Pop Culture Pick: Over The Moon

Netflix channels some Disney power and Chinese culture

Image Credit: Netflix

Welcome to Pop Culture Pick, a catch-all for subjects I want to highlight outside of the usual weekly Weekend Watch columns. In this edition, Netflix shoots for the moon with its latest ‘toon. 

Netflix has already had some success in the animated field – the likes of Klaus impressed on the film front, and it has made a steady business of pumping out cartoon spin-offs of shows and movies such as Jurassic World and The Fast And The Furious. With Over The Moon, the streaming service is looking to provide the big-canvas adventure that is usually the purview of Disney, Sony Pictures Animation or DreamWorks. And it largely lifts off.

Over The Moon is the story of young Fei Fei (Cathy Ang), who after enjoying a blissful early childhood with her mother (Ruthie Ann Miles) and father (John Cho), is shattered when the former dies. Still trying to deal with the loss a few years later, Fei Fei is disappointed to learn her dad has met widow Mrs. Zhong (Sandra Oh) and she’s facing the prospect of a stepsibling in the bouncy, rambunctious and entirely annoying Chin (Robert G. Chiu). In need of a little guidance, Fei Fei decides to track down the mystical, legendary and heartbroken moon goddess Chang’e (Phillipa Soo), which means building a rocket ship and heading into space with her best bunny pal and, unwittingly, Chin, who sneaks aboard before she can launch.

Directed by Disney veteran Glen Keane, who has worked on films including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Wreck-It Ralph, Over The Moon aims to whisk together the traditional Mouse House formula (young person with one or zero living parents sings about something he/she desires/fears then sets off on a quest to achieve it/fight it, while singing more about their feelings, often to a cute animal sidekick) with the more frenetic, psychedelic styles found elsewhere. Which is not to say that this is simply an exercise in box-ticking, nor that Keane and writer Audrey Wells (who died before the film was finished) want to simply duplicate something that has gone before. The result has a lot of magic, even if it can’t quite maintain it all the way through.

The songs, from Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park, vary in quality and power, though Rocket To The Moon is a showstopper and Soo has a few moments to shine once Fei Fei and her companions reach the lunar surface. Moon’s opening sequences are particularly lovely, sketching in both Fei Fei’s family, their Mooncake bakery and the sad details of grief, and while the initial tension between Fei Fei and Chin is predictable, they’re both charming enough to carry it. It’s also all beautifully designed, referencing Chinese architecture and stacking the voice cast with talented, veteran Asian voices. 

Yet for a film called Over The Moon, it’s a little tougher to enjoy (depending on your age, of course, younger viewers will no doubt love the colourful action), on the moon itself, the zaniness sometimes overpowering the emotion or even the basic beats of the story. Certainly, there is design innovation and entertainment to be found here, but you’re sometimes left wishing it would settle more often. There is, at least, an attempt to make sure all the characters stay relevant during the hectic later sequences. 

Finished in locations across the world after the pandemic-mandated shutdown hit their office, this is a welcome effort to add to the ever-expanding animated medium. Sure, it’s traditional and familiar, but like a meal with family, that doesn’t make it any less worthwhile. 

Over The Moon will be on Netflix on 23 October.