Netflix and Pearl Studio have unveiled the trailer for their new film Over the Moon. The story of a young girl named Fei Fei who builds a rocket to meet the moon spirit Chang'e.
This is the second feature to come from Pearl Studio who also worked on last year's Abominable, which was a joint project with DreamWorks. This time the company is working with Sony Pictures Imageworks, the same production branch responsible for helping animate Sony's Smallfoot, and Into the Spiderverse.
As with Abominable Pearl Studio is continuing to focus on Chinese themed stories, with Over the Moon being based on the myth of the Chinese goddess of the moon.
Not only does Over the Moon showcase the continued increase in Chinese productions and storytelling, but also Netflix's interest in the animation sector.
Animation has been far less affected by the current pandemic than live-action productions with Trolls: World Tour and Scoob! Both used by studios to keep supplying content.
Netflix is not unfamiliar to animation having given us the academy award-nominated Klaus as well as April's The Willoughbys.
The rise in Chinese cinema, as well as the likes of Netflix catering to a global audience, has meant far more stories about Chinese characters and their mythologies. Netflix's previous Chinese production Next Gen holds many similarities to Abominable and Over the Moon, and with more productions from Pearl such as The Monkey King on the way, these stories are not likely to ease up anytime soon.
But what is most surprising is that this easy to label run of the mill animation is taking a big risk in being a musical. Something usually left to the experts over at Disney.
With a cute animal sidekick, a blend of traditional animation, and famous Hollywood actors such as Sandra Oh, John Cho, and Ken Jeong, Over the Moon might be the animation industry's biggest rival to Disney yet...
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