by Nick Ferro, Contributing Writer
It’s not every day that an advertisement on Facebook catches my eye, let alone causes me to immediately watch the subject of said ad. But when I saw Peter Ramsey, one of the directors of Into the Spider-Verse was mentioned as the director of a new miniseries it grabbed my attention. After seeing that it also had Shannon Tindle, one of the writers of Kubo and the Two Strings, and Kate Gersten, who helped write The Good Place and Schmigadoon!, it was a no-brainer: I had to watch it immediately. The miniseries in question is Netflix’s Lost Ollie. Based on the book Ollie’s Odyssey by William Joyce, Lost Ollie is a story about a stuffed animal rabbit named Ollie (voiced by Jonathan Groff), who wakes up one day in a thrift store with his memories in shambles, not knowing how or why he is there, but knowing one thing: he must get back to his best friend, a boy named Billy (Kesler Talbot). While in the thrift store, he meets a friendly clown doll named Zozo (Tim Blake Nelson), who helps him realize that if he can focus on specific memories, he might be able to find his way home. Before setting out on their adventure to find Billy, they team up with a sword wielding patchwork stuffed bear named Rosy (Mary J. Blige), who is an old friend of Zozo, but doesn’t exactly get along with Ollie. Meanwhile, Billy is at home making lost signs to put up around town in hopes of finding Ollie.
The series consists of four episodes of roughly 40-to-50 minutes each. My intention was to watch the first two episodes and finish the last two the next day. It was late, and I really didn’t want to stay up till two in the morning watching, essentially, a long movie. Well… “the battle did not go well, Enterprise…” I couldn’t stop watching, it and when 2:00 rolled around, I was wiping tears from my eyes, very glad that I had powered through. The first episode gives you a clear vision of what the show will be, and introduces you to most of the characters with some serious Toy Story 4 vibes, being set in an antique-like store. The second episode sends our heroes out on their adventure and really nails the feeling of Toy Story 2, with the toys being out in the real world making their journey. Episode three is the backstory episode where the mystery of what happened to our characters in the past starts to be revealed and there are several heartbreaking moments. It is also the episode that I feel might get a little dark for younger audiences. The show is rated PG, but there is a moment where a character becomes a bit scary. The final episode wraps everything up in a beautiful, heart-wrenching way with a touch of bittersweet serendipity. If you were paying attention early on, there is a story turn that may have been a bit telegraphed, but regardless of whether you picked up on it, the development works flawlessly in evoking the exact emotions necessary to fall in love with this story.
You may have noticed that Toy Story got thrown around a bit, and yes, to some, this may seem very much like a ripoff of that franchise. In all honesty, there are a plethora of parallels that you can make between Toy Story and Lost Ollie. However, Lost Ollie is much less of an homage, and more along the lines of a similar story in the same genre, much like how Palm Springs or Russian Doll are riffs on Groundhog Day, and not copies of it. All of the performances in the show are well done, both on screen and voice acting. However, there is one standout among them, and that is Gina Rodriguez, who plays Billy’s mom. She has to hold down a large chuck of the emotional weight, and whenever she is on screen, you will fall in love with her. Her chemistry with Jake Johnson, who plays Billy’s dad, is undeniable, but the story beat that she has to act as an arbiter between the two is an interesting twist. Billy and his dad are very different, but she is able to make them see each other for who they are, and helps them bond in a way they couldn’t do on their own. She is a strong wife and a loving mom, and she does her best to raise Billy with a sense of whimsy and wonder. She knows the real world will do its best to stamp out this wonder, and she encourages Billy’s imagination. This imagination that Billy has allows him to understand Ollie when he speaks, which is a unique element that the show has. The toys, as they make their way through the city to find Billy, are doing so in full view of people. However, the show does a nice job of implying that only children notice and interact with the toys and adults, who are lacking in imagination don’t seem to notice the toys at all.
If I had to pick out a flaw, it would be one very forced moment when Billy and his mom are at the doctor’s and a nurse tells Billy that family only are allowed to be in that particular area of the office (he and his mom don’t share the same skin color), to which his mom has to say, “that’s my son.” This moment is forced for two reasons: one, it’s meant to draw attention to the fact that Billy is adopted, but the way it done is so clunky that it briefly took me out of the story; the second reason it feels forced is because no one would ever tell a child, only a few feet away from an adult, “you can’t be here.” It’s the weirdest interaction in the whole series that really stuck with me for how poorly executed it was.
Lost Ollie is not only a captivating story, but it is a visual delight with stunningly beautiful animation and cinematography. Not only is the integration of the animated characters into the real world flawless, but I learned that some of the animation was done practically with puppets, and the effort that was put into bringing these characters to life is on full display. Aside from the animated elements, the real world shots of the city of Louisville, Kentucky, as well as other picturesque locations, stand out as well. There are a few scenes shot in the moonlight that are hauntingly beautiful, and there are several shots of the toys journey in the wilderness or on a river that I loved.
I don’t want to say too much more because part of my love of this series was discovering the ups and downs as the story progressed. Every now and then, a story comes along that simultaneously guts you emotionally, while still filling you with wonder and awe. Lost Ollie, for me, is one of those stories that I felt needed to be shared with anyone willing to give it a chance. I can’t wait to hear what everyone else thinks of this show, and I know that I will be looking forward to anything this group of filmmakers produce in the future.
Score: 10/10
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