DreamWorks Animation and Shanghai-based Pearl Studio hope the new animated movie "Abominable," which opens September 27 in the U.S., can make the crossover leap.

The movie is their first joint production since a Chinese media conglomerate took over Oriental DreamWorks in 2018 and rebranded it Pearl Studio. Most of the voice cast, which includes Chloe Bennet of Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is of Chinese descent. 

"Abominable" centers on the bond between Yi, a teenage girl grieving the loss of her father, and a Yeti. She and her friends embark on a 2,000-mile (3,219-kilometer) trek to bring their big-footed buddy, who also know as the Everest, back to the Himalayas. 

This movie elaborates the relationship between"Human and Nature" of the Chinese culture. And the producer Zhou Peilin said "it is a love letter" to China.

The group lives in a nameless Chinese metropolis that closely resembles Shanghai down to the bamboo building scaffolding. 

The visuals are a product of the open back-and-forth dialogue between animators in the East and West, director Jill Culton said. She wanted to make sure they were doing more than throwing "Chinese pieces and parts in just to please the audience."

Animators and designers were meticulous in what's being touted as the first major animated feature about a family in modern China. In designing Yi's home, the team wanted details about the apartment size of a typical Chinese family and even the inclusion of pork buns on the dinner table, said Peilin Chou, Pearl Studio's chief creative officer. 

Animation movies have increasingly been seeing successes in the Chinese market, including the blockbuster"Ne Zha" and the "Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire" that just released. The "Abominable" that just premiered on the Toronto international film festival seems to have a bright future.

(With input from AP)