Director Geln Keane is a legend in animation. Known for his work animating some of Disney's biggest characters (The Beast, Ariel, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Rapunzel) he has recently branched out to directing animated films including the Oscar winning Dear Basketball and now this feature, Over the Moon. Pairing with Pearl Studios, who debuted in Western countries with Abominable, he has produced a beautiful looking film with a story that only feels rather average.
There is a lovely little story here about learning to love again after loss and letting new people into your life and for big parts of the beginning of the film and the end, there is a sweet poignancy. But the film attempts a little adventure narrative in the middle which feels rather perfunctory and never really captures the imagination despite how visually spectacular it gets.
What really works for Over the Moon are the visuals. Keane's talent clearly lies here and he's painted an extraordinary canvass. Plus designer Guo Pei's designs for the Moon Godess are awesome. But I kept being bored by a story that felt like it was going through the motions, never quite being as magical as it looked.
Also the film is a traditional animated musical filled with rather bland, forgettable songs which, like much of the story, never capture your heart. I doubt anyone will be humming the tunes afterward. I love a good animated musical but the secret to any musical is the music and when it's just average it makes the whole thing feel average.
So there is good and bad to Over the Moon, but like Abominable, Pearl Studios still hasn't found it's breakout hit yet.
Over the Moon
Starring: Cathy Ang, Robert G Chiu, Phillipa Soo, Ken Jeong, John Cho, Margaret Cho, Sandra Oh
Directors: Glen Keane, John Kahrs
Writer: Audrey Wells
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