The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1986)

The Adventures of Milo and Otis is a 1986/1989 Japanese/British/New Zealand/American adventure comedy-drama film about two animals, Milo (an orange cat) and Otis (a pug). The original Japanese version was released on June 27, 1986, and the reedited English-language version was released on August 25, 1989.

Initially filmed as Koneko Monogatari (子猫物語 A Kitten's Story; alternative English title: The Adventures of Chatran), the film was completely restored, trimmed and westernized by Columbia Pictures for English-speaking audiences, with added narration by Dudley Moore. (Shigeru Tsuyuki narrated the Japanese version.) Director Masanori Hata and associate director Kon Ichikawa edited the film together from 400,000 feet of footage, shot over a period of four years.

Synopsis

The film opens in 1969 with a barn with a mother cat who has given birth to kittens. One of the kittens is named Milo ("Chatran" in the Japanese version), and has a habit of being too curious and getting himself into trouble. He finds a "pug-nosed" pug puppy named Otis ("Poosky" in the Japanese version), and they soon become friends. When Milo is playing inside a box floating in the river, he accidentally drifts downstream. Otis runs after Milo. Milo goes on many adventures, escaping one incident after another.

Actors