Over The Moon

Over The Moon

Over the Moon is a film that immediately strikes a chord with those familiar with the Chinese legend of the mythical goddess in the moon, and is celebrated with moon cakes and lanterns. Directed by Glen Keane, Over the Moon is a computer –animated fantasy film produced by Pearl Studio and Netflix animation.

Fei Fei, a girl who is more adventurous than most girls of her age, is told of the legend of the Moon goddess Changé who took a potion for immortality and awaits her lover Houyi. Enraptured by the legend, Fei Fei and her family make mooncakes for the village, but Fei Fei’s mother falls ill and passes away after giving her a white rabbit called Bungee.

Four years later, Fei Fei is still enchanted by the story of the moon goddess, but is upset when her father plans to marry Ms. Zhong, who has an annoying son called Chin, who comes to live with them. Fei Fei is disenchanted with her new life circumstances, and decides to build a rocket to fly to the moon, to prove that Changé is real. She flies to the moon in a lantern shaped rocket and almost reaches it when she learns that Chin has got into the rocket without her knowledge. They begin to crash down to earth. All of a sudden, a mystical beam of energy propels the rocket forward to the moon and to a place called Lunaria.

At Lunaria, they meet Changé and her dancers. Changé demands a gift from Fei Fei which was supposed to bring back her lover Houyi. After a lot of trials and tribulations, Fei Fei finds out a broken half of an open jade in one of her mooncakes, and realizes that it must be Chang’d’s gift. She presents the gift to Changé, who makes a full jade circle. The charm works, and Chané and Houyi are briefly reunited, but Houyi soon fades away after asking Changé to move on. Changé refuses to accept this, and slips into depression, causing all the light in Lunaria to be put out. Fei Fei tries to console Changé but she too is overcome by sadness due to a vision of her mother who passed away years back. Changé and Fei Fei finds strength in each other, and realizes that they must move on from the tragedy of their loved ones’ death. Once they accept the reality, lights are restored in Lunaria.

Changé thanks Fei Fei by allowing her and Chin a passage back home. At home, Fei Fei accepts the reality of her father and Mrs. Zhong’s marriage and Chin as her brother. A year later, Fei Fei is living happily with her new family, and often looks up at the moon, remembering Changé.