Movie flashback

The Adventures of Milo and Otis (Japan, 1989, English language version) sounded like innocent, wholesome fun.

It is about a cat named Milo and a pug-nosed dog named Otis on a farm. The wilderness surrounds them, but when the animals run about the setting isn’t always clear.

Having a cat and a dog as best friends is a lovely touch in a lovely movie. Humans are nowhere to be seen in this animal adventure story, but they appear to be present on the farm when cats eat food from a plate. Someone must have put the plate there.

We the audience needs Dudley Moore in the English language version, as via him we get to hear what Milo and Otis are thinking and saying to each other. The movie would be nonsense without a narrator.

The narrator layers the cutes in.

Milo and Otis are playful buddies and get into all sorts of predicaments on the farm—up chimneys, hiding in buckets and in flour bags. But their biggest test is when Milo gets lost. Would Otis go the extra mile and help him? Is there such a thing as a boundless friendship that will do anything and go anywhere for a beloved friend? There can be.

Friendship can be playful and fun, but when trouble comes, Otis tries to save Milo.

This film shows us that best friends are playful buddies, but they are also there through thick as well as thin. Friends are there for the long haul as well as for the good times and the fun times.

Perhaps we know all this, but it’s great to kindle being a great friend and just do it graciously.

A true friend can sacrifice their own interests. Their commitment and love is durable. We all would love friends like this.

That is why The Adventures of Milo and Otis is an adorable film. It invests in the best of the animal read: human condition.