In Netflix’s Over the Moon a young girl named Fei Fei has just as much deeply-held faith in her prodigious engineering abilities as she does in her belief of the stories about the legendary moon goddess Chang’e that her mother used to tell her when she was young. Which is good, because not only is the moon goddess real, she’s putting on a hell of a show.
Though Fei Fei’s mother is no longer with their family, the legends about Chang’e stick with her so powerfully that they give her the inspiration to construct her own fully-functional rocket ship with the intention of blasting herself off to the surface off the moon in hopes of meeting the goddess.
[referenced id=”1225370″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/06/over-the-moon-looks-like-a-contender-for-best-animated-film/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/23/egyrsb9ruuphvdk3s1r5-300×162.jpg” title=”Over the Moon Looks Like a Contender for Best Animated Film” excerpt=”We’ve all heard the phrase “The Man in the Moon,” but who wanted to go see if he’s up there? That’s a rough approximation of the upcoming Netflix animated film Over the Moon, the first trailer of which has just landed.”]
Everything Fei Fei knows about Chang’e suggests that the deity’s a luxurious, otherworldly being of supreme elegance and ethereality. But in the latest trailer for the film — from co-directors Glen Keane and John Kahrs — when the young girl actually manages to make it to the moon along with her pet rabbit and annoying kid brother, they’re both shocked and amazed to learn that Chang’e is actually very, in-sync with Earth’s contemporary pop culture.
Reimagining a traditional goddess as a beloved pop star putting on epic performances on the surface of the moon while humanity’s none the wiser about what’s going on is, well, it’s damned cool. Beyond that, though, Over the Moon looks like it might end up an excellent example of how creative teams can (and should) capitalise on myths and legends outside of the well-trodden Western canon, if only because there are so many other stories like this just waiting to be told.
Over the Moon stars Cathy Ang, Phillipa Soo, Ken Jeong, John Cho, Sandra Oh, Margaret Cho, and Kimiko Glenn, and will hit Netflix on October 23.
[referenced id=”1224641″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/06/rap-godz-co-creator-shares-why-he-made-one-of-the-industrys-only-hip-hop-board-games/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/20/ag99acosplsebsch7zee-300×169.png” title=”Rap Godz Co-Creator Shares Why He Made One of the Industry’s Only Hip Hop Board Games” excerpt=”Three years ago, Omari Akil and his brother Hamu Dennis were sitting down for a night of board games. A few hours later, they were making their own. They’re the team behind Rap Godz, a tabletop game about becoming an industry-changing hip hop artist. And just like the characters in…”]