A new animated film co-produced by a Chinese studio that tells the story of a Chinese goddess seems like the perfect recipe for becoming a hit in China.
That did not happen, and now Over the Moon is drawing comparisons to Walt Disney Studios’ live-action Mulan remake as a film trying hard to impress Chinese audiences and falling short.
Reviews have been much kinder to Over the Moon, though, which was released globally on Netflix on October 23 and got a theatrical release in China on the same day.
Viewers praised the film’s animation and its treatment of Chinese culture. However, the story failed to excite audiences and the film fizzled out at the cinema with just 5.72 million yuan (US$864,000) in its first three weeks, according to movie ticketing platform Maoyan.
Over the Moon tells the story of a Chinese girl in her early teens named Fei Fei.
Remembering the story of the Moon goddess Chang’e told to her years earlier, she sets out to build a rocket to the Moon and prove the goddess really exists.
It was co-produced by Netflix and Pearl Studio, a Shanghai-based animation studio that previously worked with DreamWorks Animation on Kung Fu Panda 3 and Abominable. The film also garnered some early attention because of the star power behind it.
Former Disney animator Glen Keane, known for his character work on hit films like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, directed the film.
It also has an all-Asian cast with big names such as John Cho, Sandra Oh, Ken Jeong and Hamilton’s Phillipa Soo, who voices Chang’e.
Yet none of these actors are particularly well-known in China.
Among those who took a chance on the film, many praised the animation’s detailed depiction of Chinese cultural elements, such as using the Nanxun water town as inspiration for some of the film’s scenery.
