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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="46161" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Disney">Disney</keyword> legend <keyword id="2381660" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="glen-keane">Glen Keane</keyword> animated some of the studio's most beloved characters, including the Beast, Ariel, and Aladdin.</li><li>Keane said 2017's "<keyword id="407573" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Beauty-and-the-Beast">Beauty and the Beast</keyword>" remake nailed one moment he had difficulty animating — when the Beast finally makes the decision to let Belle go and check on her ailing father.</li><li>"All I can say is, you're always learning. And if I had the chance to do it again, I'd do it just like he did it," Keane said of Dan Stevens, who played the Beast in the remake.</li><li>Insider also asked Keane what he thought of Disney's many live-action remakes. </li><li>He said they shouldn't just be copies, but should add more to the original, such as 2016's "The Jungle Book."</li></ul><p>Former <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/disney">Disney</a> animator <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/glen-keane">Glen Keane</a> helped bring some of the most beloved and memorable characters to life, including <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/aladdin">Aladdin</a>, Ariel in "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/the-little-mermaid">The Little Mermaid</a>" and the Beast in "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/beauty-and-the-beast">Beauty and the Beast."</a></p><p>And although Keane wouldn't say how he felt about Disney's <a href="https://www.insider.com/live-action-beauty-and-the-beast-is-it-good-2017-3">2017 live-action "Beauty and the Beast,"</a> he did share that the live-action interpretation perfected a pivotal moment in the film that he struggled to animate in the 1991 classic. </p><p>Both films follow Prince Adam, who has been turned into a Beast by an enchantress. If he's not able to find true love before the final petal on an enchanted rose falls on his 21st birthday, he'll remain an animal.</p><p>Still, a few months before his time is up, he imprisons a young woman, Belle, in his castle, hoping that she can break the spell. He never tells her about the curse.</p><p>Over time, she slowly warms up to the Beast and takes a liking to him and his staff, who were also turned into inanimate objects due to the spell. But late in the film, Belle learns her father has fallen ill back home. The Beast grapples with whether or not she should stay.</p><p>"I never got it. It's where Beast has to decide to let Belle go free, to go home without telling her that he will remain a beast forever if they don't fall in love," Keane recalled. "It's him looking at the flower and there's just one petal left there and he struggles with it. He's trying to make that decision to let her go."</p><div type="image" title="beast beauty and the beast lets belle go" height="2768" width="1200" msid="78922373" hostid="261"></div><p>"I kept animating him looking at the flower with such intensity, trying to draw the struggle that's going on inside of him and I could never communicate it with the power," Keane admitted of the scene.</p><p>When the illustrator watched the 2017 live-action film, starring Dan Stevens as the Beast, he knew exactly how he should have animated the scene.</p><p>"At that moment, he doesn't look at the flower," Keane said of Stevens' performance. "He kind of looks up and as soon as he did it, it was like, 'Yes. Oh, it's like a prayer. Why didn't I do that?' It was so much better."</p><div type="image" title="beast live action let belle go" height="1600" width="1200" msid="78922374" hostid="261"></div><p>The moment Keane is referring to is so subtle, occurring in mere seconds of the film, that it's one of those things you may not catch. Unless you've worked on one of the movies in great detail, you may not notice it at all.</p><p>"All I can say is, you're always learning. And if I had the chance to do it again, I'd do it just like he did it," Keane added. </p><p>During his <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-glen-keane-went-from-disney-netflix">wide-ranging interview with Insider</a>, Keane also shed light on how he feels seeing some of the movies he worked on turned into live-action movies.</p><p>"You want to honor those stories by not just copying them, but lifting them," he said. "I thought 'Jungle Book' was such a wonderful live-action version of that <keyword id="6356021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie">movie</keyword> that respected [the original], but felt very free to play and push it further."</p><p>Keane isn't the only former Disney animator to praise Jon Favreau's remake of the 1967 classic. "The Jungle Book" seems to be the favorite remake among former Disney animators. Sergio Pablos ("Klaus") along with Tony and Tom Bancroft ("Mulan") previously praised the 2016 film to Insider. The others? They had <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-disney-animators-feel-about-live-action-movie-remakes-2020-3">stronger opinions on those</a>.</p><p>"You just don't want to kill the golden egg; the goose that lays the golden egg," Keane said while promoting his new <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/netflix">Netflix</a> movie, "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/over-the-moon">Over the Moon</a>," which is available to stream now.</p>

Disney animator Glen Keane says the 'Beauty and the Beast' remake perfected a scene he had trouble creating

