Fei Fei has always believed in the goddess who lives on the moon, Chang’e. She builds a rocket ship that’ll take her to the moon so she can prove that Chang’e is real.
Blaine: Pearl Studio wanted to make a movie about a girl who builds a rocket ship in order to get to the moon and they asked screenwriter Audrey Wells to do the script. Audrey was more than happy to do it. Audrey wrote “Over the Moon” as something personal. What the producers didn’t realize was Audrey was diagnosed with cancer. She spent a year writing the script for “Over the Moon” and shortly after she was done she had passed away. “Over the Moon” was more than just about traveling to the moon, Audrey wrote it as a love letter to her daughter and husband. She gave her screenplay a lot of heart. It was a script that moved a lot of people at Pearl Studio and the project became personal to them because they wanted to honor Audrey.
Glen Keane has been working in animation since the early 70s. He worked in the animation department for several Disney features, including “Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin”, “Pocahontas” and “Tarzan”. He’s an animator, a designer of characters, he really puts his artistic skills to good use with everything he has done for animation. He also directed a few animated shorts. In 2017, Glen both directed and did the animation for an animated short called “Dear Basketball”. It won Glen an Oscar for best animated short.
Pearl Studio went to Glen Keane asking if he would be interested in directing “Over the Moon”. It would be the first full length animated feature for Glen to direct. Glen was moved by both the story and what it represented. Glen wanted to honor the late Audrey Wells. This was a script Audrey wrote for her daughter and husband and Glen felt it was very important to honor her wishes.
Glen Keane gave “Over the Moon” so much because he wanted this movie to be special. He was giving his team very clear instructions on what this movie should look like. He drew the storyboards and he designed the look of the lead character, Fei Fei. Glen was doing a lot on this project, and everyone respected him for it. Glen took the job very seriously because it was for Audrey’s family.
Fei Fei lost her mother after she got sick and she hasn’t stopped thinking about her mother since her passing. Fei Fei's mother was everything to her and she wishes her mother was still with her. But she doesn’t let that get her down. Even though Fei Fei misses her mom deeply, she still has her father to keep her company and her pet bunny, Bungee. Bungee was a gift to Fei Fei from her mother and she is Fei Fei’s best friend. Fei Fei also enjoys life because making moon cakes takes her mind off it. It’s one of the things Fei Fei and her family loved doing together and they still do it.
Fei Fei discovers her father, Ba Ba, has been seeing someone for a while. Fei Fei can’t accept that her father has found a new love because she fears her mother is being replaced. Ba Ba is trying to explain to Fei Fei that a man gets lonely and wants romance in his life. Fei Fei wouldn’t know because she’s never been in love. At least Ba Ba doesn’t have to worry about Fei Fei having boy issues haha. No, the only love Fei Fei feels is for her family. Fei Fei is obsessed with her mother and what she believed in.
Ba Ba’s girlfriend and her son, Chin, are trying to bond with Fei Fei, but she wants nothing to do with them. Fei Fei is resistant to change.
Fei Fei’s mother would tell her stories all the time about what goes on in the moon. It is said that a goddess named Chang’e lives up there and lost the love of her life. That’s another thing that Fei Fei puts her mind on, believing in Chang’e. Fei Fei's family believes she should not only move on, but she should grow up as well. Fei Fei feels positive Chang’e is real. Her mother did. Proving Chang’e is real is just like proving Santa Claus is real, and so Fei Fei decides to build a rocket that’ll take her to the moon. NASA spent eight years trying to figure out how to put a man on the moon. For Fei Fei, she managed to do it in just a month. Fei Fei has always dreamed of flying in her own rocket ship ever since she was a little girl and now she has made that dream come true.
Chin sneaks his way onto Fei Fei’s ship and she is unhappy about that. Chin is not easy to get rid of. He’s like a magnet. The rocket almost falls, but something happens, as if they are being beamed aboard a ship. Fei Fei’s ship is being brought to the moon.
Chang’e introduces herself through this giant concert. She sure knows how to put on a show. What Fei Fei was expecting on the moon has proven she is right. Fei Fei’s family needs to travel more. There’s lots of cool places around the world. You can also find stuff in space. Fei Fei did it, and look where that got her. Both Fei Fei and Chin are the luckiest kids in the world to be seeing all of this. Being on the moon is more than what Fei Fei dreamed it would be. There’s stuff up there you wouldn’t see anywhere else, except a child’s imagination.
