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Over the Moon
Official release poster
Directed by	Glen Keane
Produced by	Gennie Rim Peilin Chou
Written by	Audrey Wells
Starring	Cathy Ang Phillipa Soo Ken Jeong John Cho Ruthie Ann Miles Margaret Cho Sandra Oh
Music by	Score by: Steven Price Songs by: Christopher Curtis Marjorie Duffield Helen Park
Editing by	Edie Ichioka
Studio	Netflix Animation Pearl Studio Dentsu Entertainment Sony Pictures Imageworks Glen Keane Productions
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date(s)	October 17, 2020 (2020-10-17) (MFF) October 23, 2020 (2020-10-23) (United States)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States China
Language	English
Money made	$860,000

Over the Moon is a 2020 American-Chinese computer-animated musical family fantasy film, which was directed by Glen Keane and co-directed by John Kahrs, from a screenplay by Audrey Wells with additional screenplay material by Alice Wu and Jennifer Yee McDevitt. 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. 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. It is the first Pearl Studio film not to have been produced by DreamWorks Animation.

Over the Moon was first shown at the Montclair Film Festival on October 17, 2020, followed by its Netflix and select theaters release on October 23. The film grossed $860,000 worldwide, and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

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 there. 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 gives her daughter a 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 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. 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 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 into his workplace. Meanwhile, Fei Fei and the Biker Chicks head to her rocket's crash site, where Fei Fei meets an exiled Lunarian named Gobi. She discovers her Chang'e doll, which she suspects to be the gift, but the Biker Chicks grab 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 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 life 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 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.
• Kimiko Glenn as Auntie Mei, another one of Fei Fei's aunts.
• Conrad Ricamora as Hou Yi, Chang’e’s true love

Musical numbers

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

Song list

All songs written and composed by Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park. 

See also

In Spanish: Más allá de la luna para niños