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Legendary Disney animator <keyword id="2381660" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="glen-keane">Glen Keane</keyword> ("Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid," "Tangled") is directing his first full-length <keyword id="6356021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie">movie</keyword>, "Over the Moon."</li><li>It's not a Disney movie, however. It's at <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword>.</li><li>In an Insider interview, Keane explained why he's directing his first full-length <keyword id="21778" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="60" keywordseo="animation">animation</keyword> for the streaming service. </li><li>Keane was drawn to the idea that Netflix was creating an animation studio built on the creative freedom of its directors.</li><li>He's currently discussing another Netflix collaboration, working on a personal project, and also has an animated series, "Trash Truck," led by his son Max, coming to the streaming service. </li><li>"Over the Moon" will be available to stream on Netflix on Friday.</li></ul><p>If the name Glen Keane doesn't ring any bells, it should. </p><p>The legendary <a href="http://insider.com/category/disney">Disney</a> animator brought many of the company's iconic characters to life, including Ariel ("The Little Mermaid"), the Beast ("Beauty and the Beast"), Tarzan, Pocahontas, and Rapunzel ("Tangled"). </p><p>Now, Keane is directing his first full-length animated picture, "<a href="http://insider.com/category/over-the-moon">Over the Moon</a>," about a young girl who struggles with accepting the idea of a new stepmom and brother, and eventually escapes in a rocket adventure to the moon. </p><p>There's just one thing. The movie's not at Disney. Keane is making his animated directorial debut at <a href="http://insider.com/category/netflix">Netflix</a>.</p><p>The animator joins the ranks of other former Disney artists, including <a href="https://medium.com/@CCTabet/netflixs-upcoming-animated-projects-b96e5da4b319">Jeff Ranjo, Alex Woo, Meg LeFauve</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/iFrankAbney/status/1316447805754335232">Frank Abney,</a> who are now working on animated shows and films for the streaming giant. </p><p>Insider recently spoke with Keane over Zoom to learn why the legendary Disney animator took his talents to the streaming service, why this was the movie he needed to direct, whether he's consulting at all on Disney's live-action "The Little Mermaid," and if we can expect to see more of his work at the streaming service. (The short answer: very likely.)</p><h2><strong>Keane almost directed Disney animation's 2010 hit "Tangled"</strong></h2><p><strong><div type="image" title="tangled disney movie" height="705" width="1411" msid="78796917" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>For someone who has animated so many of Disney's memorable characters of the late '80s and '90s , it may be surprising that his animated directorial debut is at one of the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2020-09-07/netflix-chairman-disney-is-our-biggest-rival-and-role-model">company's rivals</a>. But Disney fans may know that almost wasn't the case. </p><p>"'Rapunzel,' to me, was the first film that I wanted to direct. That was at Disney. It became 'Tangled,'" Keane told Insider of the fairy tale that was in the works for years at Disney Animation and underwent several name and script changes.<strong> </strong></p><p>The idea for "Tangled" was mulling around in Keane's head while he <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/marchweb-only/onceupon.html">was working on "Tarzan" in 1996</a> before pitching the story to former Disney CEO Michael Eisner in 2001.</p><p>Then called "Unbraided," changes in the story's plot and conversations <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=UqccAgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT276#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false&amp;f=false">over whether or not it should be computer animated originally pushed back the film before production was briefly shut down</a>. In 2006, Ed Catmull and John Lasseter were put in charge of Disney Animation and they forged ahead on it again with Keane at the helm.</p><p>"I did work on it for five years, but it came at a time where there were so many changes in management. Everything just kept changing and [there would be] another version of the story," Keane said of his time as director from about 2002 to 2008. </p><div type="image" title="glen keane rapunzel" height="668" width="1269" msid="78796919" hostid="261"></div><p>Keane stepped down from directing the film <a href="https://collider.com/glen-keane-interview-tangled/">followin</a><a href="https://collider.com/glen-keane-interview-tangled/">g a heart attack in 2008,</a> and the film was eventually directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. Still, he continued working as an executive producer and animation supervisor on "Tangled." He even helped navigate the complexities of Rapunzel's <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/tangled-untangled-unlocking-the-secrets-of-disneys-106592">expensive hair</a> until its 2010 release.</p><p>Keane still wanted to direct, but knew it needed to be the right story. </p><p>"It didn't really change my attitude towards directing," Keane said of his experience working on "Tangled." "I'd always felt like the only reason that I would direct is to be able to tell the story of a character that I really wanted to animate. And if somebody wasn't interested in doing that story, then I'll do it because it's all about living in the skin of the character for me."</p><h2><strong>Keane left Disney to take animation in a different direction, landing at Google and creating an Oscar-winning short with Kobe Bryant</strong></h2><div type="image" title="glen keane kobe bryant 2018" height="2000" width="3000" msid="78796922" hostid="261"></div>After 38 years, Keane left Disney in March 2012, <a href="https://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/the-full-text-of-glen-keanes-resignation-letter-59606.html">telling colleagues in a resignation letter</a>, "I am convinced that animation really is the ultimate art form of our time with endless new territories to explore. I can't resist it's siren call to step out and discover them."<p>When asked if one of the reasons he left Disney was because he didn't get an opportunity to direct, Keane told Insider, "No, not really."</p><p>"I started to develop another project there that I love, and I think that that was going to be...," Keane continued before trailing off and starting over. "I really was happy at Disney and loved my relationship there, but there's something about a huge studio that you carry so much weight on your shoulders as what that film has to represent."</p><p>He added that there's "so many interests in a big company and I experienced that very much with 'Rapunzel,'  how many different focuses of management and interest were in the changes of that story."</p><p>Before he left, Keane recalled Catmull, then president of Walt Disney Animation, asking him what he was looking for in his next career move. </p><p>"He could see I was wrestling with this," Keane said. "And I said, 'Well, Ed, I want to live creatively without walls.'"</p><p>Keane said something else was calling him too. The son of cartoonist Bil Keane, who created "<a href="https://www.comicskingdom.com/family-circus">Family Circus</a>," Keane comes from a family of artists. His brother, Jeff, took over their father's comic. Keane's daughter Claire is a design artist and his son Max is a computer graphics artist.<div type="image" title="glen keane soundcheck netflix film series music showcase 2019" height="2110" width="3000" msid="78796928" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Keane wasn't quite sure what was calling him, but in the time he worked at Disney, he met many animators and artists around the world at different studios. He wished to collaborate with them in the future, but didn't how he could easily do that.</p><p>When his wife, Linda, asked him what he wanted to do instead, Keane said maybe he wanted to work at Google. She was perplexed.</p><p>"'What? Google? They don't do animation,'" Keane remembered her saying. "And I said, 'Yeah, but wouldn't it be wonderful to take animation in places that it's not normal?'"</p><p>Google wound up being the first place to call Keane when he left Disney. There, he created the first hand-drawn animation made in 60 frames per second, a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0XlLaB7pE4">short called "Duet</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0XlLaB7pE4">."</a> He then did <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsQ4--X2ls4">a short with the Paris Opera</a>. Afterwards, the late <a href="http://insider.com/category/kobe-bryant">Kobe Bryant</a> called him up to direct and animate what became the Oscar-winning short film, "Dear Basketball."</p><p>"I said, Kobe, 'You've got the worst basketball player in the world animating you,'" Keane said when the idea came to him. "[Kobe] said, 'Well, that's good because anything you learn about basketball is going to be [from] studying him.'"</p><h2><strong>Netflix allowed him to live "creatively without walls"</strong></h2><div type="image" title="over the moon fei fei rabbit" height="1798" width="3596" msid="78796929" hostid="261"></div>In 2017, Keane was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ZMfB5eipk">speaking at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival</a> when the Netflix opportunity came around. <p>"I just talked about everything I loved about animation," Keane said. "I shared about animating characters that believe the impossible is possible. That's what I'm really excited about."</p><p>Future vice president of kids and family programming at Netflix, Melissa Cobb, and Pearl Studio's chief creative officer, <a href="https://www.pearlstudio.com/about-us.php">Peilin Chou</a>, were seated in the audience. The two approached him afterwards. </p><p>"They both had this story, 'Over the Moon,' with exactly that kind of character in Fei Fei, who believes the impossible is possible." </p><p>In the film, Fei Fei (Cathy Ang) grapples with her father moving on after the loss of her mother. In response, she builds a rocket to travel to the moon to prove the existence of the goddess, Chang'e, a story her mother used to share with her.</p><p>Written by the late Audrey Wells ("The Hate U Give"), the script <a href="https://www.insider.com/over-the-moon-sandra-oh-casting-story-2020-6">was intended as a love letter</a> to her daughter and husband about what happens when you lose someone. Wells died during the film's production in 2018, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/audrey-wells-dead-under-tuscan-sun-hate-u-give-screenwriter-was-58-1149868">at the age of 58, after a battle with cancer</a>. </p><div type="image" title="over the moon fei fei family" height="1945" width="3600" msid="78796933" hostid="261"></div><p>"They approached me and I felt this is something I can't miss. I feel like I was born to do this movie," Keane said, even though he was working on a different project he planned to direct and develop at the time.</p><p>Afterwards, Cobb visited Keane's studio in West Hollywood. In the same space where he worked with Bryant and John Williams, Cobb, who came from DreamWorks, shared her vision for Netflix's animation studio.</p><p>"She talked about creative freedom and how important it was for the creators to be authentic," Keane said of what was pitched to him. "This is going to be a new kind of an animation studio that's really built on the creative freedom of its directors. And I thought, 'Well, that sounds really cool, but is that real?' And it turns out that it really, really was."</p><p>"We were able to move through this movie, putting the entire film up on storyboards with the music, songs, everything in about four months, which never could have happened in a different situation," Keane said. "There was never a point where we throw the movie out and we start over again, where you switched directors... All of the money put into this movie, 90% of it, is all up on the screen."</p><h2><strong>Keane says he hopes people take away from 'Over the Moon' the fact that things can never go back to the way they once were</strong></h2><p><strong><div type="image" title="over the moon family" height="1080" width="1998" msid="78796938" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>Keane wanted to make sure they took extra care with the weight of this story, knowing it was additionally Wells' final film.</p><p>"Had I known that about Kobe, that his film was going to summarize his life and career, it would have been very difficult," Keane said, reflecting on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kobe-bryant-dead-helicopter-crash-in-calabasas-california-2020-1">u</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kobe-bryant-dead-helicopter-crash-in-calabasas-california-2020-1">nexpected death of the basketball player back in January</a>.</p><p>"This time we did know and so we really leaned into the truth of the emotional pain of the story," Keane said. "This was the most difficult thing. How do you really dive in deep to that and not make it heavy? Music came in to really lift that emotion. I think of the film more as a visual poem."</p><p>The song "Rocket to the Moon," which is already being deemed an Oscar contender, comes at a pivotal moment early in the film. It's a perfect example of a melody where you can feel the pain of the protagonist, Fei Fei, as she longs to cling to the fairy tale her mother shared with her in her youth. Throughout the film, Fei Fei learns she can't continue living life in the past.</p><p>Keane reflected on what the film's message says about the world right now as the <a href="http://insider.com/category/coronavirus">novel coronavirus pandemic</a> continues to affect the world.</p><p>"As Fei Fei says, 'I just wish life could go back the way it was. I find myself saying that. I really do. I just want it to go back the way it was, in the world," Keane said. "The more I think about this movie, I realize I need to hear this message that we are not going back. You only live life forward, and that there's something really, really good and wonderful to come." </p><h2><strong>For his next project, Keane won't return to Disney. He said he'll likely stay at Netflix along with work on a personal project.</strong></h2><div type="image" title="over the moon glen keane" height="900" width="1200" msid="78796941" hostid="261"></div><p>When asked if he's consulting at all on Disney's <a href="https://www.insider.com/disney-live-action-remakes-2017-2#disney-is-working-on-its-own-little-mermaid-remake-with-new-music-from-lin-manuel-miranda-and-alan-menken-3">live-action "The Little Mermaid,"</a> Keane said he isn't. There's no time to look back. Keane has plenty going on at the streaming service right now. At 66, Keane, is enjoying the freedom he has right now to work on other projects with his own company, <a href="https://www.glenkeane.com/">Glen Keane Productions</a>. </p><p>"Right now, I really enjoy my relationship with Netflix and would love to do more with them, and we're certainly talking about that," Keane said.</p><p>And then there's the next generation of artists in his family. </p><p>On November 10, Netflix will release his son's upcoming animated children's series, "<a href="http://www.netflix.com/trashtruck">Trash Truck</a>," which is a collaborative family project about a little boy, Hank, who has an imaginary best friend, who just so happens to be a garbage truck.</p><div type="image" title="trash truck netflix" height="1280" width="1920" msid="78796942" hostid="261"></div><p>In addition to writing and showrunning, the younger Keane, Max, voices the father character. Keane also lends his voice to the grandfather and Trash Truck. Max's entire family is involved as well with his wife, Megan, voicing the mother, their son, Henri, voicing the lead Hank, and their daughter, Olive, as his sister.</p><p>"It is so unique, unlike any children's show," Keane said of the series they developed together. "It's so sweet and wonderful, genuine, and gentle as a children's show."</p><p>"Over the Moon" will be available to stream on Netflix on Friday.</p>