Glen Keane felt “Over the Moon” should also be a musical because he believes characters can express themselves through song. It's always worked for Disney. Christopher Curtis, Helen Park and Marjorie Duffield were hired to write the songs. “Rocket to the Moon” is the number one song of “Over the Moon” and the songwriters explained it as starting off as a prayer, then turns into the experience of a life time. It’s also the longest song in “Over the Moon” because it's five minutes long. “Ultraluminary” is another popular song of the movie because it represents Chang’e.
Every time you look up at the moon you see it’s all white. On the other side it’s all colorful. The inspiration for that came from the Pink Floyd album, “The Dark Side of the Moon”. Glen Keane wanted “Over the Moon” to be a colorful feature.
Chang’e has been waiting for someone to come along and Fei Fei is the type of person who never gives up. There’s one thing Fei Fei was unaware of and that was having a gift for Chang’e. There’s the question on what this gift is. Even Chang’e doesn’t know what it is, but she can sense it. Whatever it is, it will reunite Chang’e with the love of her life. Chang’e is obsessed with getting this gift.
Fei Fei meets a green dog like alien named Gobi. Gobi is very friendly and he has always been open to change. He doesn’t annoy Fei Fei like Chin does. Gobi’s the type who can make you think. He also has a carrying heart. Gobi made Chang'e a song to ease the pain after her lover died. He was trying to explain that there is more to life, but Chang’e’s heart was full of depression and so she exiled him just because he wanted to help.
Fei Fei manages to find two things, the gift itself and what it is. She brings it to Chang’e and the spirit of her lover appears. They can’t be together though. He’s just there to give her a message, and that is to move on. He loved Chang’e, but he doesn’t want her to spend eternity thinking only about him. He goes away and Chang’e is depressed. Fei Fei goes in to help, but she gets depressed too after seeing the painful memory from when she lost her mother. Both Fei Fei and Chang’e have a lot in common. They both have lost a loved one they don’t want to let go and they are too busy living in the past. Chang’e doesn’t want to see Fai Fai in sadness. Everyone around Fei Fei and Chang’e have been trying to explain things about moving on in life. It’s easier for them to listen to each other because they both understand the pain of loss.
They both learn to accept the way things are now, to think of others and realize that you are not alone. Chang’e's eyes finally open to see what has been in front of her for the past 3,000 years, her colorful friends who live on the moon with her. Fei Fei realizes that family is what you make of it. Fei Fei has thought of Chin as nothing but annoying. He’s just trying to show that he wants to be her brother. The thought of having a sister excites him because he’s never had a sibling before. Everyone around Fei Fei has been open to change and she now accepts change. Fei Fei went on this journey to prove Chang’e is real, but this experience has also taught her something.
Another thing Fei Fei and Chang’e have in common is they both have pet rabbits. Bungee found true love on the moon with Chang’e’s rabbit. The mother is not the only thing Fei Fei has to let go. She also has to let Bungee go as well, and it’s for the best. Fei Fei won’t get in the way of Bungee and her love. It’s not hard for Fei Fei to say goodbye because she’s changed. Fei Fei knows she’ll never be alone.
Chang’e knew there was something about Fei Fei that made her special and now she knows what it is. Fei Fei was the cure to Chang’e’s broken heart. Chang’e needed someone who shared her pain in order to make her realize you need to leave the past behind.
Nothing will ever make Fei Fei stop believing in Chang’e because she got to see her with her own eyes. Fei Fei is someone who never stops believing. She believed she could travel to the moon and she believed in Chang’e and she was able to accomplish it.
I thought Gobi would go with Fei Fei and Chin to Earth to be apart of the family, but I guess he’s not the type who can travel. Not sure if he can survive outside the moon. Gobi doesn’t have to worry, he’s not alone anymore. He’s back where he belongs and his friendship with Fei Fei will live on forever.
Fei Fei and Chin return to earth and Fei Fei knows things are going to get better for her because she is more open minded now. Fei Fei is looking at things in a new way. She is looking at everyone and realizing how lucky she is to have them as her family. A crane has shown up a couple of times. My guess is the spirit of Fei Fei’s mother lives within that bird.
My rating on “Over the Moon” is five out of five stars
