The Adventures of Milo and Otis

This is probably one of the cutest movies of all time.  Last time I watched it, I noticed a lot of Asian names in the credits.  Turns out this was a Japanese live-action film that came out in 1986.  Capturing it took about 400,000 feet of film (which is about 40 hours) shot over a period of 4 years.  The English version, narrated by Dudley Moore, came out in 1989, when I was five years old.

At some point in my childhood it became a favorite of me and my sisters, and we had every word memorized.  Then years passed by where I didn't even think about it until I was grown and saw it on dvd and had to buy it for my collection.

So what have I learned from this movie?  I'm not sure.

I'm sure there's some kind of symbolism to be found in the perils of each friend.  Milo faces 3 attacks by the same bear, falls off a waterfall, crosses a burning valley, nearly gets hit by a train, gets pecked by seagulls, escapes a snake, and falls in a pit.  Otis fared slightly better as his only peril was being stranded at sea and he probably could have swam to shore.  Maybe he would have gotten eaten by sharks or his wee legs wouldn't have made it all the way to shore.  Sadly we will never know because that cranky turtle came and saved him.  Anyway, despite traveling totally different paths, Milo and Otis are reunited.

However, this only lasts about a minute because then Joyce appears- a seductive feline that lures Milo into an obsessive relationship that slowly distances Milo and Otis until he decides to go off on his own, into the wilderness.  Amazingly, it is there that Otis meets Sondra, who is not only a female dog but is even the exact same breed as Otis.  Clearly, this is fate.  Otis does endure one more trial as he trudges out into the winter storms to secure food for him and his new family.  And who should come to his rescue but Milo, who is living with his family in a barn.  In the spring all the animals emerge from their dens and engage in frolicking cuteness.  And then they all embark together down "the road that would take them to the place their lives had begun, the road that would take them... home."

     Moral of the story: Once your friends start hooking      
     up, they will forget all about you.  Just kidding ;)

     This movie is perhaps to blame for my adventurous
     spirit.  Like Milo, I have often followed a road just to
     see where it would lead, and they have led to some
     beautiful things.  It also illustrates that just because
     two creatures (or people) are very different, doesn't
     mean they can't be friends, even best friends.  In fact,
     sometimes it is our differences which bring us closer
     together.