How legendary animator Glen Keane went from making your favorite Disney movies to directing his first animated Netflix film

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword>'s next big animated <keyword id="6356021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie">movie</keyword> is called "<keyword id="2272553" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="OVER-THE-MOON">Over the Moon</keyword>."</li><li>The first trailer for the movie debuted Tuesday.</li><li>It follows a young girl on her journey to discover the Moon Goddess Chang'e. </li><li>The film stars the voice cast of Phillipa Soo ("Hamilton"), John Cho, Sandra Oh, and newcomer Cathy Ang.</li></ul><p><a href="http://insider.com/category/netflix">Netflix</a> released the first trailer for its next animated feature, "<a href="http://insider.com/category/over-the-moon">Over the Moon</a>," Tuesday morning.</p><p>Based on the legend of Chang'e that's told during the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, the movie follows Fei Fei (Cathy Ang), a young girl who builds a rocket ship to travel to the moon. Fei Fei wants to prove the existence of a Moon Goddess, who longs for a lost love.</p><p>Set to debut this fall on the streaming service, "Over the Moon" is the feature-length directorial debut of legendary Disney animator <keyword id="2381660" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="glen-keane">Glen Keane</keyword>. Some of his most popular creations include Ariel ("The Little Mermaid"), the Beast ("Beauty and the Beast"), and the title character of "Aladdin."</p><p>The film is also the last movie from screenwriter Audrey Wells ("The Hate U Give"), which she wrote as a love letter for her husband and daughter before her death in 2018.</p><p>The movie features a predominantly Asian cast led by newcomer Cathy Ang as Fei Fei and Phillipa Soo ("Hamilton") as the Moon Goddess, Chang'e. The cast also includes Sandra Oh, John Cho, Ken Jeong, Kimiko Glenn, and Margaret Cho.</p><p>"Over the Moon" will stream on Netflix this fall.</p>

Netflix's next big animated movie is from legendary Disney animator Glen Keane. Watch the first full trailer for 'Over the Moon.'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Bobby Pontillas is a Filipino American animator who's designed characters for films like "Frozen" and "Moana."</li><li>He recently designed Sesame Street's first-ever Filipino Muppet, TJ, based off his friends' kids.</li></ul><p><em>This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Bobby Pontillas, an Oscar-winning animator and director who's designed characters for Disney films like "Frozen" and "Moana," and recently designed the first Filipino Muppet on "Sesame Street." The essay has been edited for length and clarity.</em></p><p>What colored my childhood was drawing. I grew up a single child to an only parent. My mom grew up in the Philippines and joined the US Navy in the 70's when she was super young, just 20 or 21 years old. It's a familiar story with many Filipinas.</p><p>I was born in one of those naval stations. I wasn't athletic, outgoing, or social, so gravitated toward drawing. I drew everything and anything, mostly what I saw in the media and on TV: Ninja Turtles, Conan the Barbarian, Top Gun fighter jets.</p><div type="image" title="Bobby Pontillas as a child with his mom" height="810" width="1080" msid="101071797" hostid="261" sizebytes="86118"></div><p>I continued drawing in high school. I was really into hip hop then, and Disney wasn't cool anymore, so I drew lots of graffiti and hip hop-related stuff.</p><p>Toward the end of high school, I wondered what I wanted to do with my life. I was like, "Ma, I want to join the US Navy, too." But she quickly shut that down. Instead, she told me, "You like to draw. You have the skill and the passion. You should do something with that," and signed me up for art school.</p><p>But even when I got to art school, I didn't know what I wanted to do as a career. I didn't take it seriously — until I saw "Tarzan" in 1999 in the theater, with my mom.</p><p>It was so different from anything I'd ever seen. It was dynamic, complex in terms of the way that it looked. I never looked back after that. I scoured the internet to learn more about the artists behind "Tarzan," and learned about Glen Keane, who was the supervising animator of the movie, along with other hits like "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin."</p><p>I knew that was it. That was what I wanted to do with my life: make drawings come to life and impact generations.</p><h2><strong>Dreaming of becoming a Disney animator</strong></h2><p>I became completely obsessed with becoming a Disney animator. But it didn't happen right away.</p><p>I got into the local video games industry in Seattle, where I did drawings for adventure games. I worked in the games industry for a good decade, and then, at some point, I remembered why I'd even gotten into animation in the first place: Disney.</p><p>So I signed up for online classes to push forward that dream. I took night classes while working my 9-to-5 for two years, met some mentors, and finally had my big break into feature films when I joined Blue Sky Studios, the studio behind the "Ice Age" movies and "Rio."</p><div type="image" title="Bobby Pontillas animating on Big Hero 6" height="1536" width="2048" msid="101071799" hostid="261" sizebytes="161234"></div><p>Then, in 2011, I landed a job at Disney. It had taken 11 years.</p><p>When I first stepped on the campus in Burbank, California, I saw that big wizard's hat building, right in the middle. It felt unreal. The only thing I remember in those first few days was the feeling of disbelief. I couldn't believe it was finally happening.</p><p>All I could think about wasn't necessarily how hard I'd worked, but instead everyone who had supported me along the way: the relatives, friends, mentors, and teachers who'd gotten me there.</p><h2><strong>Working on "Sesame Street"</strong></h2><p>At Disney, I worked on character animations for movies like "Frozen," "Moana," and "Big Hero 6."</p><div type="image" title="Bobby Pontillas holding an Oscar for Frozen" height="720" width="960" msid="101071801" hostid="261" sizebytes="36404"></div><p>But as I progressed in my career as an underrepresented voice, I found it was challenging to feel comfortable telling the stories I had within myself. The thing is, the film industry and artists in general are very open-minded nowadays, with an emphasis on cultural representation and bringing new stories into the fold. The biggest challenge is just believing you can do it and believing that people want to hear your stories.</p><p>Designing the first Filipino Muppet on "Sesame Street" gave me the opportunity to tell a story that meant something to me — something that's pulled from my culture, my family, my heritage.</p><p>In 2021, <a href="https://www.insider.com/sesame-street-debut-first-asian-american-muppet-ji-young-2021-11">"Sesame Street" debuted Ji Young, a Korean Muppet</a>. I felt like that turned the tide, like, "These Muppets have races?" Of course they do.</p><p>When I heard they were developing TJ, a Filipino American Muppet, I jumped at the chance. I based the designs off my close friends' kids. I wanted to make TJ as genuine as possible, so decided to pull inspiration from real-life experiences around me.</p> <p>When TJ made his debut, I was pleasantly surprised. On the show, he talked about learning Tagalog and mentioned his lola, which means "grandmother" in Tagalog. I was impressed by how he was portrayed: He's obviously very Filipino American, but also speaks to the diaspora of Filipinos around the world.</p><h2><strong>Expanding representation through animation</strong></h2><p>Animation has become a storytelling medium that can appeal to kids, teenagers, and adults. Nowadays, there's more representation behind the camera, and we're bringing in more diverse stories and points of view.</p><p>In 2020, I founded <a href="https://www.riseupanimation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rise Up Organization</a> with three fellow animators to support people of color who are looking to get into animation.</p><p>Storytelling from diverse creators is important: The world may not be necessarily exposed to different characters with different stories to tell. The more diverse stories that are out there, the more they can break down divisiveness.</p>

