Review: 'Over the Moon' is a colorful, tuneful and beautiful work, a directing debut for an animation legend
The musical computer-animated adventure “Over the Moon” blends luminous and colorful animation with a tender story that combines Chinese folklore with a modern girl’s grief.
Fei Fei (voiced by Cathy And) is an energetic girl growing up in a Chinese city with her parents (voiced by John Cho and Ruthie Ann Miles), who bake the best mooncakes in town. Mom has passed on to Fei Fei the legend of Chang’e, the moon goddess, waiting for eternity for her lost love, Houyi.
Within the first eight minutes, though, Mom falls ill and dies, and much of the joy leaves Fei Fei’s life. For a while, it’s just her and dad — so when Fei Fei notices Dad spending a lot of time with Mrs. Zhong (voiced by Sandra Oh), who brings along her overly rambunctious son, Chin (voiced by Robert G. Chiu), she decides to take a drastic step: Build a rocket to the moon, so she can prove the moon goddess is real, which will somehow keep Dad from marrying Mrs. Zhong.
With that kind of kid logic guiding her, it’s not long before Fei Fei has built her rocket and launched it — though when she learns Chin has stowed away on the ship, Fei Fei fears her calculations are off. Just then, a beam of light from the moon captures the ship, and Fei Fei, her rabbit Bungee, Chin and his frog are all pulled to the glowing moon city to meet Chang’e (voiced by Phillippa Soo), a rock star among the moon’s blobby inhabitants.
It’s fascinating that “Over the Moon” is only the first movie directed by Glen Keane, the legendary animator known for bringing life to such Disney characters as Ariel, The Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan and Long John Silver. Keane also won an Oscar for directing the Kobe Bryant-narrated short “Dear Basketball.” (Fun fact: He’s one of the inspirations for his late father Bil’s comic strip, “The Family Circus,” which his brother Jeff now draws.)
Keane and his crew create two distinctly beautiful realms here: The bustling and lived-in Chinese city where Fei Fei lives, dreams and sometimes hangs out with her big family (Margaret Cho and Kimiko Glenn voice her aunties), and the Lava Lamp-style moon city, where every character and background pop with color.
The unfussy script, by the late Audrey Wells (“The Hate U Give,” “The Truth About Cats & Dogs”), and a roster of charming songs (by Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park) channel the emotions of Fei Fei’s journey — from beloved daughter to rebel teen and beyond — that Keane’s visual team depicts so radiantly. Together, through word and picture, Keane’s creative team makes “Over the Moon” a movie that feels both timeless and modern.
———
‘Over the Moon’
★★★1/2
Opens Friday, October 16, at the Megaplex Jordan Commons (Sandy); streaming, starting October 23, on Netflix. Rated PG for some thematic elements and mild action. Running time: 96 minutes.