10 things you should know about Netflix's next big animated movie 'Over the Moon'

The story about the Moon Goddess, Chang'e, accompanies the Autumn Moon Festival in China.

According to the tale, there were originally 10 suns around the Earth. Chang'e was married to an archer, Houyi, who shot down nine of the suns to prevent them from scorching the planet. As a reward, he was given immortality pills.

When Houyi's apprentice tried to steal them, Chang'e took the pills, refusing to hand them over. As a result, she flew up to the moon, waiting to be reunited with her lost love.

In the movie, Chang'e accidentally drinks a magic potion that sends her to the moon.

When she was young, Fei Fei's mother and father would tell her the story of Chang'e. Years later, after her mother's death, her father is finally moving on and is ready to get remarried.

Fei Fei is having a tough time adjusting to the idea of a new mother and stepbrother. She decides to build a rocket ship to head to the moon in search of the goddess, Chang'e, her mother told her stories about.

If you don't recognize Keane's name, you definitely know his work. During his 38 years at Walt Disney Animation, he brought to life characters including Ariel ("The Little Mermaid"), the Beast ("Beauty and the Beast"), and the title characters of "Aladdin" and "Tarzan."

Keane previously directed the Oscar-winning short film, "Dear Basketball," in part with Kobe Bryant and composer John Williams. "Over the Moon" is his first full-length animated movie directing.

In addition to directing, you can see some of Keane's 2D animation in the film. He animated the scarf Fei Fei wears in the movie that you can see here.

Keane brought Kahrs onto the project. In addition to directing the Oscar-winning short film "Paperman," Kahrs worked as an animator on Pixar projects, including "A Bug's Life," "Toy Story 2," and "The Incredibles."

He worked on 2010's "Tangled" with Keane.

Known for her screenplays involving strong female characters, Wells joined "Over the Moon" in 2016 and wrote the first draft in about six months.

"About a year in, she shared with me that she was sick and she didn't know how much time she had left," said producer Peilin Chou of learning of Wells' cancer diagnosis.

Wells died in 2018 after battling cancer for five years.

"We were so fortunate to have her with us through the time of the first screening," said Chou. "She got to see a version of the film and she was so thrilled. She really, really loved it."

Producer Gennie Rim (top right corner) sought out Oh at a memorial service for Wells. Oh had previously worked on three of the screenwriter's other films, including "Under the Tuscan Sun."

"I knew you were there and I heard that you had left the building and I ran after you into the parking lot," said Rim. "I stopped your car and I said, 'Please. Please. Please be a part of this.' I felt a wave of Audrey pulling me to come find you to be part of this."

After their parking lot encounter, Oh took a look at the script.

"When I read it, it was just like... It was like Audrey just basically punched me in the face," said Oh. "And it's just like, 'What are you doing? You need to…' Yeah, there's a lot of meaning in this for all of us and I do have a personal connection with that."

"I was so happy that you stopped my car," Oh said to Rim, explaining it was as if Wells was telling her, "You did my first film. You need to do the last one."

"She had written this script as a love letter to her daughter and her husband with a very wonderful message about what happens when you lose someone, that the love that you share lasts forever," said Chou. "It was something she really wanted her daughter to have and know."

Later, during the discussion, Keane said the movie is about embracing change and being open to love someone new.

"This journey that [Fei Fei] takes, to meet Chang'e, is really about her healing and also about Chang'e's healing," said Keane. "They both unlock each other's hearts."

At the end of the almost hour-long presentation that Insider attended, Cathy Ang, who plays protagonist Fei Fei in the movie, sang "Rocket to the Moon." The song is also teased in the film's trailer.

Ang was originally hired to simply record a demo for "Rocket to the Moon" for an early screening; however, her performance was so well received that she was cast in the film as the lead.

Ang's first take of the song is also the version you hear in the final film.

"In this song, Fei Fei has just learned that her father wants to remarry," Ang said, introducing the song. "She visits a pond that she frequented with her mother when she was young to talk to Chang'e, the goddess, who, in her mind, represents eternal love."

Soo grew up with Amy Tan's story "The Moon Lady," which features a wish-granting version of the Moon Goddess.

"When I first read the script, I was so excited to, first, be asked to approach material coming from my own experience as an Asian woman, as a Chinese woman, and also to bring a little bit of a modern twist to this very traditional story," said Soo.

The movie's music is scored by Oscar-winner Steven Price ("Gravity"). The film's songs are written by Chris Curtis, Marjorie Duffield, and Helen Park.

John Cho voices Fei Fei's father while Sandra Oh lends her voice to her stepmother. Ruthie Ann Miles plays Fei Fei's mother and Phillipa Soo voices the Moon Goddess, Chang'e.

Ken Jeong voices a character who will join Fei Fei on her adventure. Margaret Cho and Kimiko Glenn play two of Fei Fei's aunts, Ling and Mei.

"This Zoom screen and what everyone is seeing right now is predominately all Asian faces and that's what's exciting to me," said Sandra Oh about being a part of the film.

"I would say, definitely for me and maybe John [Cho], we've been the only ones everywhere we go," she added. "This is now becoming a new experience. The roles that we are taking on, the roles that are offered, the stories that are offered are actually very culturally specific, which is something that I think, in the Asian community, we really need to expand and also take on and embrace."

Cho said, for him, it wasn't simply that "Over the Moon" was rooted in Asian culture and that it had an Asian cast — it was about the story that was being told.

"It's hard to find things that don't represent Asian culture, especially Asian family dynamics, as something that's not oppressive or is attached to shame or filial piety or doing things that you don't want to do," said Cho when asked what attracted him to the film.

"Their story is about an Asian family that is rooted in love and that attracted me," he added. "That's what differentiates it. That's what gives it its heart."