I'm an animator who designed 'Sesame Street's' first-ever Filipino Muppet. The show gave me the opportunity to tell the story of my culture, my family, and my heritage.

<p><em></em></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Warning: There are mild spoilers for "The Little Mermaid."</li><li>Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy steal the show in one of Disney's better remakes.</li></ul><p>Don't be surprised if Halle Bailey earns an Oscar nomination for her delivery of "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu-RcFv50Sc">Part of Your World</a>" in Disney's "The Little Mermaid" remake.</p><p>The singer executes the iconic song masterfully in a performance so rich and so captivating that it's difficult to not feel chills when she holds onto one of the final notes for six seconds, showing off her impressive range.</p><p>Her desire to explore the shore up above is palpable. </p><p>From director Rob Marshall ("Mary Poppins Returns," "Into the Woods"), Disney's latest live-action remake reimagines the 1989 Oscar winner, following the youngest of King Triton's seven daughters, Ariel, who becomes infatuated with the handsome Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) after saving his life, much to the dismay of her human-averse father, (played by Javier Bardem). </p><p>Longing to be human, Ariel makes a hasty deal with the sea witch, Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), trading her sea legs for human ones at the price of her voice.</p><p>Just like in the animated film, Ariel and Eric must share true love's kiss before the sun sets on day three to remain human — or it's back to the sea where she's at Ursula's mercy.</p><p>Bailey is a perfect Ariel, building upon Jodi Benson's original performance, making the character stronger, bolder, and a bit wiser than the original's lovesick protagonist who was caught up in pursuing a kiss simply to break a spell. The actor's delivery will silence naysayers who <a href="https://www.insider.com/halle-bailey-responds-to-little-mermaid-backlash-2019-8">critiqued</a> her <a href="https://d23.com/halle-bailey-cast-ariel-live-action-reimagining-little-mermaid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">initial casting in 2019</a>. </p><p>Disney's latest remake is one of its best, but that's not saying much. Fantastic performances and a few smart updates aside, Marshall largely delivers the same paint-by-numbers story in a longer movie that should've pushed the bar more with its antagonist instead of wasting time on forgettable new songs. </p><h2><strong>A better, more believable love story for Ariel and Eric</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="Prince Eric and Ariel in The Little Mermaid" height="2001" width="3000" msid="100424538" hostid="261"></div><p>There was always something creepy once you realized 16-year-old Ariel met, fell "in love" with, and married a guy within days of meeting him in the original movie. </p><p>The remake does a much better job at pacing Ariel and Eric's relationship, forging a bond of friendship between the two over common interests (they both share a knack for collecting) to make their love story less shallow and more genuine. (She's also an adult here; according to production notes, live-action Ariel is 18.)</p><p>The best update is a change to the deal Ursula makes with Ariel. In the remake, unbeknownst to the mermaid, Ursula makes it so she can't remember she needs to kiss Eric to stay human. Rather than view Eric as an object to throw herself at, Ariel's encouraged to get to know the man who holds her affection.</p><p>It's a better message to send to children instead of chasing boys for kisses.</p><p>As a result, the pair spend a day "warm on the sand," fulfilling Ariel's desire from her "Part of Your World" ballad to dance with humans on the shore, something the original never did. </p><p>However, the couple still winds up married in a rushed ending that Disney tries to vaguely and oddly gloss over.</p><h2><strong>Bailey and McCarthy carry the film with incredible vocals. The three new songs are largely forgettable.</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="The Little Mermaid Ursula" height="1453" width="3000" msid="100424539" hostid="261"></div><p>Melissa McCarthy makes a deliciously evil Ursula who's all too eager to take advantage of Ariel's infatuation. Her rendition of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is the remake's second-best musical number apart from "Part of Your World."</p><p>It's frustrating that the movie bothers introducing Ursula as King Triton's sister (a plot line teased in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xViGEtZtGZY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a deleted scene from the original</a>) and fails to dive deeper into that relationship. </p><p>I expected the remake's additional 40-minute runtime to include some sort of explanation as to why Ursula was exiled to make her a more empathetic villain. (Perhaps Disney's waiting to mine that material for a prequel.)</p><p>Despite <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/movies/the-little-mermaid-realistic-flounder-scuttle-sebastian-backlash-rcna81811">online backlash over the realistic designs</a> of Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle, Ariel's trio of friends are standouts in the film. Daveed Diggs gives a particularly hysterical performance as the lovable crustacean, chasing down the teenager.</p><p>Bailey also wows in a new song, "For the First Time." A clever number sung in her head after losing her voice, it's the best new addition of the three songs.</p><p>Sorry not sorry, but no one asked for a forgettable Prince Eric song. (Although this would be a different story if it had been sung by Harry Styles, who <a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/harry-styles-rejected-little-mermaid-darker-films-non-musicals-1235573454/">turned down the role</a>).</p><p>And as fun as Lin Manuel-Miranda's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIYbj-BxMWY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Scuttlebutt" rap</a> is on an initial listen, it's too juvenile to necessitate repeat plays.</p><h2><strong>'The Little Mermaid' is one of Disney's best remakes, but the original is still better</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="The Little Mermaid" height="1716" width="4096" msid="100424541" hostid="261"></div><p>When Sebastian sang about a "carp playing a harp," "the lings on the strings," and "the trout rockin' out" in 1989's performance of "Under the Sea," a song that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNAPhTY2rd4">garnered the animated film an Oscar</a>, each of those lyrics was tied to a specific colorful visual of each fish playing instruments.</p><p>In the remake, <a href="https://youtu.be/f5NInsk3sJk?t=115" target="_blank" rel="noopener">those same lyrics and more</a> ring hollow when they don't match what's happening on-screen.</p><p>And that's where this movie and other remakes start to fall short. No matter how many of these reimaginings Disney makes ("The Little Mermaid" is the 18th since 2010, including <a href="https://www.insider.com/disney-cruella-movie-review-2021-5">straight</a>-to-<a href="https://www.insider.com/disney-pinocchio-remake-review-2022-9">streaming</a> <a href="https://www.insider.com/lady-and-the-tramp-remake-review-2019-10">releases</a>), there will always be animated moments you simply can't manufacture in the real world.</p><p>Bailey looks stunning and graceful when flipping gorgeous fins that'd make animated Ariel jealous, but the iconic rock scene with a wave crashing from behind looks forcibly produced compared to artist Glen Keane's instantly recognizable image. </p><div type="image" title="The Little Mermaid" height="600" width="1200" msid="100424542" hostid="261"></div><p>Ursula's third-act transformation into an enormous monster is difficult to see in a poorly lit scene that renders her a blurry CGI monstrosity. And they couldn't even create an actual underwater palace for King Triton. His throne — more of a sad seat here — appears to sit in the middle of the ocean without protection.</p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/why-disney-keeps-remaking-animated-movies-2020-5">Other than easy box-office wins</a>, Disney uses these remakes to refine some moments that haven't aged well and they're mostly well-executed, but it's becoming more difficult to justify these projects as anything more than nostalgic cash grabs and subscriber bait if you can't match or outdo the moments that made it iconic. </p><p>But at least this one is mostly well done. </p><p><em>"The Little Mermaid" is in theaters on Friday.</em></p><h2>Grade: B+</h2>

