Rating: 
Summary: Big hit with MY 2 year old!
Review:
Milo & Otis is a charming, if juvenile (it's supposed to be) movie about a long journey, and curious encounters undertaken by two friends - a cat and a dog.
The scenery and cinemetography are wonderful - even spellbinding, but nowhere in the credits does it say where it is filmed. If it's Japan, then Japan has a wonderfully northwestern European look to it. The "river" looks so cool and refreshing that I often wondered how refreshing a drink from it might be.
Beautiful scenery aside, it's obvious to the adults that most of it is contrived. There really aren't any farms anymore that have "all the animals." And let's face it, a sea turtle just doesn't "stop by" to let a dog ride on it's back. But again, in the child's perpective, it's wonderfully casual.
For the adults, Duddly Moore's narration is a bit annoying sometimes, but it is, after all, directed at kids. My two year old insists on watching it at least twice a day (for now - past obsessions include Toy Story 2 and A Bug's Life), so I suppose it worked as planned, and I've sat through it at least four or five times myself.
One other reviewer mentioned the possible animal abuse. The film credits do indeed say that the animals were closely supervised, but that didn't stop them from being their own, unwitting "stunt men." I don't think anything amounted to animal abuse, and I certainly don't think any died. Although they pushed the limits by throwing a cat off a small cliff into the sea! It wasn't harmed, and the cat swam to shore and shook it off pretty easily. Still...
Parents will see the bittersweet nature of the ending. Sure, Milo & Otis go home. But they never "go home." Who can? By the end of the movie, their happy childhood is spent, so even getting back to the farm will not restore them to their first innocence.
But this is all happily lost on the young child who sees only the magical journey and many strange encounters of Milo & Otis; two friends - a cat and a dog.
Rating: 
Summary: A-w-w-w-fully Cute!
Review: My pug and I watched "Milo and Otis" with the same interest my sisters and I used to watch "Lassie" and "National Velvet". I used to sit as close to the TV as I could get making sure Lassie made it safely through his adventures. The natural environment of "Milo and Otis" is beautiful; the animal characters, delightful; the dialogue, clever; and the music, both beautiful and fun. It would be my hope that children of the new millenium feel the same sense of adventure while watching "Milo and Otis" as I felt while watching "Lassie". The themes of loyalty, friendship, heeding the advice of your parents, etc. are the same. The piece is not educational TV, fragmented into lessons repeated by muppets or purple barnies. Nor is it cartoony. It is, instead, one simple, attention-holding story of a young kitten and pup who get separated, then reunite at the end, each having their own new adventures and families to share. Animals teach people, old and young. This movie was filmed with great sensitivity. Pugs in the snow? Tabbies floating in the river? Not too real, but believable in this film. Hope they WERE closely supervised during the filming and not made to suffer. Thumbs up to the Japanese for going back to the farm, nature, and animals. Now I want a Tabbie.
Rating:
Summary: amazing nature photography
Review: I didn't know what to think before seeing this movie. The opinions were so disparate. Now that I've seen it, I find I agree with both camps. It is a delightful AND troubling film. This is a simple but timeless story of adventure and friendship. Milo the mischievous kitten and Otis the pug puppy are best friends. Otis even pursues his friend when he's carried down the river after jumping into a wooden box. Soon, both of them are lost as well as separated from each other. The adventures they have with other animals are amazing, numerous and varied. They interact with a bear cub, raccoon, fox, seagulls, a turtle, a fawn and many others. The interactions will amaze you -- I couldn't believe a pug was riding on a turtle's back! The footage is incredible, and does make one worry about the animals. While the director has said that the animals were raised together and are friends, and this is believable, it cannot account for the cat being attacked by seagulls and later falling from a very high cliff into the ocean. This troubles me. Dudley Moore's narration is flawless. He captures every voice perfectly. Background music is gentle orchestral pieces. You will be amazed (and maybe a little troubled). Your children will definitely enjoy it, and adults will, too.
Rating: 
Summary: From the animal rights activist & pug fanatic.....
Review: This movie has great cinematography but if you own a pug or know anything about them, you know that pugs are not good swimmers. The scene where Otis was in the river with the bear put me on the edge of my seat!! THE POOR THING WENT UNDER LIKE 3 TIMES!!!
I wanted to jump through the screen and save him! And when he was on a rock in the middle of the ocean, you could tell he was scared!!
I'm not saying there was any abuse per se but animals shouldn't be put in situations where they are scared!! And the poor things look scared in several scenes.
"Animals are reliable, most all full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to."
