Alright this isn't about my actual big essay thing but rather what could have been. When I was little my parents had a VHS tape of this movie called Milo & Otis. Basically a brief summary is that it's about a pug (Otis) and a cat (Milo) who are best friends, and then one day the Milo gets swept by a river and Otis goes after him to rescue him. They go through all these really pretty meadows and Otis fights a bear and everything. It's a live action movie and it's sort of semi-cheesy because the narrator narrates what happens but also does voices for the animals. It's like an hour and 15 minutes and it's a nice mix of exciting and calming and super cute. Otis eventually finds Milo and everything ends happily.
This movie was particularly special to me because I grew up with a pug -- my parents got Snowy as a sort of consolation present for my brother because he was about 7 when I was born and not particularly happy about having a little sister. Snowy grew up with me and so I thought it was so cool that there was a movie about a pug that was like my own pug (I was also pretty obsessed with pugs when I was young -- I remember having a collection of pug cards that once got featured at the Urbana library). I watched Milo & Otis a lot when I was sick or just when my parents wanted to entertain me and I could just relax with a cute hero's journey where cute animals save each other and everything ends happily.
The problem with Milo & Otis (and the main reason why I didn't do my paper on this) and because when you Google Milo & Otis you get things like "IT'S NEWS TO YOU: MILO & OTIS IS TORTURE PORN ..." which is a bit upsetting when it's about one of your favorite childhood movies. I read some of the accusations and things don't look good for Milo & Otis which is honestly pretty sad because I can't really look at the movie the same way again -- I want to watch it again and enjoy the childhood nostalgia but then I'll just be worrying about how many animals were harmed. Poor Milo & poor Otis.
It sounds like a really cute movie, though I agree, having that kind of childhood obsession ruined is horrible. For me I think it has to be the Little House series -- although Laura Ingalls Wilder's recently-published memoir doesn't completely ruin everything, it definitely does spin a much more realistic tale. I think a little part of my childhood died when I started reading the memoir.
ReplyDeleteWould you say that Milo and/or Otis were heroes to you when you were a kid?
Aw, sorry about the Little House series! I don't know if Otis was necessarily my hero in a "Wow I wish I could be like that pug!" way -- I think I had more fun imagining Snowy as a hero -- but I guess the movie is a bit inspiring in a general way. I like to think that if you were washed away in a cardboard box in a river while meowing pitifully, I would confront a bear for you.
DeleteThanks! I'm touched.
DeleteThis movie sounds a little bit like the movie Homeward Bound where two dogs and a cat get lost and have to try and find their way back home again. I remember it being incredibly sad when I was a kid but it was one of my favorites as a kid too. Your movie sounds really cute and its kind of a shame what it has turned into today.
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