Halle Bailey is a perfect Ariel in an otherwise paint-by-numbers Disney remake that could've delivered more for Ursula

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Warning: There are spoilers below for <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword>'s animated film "<keyword id="2272553" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="OVER-THE-MOON">Over the Moon</keyword>."</li><li>In the film, Fei Fei (Cathy Ang) travels to the moon in a rocket.</li><li>But did she really go to the moon? </li><li>Director Glen Keane said he'll leave that for the audience to decide, but screenwriter Audrey Wells told him Fei Fei's adventure is real.</li><li>Fei Fei's journey from her home to the moon is meant to parallel Dorothy's journey from Kansas to Oz in the classic film, "The Wizard of Oz." </li></ul><p>Netflix's new animated <keyword id="6356021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie">movie</keyword>, "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/over-the-moon">Over the Moon</a>," centers around a young girl named Fei Fei (Cathy Ang), who travels to the moon in a rocket ship to discover if Chang'e is real despite being teased for still believing in the legendary goddess, whom her mother introduced her to before she died.</p><p>By the end of the film, you may wonder if Fei Fei's journey to the moon really happened or if it was all in her head as she learned how to grieve her late mother and embrace her new life without her.</p><p>This was the exact question director Glen Keane brought up to the film's screenwriter, Audrey Wells, who died <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-the-hate-u-give-screenwriter-audrey-wells-dies-at-58-2018-10">during the film's production after a battle with cancer</a>.</p><p>"The last conversation I had with Audrey, just a few months before she passed away, was sitting in my office. I wanted to talk about the reality of the journey that Fei Fei went on," Keane told Insider. </p><p>"I talked about the dream of going to Lunaria. Did it happen?" he continued. "I referred to it as a dream and she said, 'No, it wasn't.' I said, 'Oh, OK. So she really did go, and really did meet Chang'e, and all of that really happened.'"</p><p>Keane then asked Wells if she believed Dorothy really went to the technicolor-filled world in the classic film, "The Wizard of Oz." She lit up, saying, "Well, of course. Don't you think so?"</p><div type="image" title="wizard of oz over the moon" height="600" width="1200" msid="78882266" hostid="261"></div><p>"She just had this childlike sparkle in her eyes and I realized, 'Wow, how wonderful.' I need to keep both sides alive," Keane said. "We will do this film on a razor's edge of whether it happened, whether it was real, whether it was a dream or not, and leave it for the audience to choose."</p><p>It may not be easily noticeable initially, but the film has more in common with the 1939 film than you may have realized.</p><p>According to the film's production notes, Wells wrote it as a variation of "The Wizard of Oz," which just happens to be her favorite film. In both films, the female protagonists go on a journey with their beloved pets to find something in order to grow that they take back home with them. </p><p>Keane said one of the biggest challenges of the film was finding an equivalent to Dorothy's experience of going from Kansas, depicted in black and white, to a technicolored Oz in the 1939 movie. For him, that was animating light.</p><div type="image" title="over the moon fei fei moon" height="1080" width="1998" msid="78882267" hostid="261"></div><p>Inspired by Pink Floyd's album cover for "<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=the+dark+side+of+the+moon&amp;source=lnms&amp;tbm=isch&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjhu8T9_dLsAhVKJKwKHeXtA_cQ_AUoAXoECDIQAw&amp;biw=1172&amp;bih=1221mp;biw=1172&amp;bih=1221">The Dark Side of the Moon</a>," the entire atmosphere of Lunaria is equally vibrant and luminescent. </p><p>One of the biggest parallels you may miss between the two films is that a few characters play dual roles in "Over the Moon."</p><p>Just as Dorothy went to a dream world filled with larger-than-life personalities, some of whom resembled friends and neighbors, Fei Fei encounters other characters on the moon, who are voiced by family members.</p><div type="image" title="biker chickens over the moon netflix" height="1101" width="1040" msid="78882268" hostid="261"></div>If the three Biker Chickens felt a bit random in the film, they make more sense when you know they're voiced by the same actors (Margaret Cho, Kimiko Glenn, and Artt Butle) who play some of Fei Fei's aunts and uncles. <p>So, does Fei Fei really travel to the moon? If that's what you want to believe, absolutely. </p><p>"Over the Moon" is streaming on Netflix. You can <a href="https://www.insider.com/netflix-over-the-moon-review">read our review here</a>. </p>

Netflix's new movie 'Over the Moon' has a direct connection to 'The Wizard of Oz' you may overlook