~Alfred A. Montapert
Rating:
Summary: Cute animal friendship story
Review: I first saw this movie when I was seven and I loved it. The Japanese film-makers took four years to create this film, using the best conditions for each scene and the most believable animals actions. Anyone will love the amazing scenery and appreciate the pleasant instrumental music. Dudley Moore narrates and his voice is hilariously used for all the characters, male and female. The animals unknowingly act out a very cute adventure story that shows the lengths two friends will go for each other. Obviously when I was seven I didn't stop to think about whether the animals were injured during all their stunts (i.e., Milo the cat going down a rather long waterfall in a wooden box), but when I recently bought the movie I had to check the credits. There is a note at the end of the film saying "The animals used in this film were under strict supervision with the utmost concern for their well-being" or something to that effect. I'm hoping this means none were injured or worse. Well if you want an enjoyable movie to watch with your animal-loving kids, buy this movie. All my nieces and nephews loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing Scenes Cast a Pall Over Otherwise Charming Film
Review: Using different narrators to voice the film around the globe, THE ADVENTURES OF MILO AND OTIS was an immediate family favorite when it was first released--and even today it remains a charming film, beautifully filmed with an engaging story and characters. Even so, children and adults may well leave the film with very different responses. The story is light and amusing. A mischievous orange cat, Milo, and a stalwart pug dog, Otis, are raised together on a farm and become best buddies. When Milo is swept downriver in a wooden box, Otis quickly follows in attempt to rescue him, and the two experience many adventures as they search for each other and for home. The English-language narration by Dudley Moore is a shade sticky at times, but the animal cast is charming and the visual story telling is remarkable. Children will likely adore it. But MILO AND OTIS was created by Masanori Hata and filmed in Japan, and there can be significant differences between Asian and Western ideas about what constitutes animal abuse. The film is repeatedly marred by scenes in which the lead animal actors are clearly terrified by what is happening--and occasionally in obvious pain as well. While children are not likely to spot this, adults very likely will, and quite possibly to the point of absolute revulsion. Contrary to folklore, cats do not always land on their feet, much less easily survive extremely long falls. It is also worth noting that Pugs are notoriously poor swimmers, and it is hard to imagine how any one could "train" a sea turtle short of harpooning one and pulling it along via block and tackle. Scenes such as these cast a dark pall over an otherwise charming film. Animals are not actors in the sense that they make a career choice, and performing animals must rely on the integrity of their human handlers and trainers for care and safety. For all its great storytelling and memorable cinematography, I cannot recommend a film in which it seems very obvious that the animal performers have been abused in order to achieve cinematic effects. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: A-w-w-w-fully Cute!
Review: My pug and I watched "Milo and Otis" with the same interest my sisters and I used to watch "Lassie" and "National Velvet". I used to sit as close to the TV as I could get making sure Lassie made it safely through his adventures. The natural environment of "Milo and Otis" is beautiful; the animal characters, delightful; the dialogue, clever; and the music, both beautiful and fun. It would be my hope that children of the new millenium feel the same sense of adventure while watching "Milo and Otis" as I felt while watching "Lassie". The themes of loyalty, friendship, heeding the advice of your parents, etc. are the same. The piece is not educational TV, fragmented into lessons repeated by muppets or purple barnies. Nor is it cartoony. It is, instead, one simple, attention-holding story of a young kitten and pup who get separated, then reunite at the end, each having their own new adventures and families to share. Animals teach people, old and young. This movie was filmed with great sensitivity. Pugs in the snow? Tabbies floating in the river? Not too real, but believable in this film. Hope they WERE closely supervised during the filming and not made to suffer. Thumbs up to the Japanese for going back to the farm, nature, and animals. Now I want a Tabbie.
Rating:
Summary: Pug not mistreated
Review: I'm not sure where the reviews are coming from that state the animals are abused. As for the pug and the bear...I own a pug as well and I'm currently reading a book by an author that interviewed the director of Milo & Otis for a Pug magazine. The bear & the pug were raised together, so they were best buddies.
Rating:
Summary: Cute at times, but the abuse to the animals can't be ignored
Review: It's really hard to say anything bad about the movie because of the cute storyline, and the cute action caught on film of the animals, but CUTE doesn't cut it when you realize the animals are being abused. There aren't any special effects here, the animals are mistreated, and it is shocking. I don't recommend this movie to anyone, and the copy I own is going in the trashcan.
Rating:
Summary: Very cute, but made us concerned for the animals
Review: This movie is very cute! It is sweet and entertaining, but I have to say, my fiance and I were very concerned about the treatment of the animals. Some people say it is "fake" but I don't think so. They didn't have that kind of technology in 1986, did they? If so, good job on a realistic depiction of a pug being smacked by a bear, or a cat being attacked by seagulls and falling off a cliff. :-o
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