My first impression of the 2020 Netflix original movie Over the Moon was that it was going to be a wholesome animated children’s movie and I couldn’t wait to see how amazing the animation was going to be. 

The main actors/characters in the Over the Moon film are Cathy Ang (Fei Fei), Robert G. Chiu (Chin), John Cho (Ba Ba), Sandra Oh (Mrs. Zhong), Ken Jeong (Gobi), and Phillipa Soo (Chang’e). The movie was directed by Glen Keane (Nephtali, Dear Basketball). 

When Fei Fei was a young girl, her now-deceased mother told her the story of Chang’e, a moon goddess of Chinese Mythology who is waiting on the moon for her one true love. Her family and friends think of it just as a silly myth, so the 13-year-old girl decides to build a rocketship so she can find Chang’e and prove the story is real. 

A quote from Rotten Tomatoes reviewer Bilge Ebiri states, “What started off like a mournful but fairly standard fairy-tale becomes, at least for a while, a candy-colored, throbbing extravaganza.” The rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website for Over the Moon is 77% Fresh Tomatoes from all critics. 

My personal rating for this movie is 4 out of 5 because it was a very charming and heartwarming film but it was a little dark for a children’s movie. The movie was an adorable rendition of Chinese Mythology and the animation was terrific. 

I would recommend this movie for anyone who loves heartwarming animated movies, or anyone who loves Disney animation and story lines, even though the movie is not made by Disney.