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword>'s next animated <keyword id="6356021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie">movie</keyword>, "<keyword id="2272553" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="OVER-THE-MOON">Over the Moon</keyword>," premieres on the streaming service Friday.</li><li>It's directed by former Disney veteran Glen Keane, who helped bring many 90s classics to life, including "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast."</li><li>The musical doesn't land every number, but you'll have original song "Rocket to the Moon" stuck in your head long after it's over. That song could easily snag an Oscar nod.</li><li>Though the film delivers a sweet message about moving forward after losing a loved one, overall, the story feels a little predictable and thinks it packs a bit more of an emotional punch than it actually does.</li><li>Warning: There are mild spoilers ahead.</li></ul><p>Netflix's next big animated movie, "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/over-the-moon">Over the Moon,</a>" tackles grief, acceptance, and moving forward.</p><p>The film follows Fei Fei, (Cathy Ang) a 12-year-old girl who struggles with the idea of her father remarrying after the loss of her mother.</p><p>Caught off guard by the idea of a new mom and brother, she builds a rocket to travel to the moon to prove the existence of a goddess her mother told her about while she was young. Fei Fei hopes she can convince her father (John Cho) that her mother will always be his one true love. </p><p>The extremely personal story, led by a former Disney legend, could give Pixar's <a href="https://www.insider.com/pixar-soul-harmful-black-stereotypes-tropes">big release this holiday season, "Soul,"</a> a tough time when awards season rolls around. At the very least, "Over the Moon" should gain some Oscar attention for its emotional original song, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVpyijl4K58">Rocket to the Moon</a>."</p><h2><strong>What you should know: It comes from a legendary Disney animator, has an all Asian cast, and is the final film from screenwriter Audrey Wells</strong></h2><p><strong><div type="image" title="over the moon glen keane" height="900" width="1200" msid="78832203" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>In an effort to compete with other animation studios, Netflix has been ramping up its pool of talent over the past few years. How do you follow up 2019's Oscar-nominated "<a href="https://www.insider.com/klaus-netflix-movie-review-2019-11">Klaus</a>" <a href="https://www.insider.com/netflix-klaus-director-sergio-pablos-interview-2019-11">from "Despicable Me" cocreator Sergio Pablos</a>? </p><p>You hire 38-year Disney veteran <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-glen-keane-went-from-disney-netflix">Glen Keane to direct a feature length movie for you</a>. Keane brought some of Disney's most iconic characters to life, including Ariel ("The Little Mermaid"), the Beast ("Beauty and the Beast"), Pocahontas, Tarzan, and Rapunzel ("Tangled"). Keane codirects "Over the Moon" with former Disney animator John Kahrs, ("Tangled," "Frozen") who won an Oscar for his short "Paperman."</p><p>Screenwriter Audrey Wells ("The Hate U Give") wrote the film as a <a href="https://www.insider.com/over-the-moon-sandra-oh-casting-story-2020-6">love letter to her daughter and husband</a>. Wells, to whom the film is dedicated, died at the age of 58 after a battle with cancer during production.</p><p>The cast includes Sandra Oh ("Killing Eve"), Ken Jeong, Phillipa Soo ("Hamilton"), John Cho, Ruthie Ann Miles, Kimiko Glenn, and Margaret Cho.</p><h2><strong>What's good: Newcomer Cathy Ang will pull at your heartstrings, Keane's mix of 2D animation in a 3D film, </strong><strong>and a song that has Oscar potential </strong></h2>Newcomer Cathy Ang gives an emotional and convincing performance as Fei Fei, a young girl, who's skeptical of allowing others into her heart again after the difficult loss of her mother.<p>Fei Fei may not be one of the Disney princesses Keane has animated in the past, but she's an inspiring, bright, courageous, and spunky girl with a love of science. And when you learn the reason behind her short, jagged haircut, it may make you tear up a little.</p><p>When she sings the film's main song, "Rocket to the Moon," don't be surprised if you're reaching for tissues. The emotional weight of the song as Fei Fei dreams of flying away from her current situation to escape into a dream world in the sky is heartbreaking.</p><div type="image" title="over the moon chang'e" height="1036" width="1920" msid="78832205" hostid="261"></div>If you're a "Hamilton" fan, you'll want to tune in for Philippa Soo's singing performance as the moon goddess, Chang'e. The larger-than-life diva has a stand-out introduction scene where she performs during her concert to adoring moon fans. Though everything seems shimmering and spectacular on the surface, her colorful fans wind up having a deeply personal connection to the lonely goddess.<p>The addition of Fei Fei's inquisitive and adorable pet rabbit, Bungee — a gift from her late mother — should also become an instant favorite. It's the sort of character you could see turned into a stuffed animal. (So I wasn't surprised when a quick Google search told me Netflix and Mattel partnered to turn Bungee and other characters <a href="https://shop.mattel.com/shop/SearchDisplay?categoryId=&amp;storeId=10151&amp;catalogId=10103&amp;langId=-1&amp;sType=SimpleSearch&amp;resultCatEntryType=2&amp;showResultsPage=true&amp;searchSource=Q&amp;pageView=&amp;beginIndex=0&amp;pageSize=36&amp;reflectionEnableSwitchVal=&amp;searchTerm=over+the+moon#facet:&amp;productBeginIndex:0&amp;orderBy:&amp;pageView:grid&amp;minPrice:&amp;maxPrice:&amp;pageSize:&amp;contentPageSize:&amp;ageView:grid&amp;minPrice:&amp;maxPrice:&amp;pageSize:&amp;contentPageSize:&amp;">into dolls and plus</a><a href="https://shop.mattel.com/shop/SearchDisplay?categoryId=&amp;storeId=10151&amp;catalogId=10103&amp;langId=-1&amp;sType=SimpleSearch&amp;resultCatEntryType=2&amp;showResultsPage=true&amp;searchSource=Q&amp;pageView=&amp;beginIndex=0&amp;pageSize=36&amp;reflectionEnableSwitchVal=&amp;searchTerm=over+the+moon#facet:&amp;productBeginIndex:0&amp;orderBy:&amp;pageView:grid&amp;minPrice:&amp;maxPrice:&amp;pageSize:&amp;contentPageSize:&amp;ageView:grid&amp;minPrice:&amp;maxPrice:&amp;pageSize:&amp;contentPageSize:&amp;">h</a>.)</p><div type="image" title="over the moon bungee" height="2160" width="3996" msid="78832209" hostid="261"></div><p>Later, once Fei Fei makes her way to the moon — a fluorescent, fantastical, floating kingdom— she's taken on an adventure similar to when Dorothy visits Oz or Alice falls into Wonderland. You may wonder if she really even traveled to the moon or if it was all one grand dream. Ultimately, Fei Fei's quest helps her come to terms with the idea of allowing someone new into her life.</p><p>It's easy to see the influence of everything Keane learned about the pacing of Disney storytelling in the way "Over the Moon" is laid out.</p><div type="image" title="over the moon fei fei moon" height="1080" width="1998" msid="78832213" hostid="261"></div>One moment in the film, when Fei Fei's mother delivers mooncakes to anxious customers, it's tough not to recall a certain similar moment in "Beauty and the Beast" where a woman requires six eggs from a baker.<p>Keane didn't just direct. He told Insider if he was going to make a movie, he wanted it to be one where he was also animating the story of a lead character, who's making the impossible possible. That's what Fei Fei does on her journey to the moon.</p><p>Though the film is mostly done using computer animation, Keane also shows off his 2D animation roots as he brings the legend of Chang'e to life dancing on a scarf.</p><div type="image" title="over the moon 2d glen keane" height="1080" width="1998" msid="78832215" hostid="261"></div><h2>What's not: While sweet, the film lingers in the realm of predictability to never feel especially extraordinary. Too many songs weigh it down.</h2><p>There's no question "Over the Moon" is beautifully animated and thoughtful, especially with such sensitive material.</p><p>It also stays authentic to Chinese culture. Subtle additions were added into the animation to ensure Fei Fei didn't feel Americanized. It's likely due to the fact that the production not only traveled to China, but it's also produced by Chinese production company Pearl Studios. </p><p>Keane told Insider at least one scene was reanimated a few times to make sure Fei Fei's response to her future stepmother early in the film reflected a genuine depiction of a 12-year-old.</p><p>While the first half hour of the film is immensely engaging (and will likely make you want to learn how to make a mooncake), it loses a little of its steam halfway through when Fei Fei finds herself on the moon.</p><div type="image" title="over the moon fei fei family" height="1945" width="3600" msid="78832221" hostid="261"></div>The musical is stuffed with a few too many songs, some that feel more forced than others as the film carries on. It's great to see a return to the animated musicals many grew up with in the '90s, but not every bit of dialogue needs to be sang if the same meaning can come across through spoken word. <p>If you've lost someone close to you, or have grown up with a single parent, "Over the Moon" perfectly captures the hesitation one may experience in allowing new love into your life. While sweet, the film feels a little paint-by-numbers. It's predictable. By its end, the film doesn't pack as much of an emotional punch as it thinks it does during its climax.</p><p>Though it serves as a good watch with a valuable lesson at its core, "Over the Moon" likely won't be one you'll revisit over and over again.</p><h2>Grade: B</h2><p>"Over the Moon" is available to stream on Netflix. Watch a trailer for the movie below:</p>

