Netflix Unveil Glen Keane's 'Over The Moon' Second Trailer
Whether it's deliberate planning or synchronicity, every now and again we get a week when all the studios seem to be releasing trailers for their upcoming releases. And this week has been one of those weeks. We have already seen new trailers for The Croods 2 and Lupin III: The First, and now we can add to that the new trailer for Over The Moon.
Over The Moon is significant as it is the directorial feature debut of animation legend Glen Keane. Keane was a renowned character animator at Disney, with a tenure that started on The Rescuers in 1974, and lasted until 2021. He brought to life the titular characters in Disney Classics Beauty And The Beast, The Little Mermaid, Pete's Dragon and Tarzan among many others. His last credit at the House Of Mouse was character designer on the much loved short Paperman.
Keane's debut as a director has been a long time coming. He was originally supposed to make his directorial debut with Tangled, but had to step down due to health issues. Post Disney, he has directed shorts Duet, Nephtali and the Oscar-winning Dear Basketball, made in collaboration with the late Kobe Bryant.
Over The Moon is produced by Chinese studio Pearl Animation (Abominable) in association with Netflix. The story follows a bright young girl who builds a rocket to the moon to try and prove the existence of a legendary Moon Goddess. She does indeed find said diety but discovers she isn't quite what she was expecting. She soon finds herself sent on a quest, into a world full of fantastical and magical creatures.
Our first look at the film in the first trailer seemed to concentrate on the early part of the film and really played up the emotional aspects of the story. This second trailer has a very different mood and reveals a whole lot more.
For starters- we actually get to the moon- and find it (in parts at least) to be full of life. We see a whole host of colourful and imaginative creatures. Keane himself if credited with character designs, and it seems his skills have translated to CG without losing much of their charm. We also get to see the Moon Goddess herself- who seems to have quite the screen presence.
The new trailer also doesn't hide the fact that it's a musical, and we get snatches of several songs throughout. The songs come courtesy of Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park. The screenplay is written by Audrey Wells, with additional material by Jennifer Yee McDevitt. John Kahrs (director of Paperman and Age Of Sail) is on board as co-director.
Despite being produced in China, set in China and based on Chinese mythology, this trailer makes it look much like any other Hollywood studio feature. It's got comedy sidekicks, cute critters, musical numbers and jokes-a-plenty and all the other elements you'd expect from such a production, not to say there's anything wrong with that.
It's also got some impressive animation and some really spectacular imagery that looks worthy of Keane's pedigree. This is looking like quite a feast for the eyes.
The trailer reveals that Over The Moon will also be screening in select cinemas (assuming there are any open where you are) and will be available streaming on October 23. Check out the trailer, below.
NEW POSTER AND OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS
Fueled with determination and a passion for science, a bright young girl builds a rocket ship to the moon to prove the existence of a legendary Moon Goddess. There she ends up on an unexpected quest, and discovers a whimsical land of fantastical creatures. Directed by Oscar®-Winning Filmmaker & Animator, Glen Keane, and produced by Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou. Starring Cathy Ang, Phillipa Soo, Robert G. Chiu, Ken Jeong, John Cho, Ruthie Ann Miles, Margaret Cho, Kimiko Glenn, Artt Butler, Irene Tsu, Clem Cheung, Conrad Ricamora and Sandra Oh.