Netflix's 'Over the Moon' is a sweet tale about loss and moving forward

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="1928379" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sandra-Oh">Sandra Oh</keyword> ("Killing Eve") will voice a character in <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword>'s <a href="https://www.insider.com/over-the-moon-full-trailer-2020-6">next full-length animated feature, "Over the Moon."</a></li><li>It's the final <keyword id="6356021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie">movie</keyword> written by screenwriter Audrey Wells, who died in 2018 after a battle with cancer.</li><li>During a press event, producer Peilin Chou said Wells wrote the film as a love letter to her daughter and husband before her death.</li><li>Producer Gennie Rim recalled stopping Oh's car in a parking lot to get her to be a part of Wells' final film. Oh also appeared in Wells' first film.</li><li>"<keyword id="2272553" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="OVER-THE-MOON">Over the Moon</keyword>" will stream on Netflix this fall.</li></ul><p>Sandra Oh may not have been a part of Netflix's next feature-length animated movie if a producer didn't stop her car in a parking lot.</p><p>"I know the script had come to me and it was just not fitting in [to my schedule]," said Oh during a press event for the film with the cast and director that Insider virtually attended. </p><p>"<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/over-the-moon">Over the Moon</a>" follows a young girl, Fei Fei (Cathy Ang), as she grapples with her father moving on after the loss of her mother. Fei Fei builds a rocket to travel to the moon to prove the existence of the goddess, Chang'e, a story her mother used to share with her.</p><p>Oh ("Killing Eve") voices Fei Fei's future stepmother, Mrs. Zhong.</p><p><div type="image" title="over the moon fei fei rabbit" height="2160" width="3996" msid="76532669" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The film is the first feature-length movie directed by legendary Disney animator Glen Keane. It's also the last film from screenwriter Audrey Wells ("The Hate U Give"). Wells <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/audrey-wells-dead-under-tuscan-sun-hate-u-give-screenwriter-was-58-1149868">died in 2018</a>, at the age of 58, after a battle with cancer. </p><p>Oh has a long history of working with the screenwriter. She had previously appeared in Wells' first movie, "<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160338/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Guinevere</a>," "<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328589/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Under the Tuscan Sun</a>," and "<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247638/">The Princess Diaries</a>," which Wells had a hand in writing. </p><p>"Over the Moon" producer Gennie Rim approached Oh at a Writers Guild memorial service for Wells in hopes to get her to be a part of the screenwriter's final movie.</p><p>"I did my stalker move where we were trying to get you to become part of this and I know the schedule wasn't working," said Rim, recalling the moment for the cast and crew.</p><p><div type="image" title="over the moon zoom talent" height="1080" width="1920" msid="76532673" hostid="261"></div></p><p>This was the first time many of them were meeting for the first time since making the film.</p><p>"I knew you were there and I heard that you had left the building and I ran after you into the parking lot," Rim continued. "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."</p><p>"Everything about that moment was right," said Oh.</p><p>"I did know she was sick. Do you know what I mean? And, it's for lots of reasons that it's difficult to read something that you... that just is…" Oh said of it being tough to pick up and read Wells' script as she visibly held back tears.</p><p>After their parking lot encounter, Oh took a look at the script. </p><p>"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."</p><p>The film, based on the <a href="http://www.moonfestival.org/the-legend-of-chang-e.html">tale of Chang'e and the archer, Houyi</a>, also stars John Cho, Ruthie Ann Miles, Phillipa Soo ("Hamilton"), Ken Jeong, Kimiko Glenn, and Margaret Cho. </p><p><div type="image" title="over the moon family" height="1080" width="1998" msid="76532676" hostid="261"></div></p><p>During a nearly 40-minute conversation with press, producer Peilin Chou described Wells as "the heart and soul" of "Over the Moon." </p><p>"I came to know, much later in the process, how meaningful the script was to her," said Chou. "About a year in, she shared with me that she was sick and she didn't know how much time she had left."</p><p>"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," Chou added. "It was something she really wanted her daughter to have and know. She told me it was the most important script she had ever written."</p><p><div type="image" title="over the moon fei fei family" height="1945" width="3600" msid="76532681" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Chou said it was important to Wells that the story was made and she was able to screen a version of the film before her death, which she "really, really loved."</p><p>"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."</p><p>"I'm so grateful that it was still open for me to be a part of and to join the cast," said Oh. </p><p>"We are grateful," said Rim, adding, "Thank you for not driving away from a crazy person who was running after you."</p><p>"Over the Moon" will stream on Netflix this fall.</p>

Sandra Oh knew she had to join Netflix's next animated movie 'Over the Moon' after a producer stopped her car in a parking lot

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>China-based Pearl Studio did tons of behind-the-scenes work to make "Abominable," a movie it coproduced with DreamWorks Animation, culturally relevant in China when it opens this week.</li><li>Pearl Studio chief content officer Peilin Chou described to Business Insider the year-long process the company undertook to dub and adapt the movie for the Chinese market.</li><li>It included changing jokes and even the backstory of a character to make it more appealing to Chinese audiences.</li><li>"Abominable" won the US box office its first weekend in theaters by earning over $20 million.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p> </p><p>A movie lives in many different forms when it's released worldwide, and one of the main changes is that it's often dubbed into local languages.</p><p>Instead of Hollywood studios placing subtitles in their releases, they often hire actors from a specific region of the world to come in and say the lines of the characters.</p><p>"Abominable," the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/abominable-movie-tops-the-box-office-with-21-million-2019-9">weekend's US box-office champ</a>, is one of these movies. But thanks to Pearl Studio, which coproduced the animated title with DreamWorks Animation, when audiences in China see the movie (it opens there this week), they'll get a much more China-centric version of the movie than they normally would with a Hollywood release.</p><p>The Shanghai-based company (formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks) spent over a year tweaking the movie so that the version shown in China will have a deeper connection with audiences. That included changing jokes and even a character backstory. It's an unprecedented process that Pearl hopes will be the backbone of its collaboration with Hollywood studios going forward in this era when a movie's box-office draw in China, the world's No. 2 movie market, is vital. </p><p>"What makes us unique is that at Pearl we are making global films, the box office for 'Abominable' in the US last weekend proved that, but also delivering that Chinese cultural authenticity," Peilin Chou, a producer on "Abominable" and chief content officer at Pearl Studio, told Business Insider.</p><p>And to pull that off, Pearl worked side-by-side with DreamWorks in the creation of "Abominable." The project began its development process in 2010, and hit its stride with the idea from the movie's director, Jill Culton ("Open Season"), that a Yeti should team with a group of kids to get back to home to the Himalayas. Because of that plot, setting the story in China was an easy decision and allowed Pearl to suggest elements to make sure everything about it was culturally relevant. That spanned from how the family in the story is portrayed to details of the city landscape they live in.</p><p>"They helped us get the details just right," Margie Cohn, president of DreamWorks Animation, told Business Insider. "We laughed, but it took a while until we got just the right amount of food on the table for a family dinner."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>But where Pearl's influence was really felt was after the movie was finished and the company prepared a dub for the China release.</p><p>Typically dubbing a movie for other regions of the world will take a week or so with actors recording the dialogue into a different language. But the process for "Abominable" was more advanced.</p><p>Pearl brought on acclaimed writer-director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3236624/">Shu Huan</a>, who is behind the hugely successful Chinese movies "Lost in Thailand" and "Lost in Hong Kong," to be the consulting director. And the voice actor cast was made up of well-known stars in China like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Zifeng">Zhang Zifeng</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Chen">Arthur Chen</a> ("Ever Night"), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wan_Qian">Wan Qian</a> ("Paradise in Service"), and sketch comedy actress <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cai_Ming_(actress)">Cai Ming</a>.</p><p>But the dub hit a snag early in the process and it even caught Pearl off guard.</p><p>"We had a literal translation of the English script to Mandarin and what we realized is because of that the jokes were lost," Chou said. "It wasn't apparent that there were jokes."</p><p>Chou said it was then put upon Pearl, whose staff is bilingual, to explain to Shu Huan and the six-person writers' room the English jokes so then they could come up with bits that would work better for a Chinese audience.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong></em>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-movie-release-slate-box-office-compared-to-other-studios-2019-10"><em>Disney has dominated the box office for years, but experts say it will face challengers in 2020</em></a></p><p>One joke that needed tweaking was a sequence when the movie's villain Burnish (voiced by Eddie Izzard in the non-dubbed version) is presented with a group of whooping snakes. Burnish makes the comment, "They would make a nice belt," when they are presented to him. When Pearl showed the movie to a test audience in China that line didn't get a laugh. So it was changed to Burnish talking about the different kind of dishes he could make with the snakes: "A spicy soup or a salad," is what he says in the dub.</p><p>"Chinese culture is all about eating," Chou said. "That became a big laugh moment in the movie."</p><p>But it wasn't just many of the jokes that were altered. Some of the dramatic moments needed changing, too.</p><p>In a scene when Burnish talks about seeing a Yeti in his youth and then being mocked in public for believing the mythical creature exists, the China dub goes a step further.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>"In the Mandarin version, not only did people make fun of him, but his family ridiculed him and cast him off; he actually lost his family," Chou said. "So that made it, I think, more relevant to the Chinese audience because the value of family is so strong."</p><p>Even songs were changed. A reference to the 1993 hit "Whoomp! (There It Is)" was swapped out for an equally catchy Chinese song. And in a dramatic moment when Coldplay's "Fix You" gets a needle drop, it was changed to a female singer doing a cover of the song in Mandarin.</p><p>Chou said this type of detail for the dubbing of a movie is very rare because it's such a challenge to do. Over the year it took to accomplish it, Shu Huan and the writers went through multiple drafts of the script before handing it over to the actors who would voice the characters. Pearl even brought in high-profile Chinese filmmakers to watch the dub, just to make sure they got the cultural sensibility right.</p><p>"I think they're incredibly invested in making it feel like the movie was made locally for a Chinese audience," Cohn said of Pearl, which she said she hopes to work with again. "They went above and beyond to make sure audiences are experiencing this as a Chinese production."</p><p>Next, Pearl will be teaming with Netflix on a coproduction of the animated movie "Over the Moon," which will be directed by Glen Keane (who won an Oscar for the Kobe Bryant short film "Dear Basketball"). And like "Abominable," it's a story with global appeal but rooted in Chinese culture, as it focuses on one of the most famous Chinese myths, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e">Moon Goddess</a>.</p>

How box-office hit 'Abominable' was drastically changed for its Chinese release

<p>Celebrated Disney animator Glen Keane has an incredible resume: "The Little Mermaid," "Pocahontas," and "Aladdin" are a tiny smattering of the dozens of films he's worked on in the past 40 years.&#xa0;</p><p>Yet, despite that acclaimed history of famous works, Keane is frustrated with traditional animation.</p><p>"When I animate, there's a frustration that I have wishing that the flatness of the paper would go away and I could actually dive in."</p><p><div></div></p><p>It's easy to see why: Literally flipping back and forth between your current drawing and the next is laborious and frustrating. If Keane could just step into his animated worlds and animate them from within, his life would be so much easier. And that's why he's so excited about virtual reality.</p><p><div></div></p><p>In a video posted to Vimeo by the Future of Storytelling conference, Keane uses HTC and Valve's virtual reality headset with the drawing program "TiltBrush" to create one&#xa0;of his most iconic characters in three dimensions. <div></div></p><p>Not bad, right? And it must be pretty incredible to go from pencil and paper to motion controller and VR headset.</p><p>Keane's quite impressed.</p><p>"I would draw not to do a drawing, but so that I could&#xa0;step in and live in that world. Today, all the rules have changed," Keane says. "I can put goggles on and I just step into the paper and now I'm drawing in it. North, South, East, West - all directions are open now."</p><p><div></div></p><p>Here's the full video of Keane in action, from pencil and paper to the virtual reality of "TiltBrush," all in under 10&#xa0;minutes:</p><center></center>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/inside-the-virtual-reality-theme-park-the-void-2015-9">Inside The Void: An exclusive look at the future of virtual reality</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="wwZXdidzpzppE3NFvnNsC_bCmgyd6hS5" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Watch this legendary Disney animator get blown away by painting in virtual reality

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Glen_Keane"></a></div><p></p></div>Glen Keane is a bona-fide Disney Legend - seriously, he officially earned the title back in 2013. In his thirty-five-some-odd years at Disney, Keane was the lead animator for enduring characters like Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Beast, from Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin, from Aladdin.</p><p>Most recently, he animated both characters from the award-winning Disney short Paperman before leaving Disney in 2013. </p><p>"When I left Disney, I left with a sense that there has to be something more," Keane says. "I just want to live without walls." </p><p>Keane found that "something more" at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-partners-with-levis-for-smart-pants-2015-5">Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) lab</a> - the skunkworks within Google that founder Dr. Regina Dugan describes as "a small band of pirates trying to do epic s--t." ATAP is well-known for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-atap-killed-project-to-improve-mobile-battery-life-2015-3">giving its researchers and experts carte blanche</a> to work on cool stuff that interests them.</p><p>At last year's Google I/O event, Dugan and her team unveiled <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-360-degree-movie-help-2015-5">Google Spotlight Stories</a>, a super-cool mobile app that shows you a 360-degree, totally immersive movie where you can look around each scene just by moving your phone around. Duet, a short cartoon directed and animated by Keane, launched with the app.</p><p>At this this week's Google I/O 2015, Google ATAP released its first live action short film, a creature feature directed by The Fast and the Furious director Justin Lin called "Help!" </p><p>The form presents a lot of challenges for seasoned directors, who are used to picking and choosing their shots down to the last specific detail. In Google Spotlight Stories, a viewer can look anywhere in every scene, any time they want. It's a tremendous loss of power for detail-oriented directors. </p><p>"I'm sharing that power with the viewer," Lin said on a panel of Google Spotlight Stories creators at Google I/O on Friday.</p><p><span>A director can't have so much as a floodlight or trailer or extras hanging out off screen, because there is no off-screen.</span></p><p>It's a frustration that Keane sympathizes with, and it presented a big challenge when he was working on Duet, he says. Early on in production, Keane was planning to "rely on [his] animation and [his] drawing skills" to tell the story, treating it like any other film he's worked on.</p><p>But his son Max Keane, Duet's production designer, urged him to work out every single shot beforehand just to make sure that every scene worked in three dimensions. "I was sort of like sweating blood," Keane says, but it paid off in a more cohesive, three-dimensional film. </p><p>The payoff, Keane says, is a more emotional film. Because a viewer is literally placed into the middle of the scene, there's "an immediate touching of the audience." It gets the idea and the feeling that an artist wants to convey through to the viewer much more quickly, making it kind of a "visual poem," he says. </p><p>Even better is that it works on mobile devices, Keane says. Not everybody can go to a movie theater, Keane says, but more and more people the world over are getting online with smartphones and tablets. And since Google Spotlight Stories is ideal for short films, it requires a smaller time investment.</p><p>Lin refers to Google Spotlight Stories as "an intersection of art and commerce."</p><p>For Keane, who's working on more Google Spotlight Stories projects, it's giving his work a broader audience, and the tools to tell more interesting stories. </p><p>"This has to have a future," Keane says.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/game-of-thrones-stars-real-life-2015-4">Here's what 'Game of Thrones' stars look like in real life</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="NzaTRldDoXZcQw9XO6NGGy8J2dbDaF1A" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "glen keane" and got 11 results

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