Cats in Media: Milo and Otis

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Once upon a time, there was a ginger tabby kitten. He was born under our front porch, the summer before I started kindergarten. He looked just like the kitten in one of my favorite movies, so I named him Milo. And just like the cat in the movie, “Milo was trouble from the very beginning” [9]. Milo was one of the kittens we kept. All three of his littermates were girls, so there was no Otis, but he and his sister Cara were equally inseparable for their entire lives.

I grew up with those cats. The Adventures of Milo and Otis took on new meaning as I spent 15+ years with a Milo of my own, just as ginger and mischievous as the Milo in the film. The two or three VHS tapes and two DVDs people gave us of the movie over the years never let us forget it. “Look, there’s an orange cat named Milo in it, just like yours!” Sometimes you have to wonder about people.

When I thought about doing some articles on cats in movies, books, etc., Milo and Otis sprang immediately to mind. I don’t even remember the first time I saw it. It sort of seems like it was always there. I suspect this movie played a big part in my desire for a cat as a young child. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Of course, no beloved childhood memory goes unruined–The Adventures of Milo and Otis has faced some controversy. This simple and extremely cute movie has a surprisingly complicated story.

Summary

First, let’s make sure everybody’s on the same page. The Adventures of Milo and Otis is a children’s movie about a ginger tabby tomcat named Milo and a tan-and-black pug named Otis. Milo is fun-loving and danger-prone while Otis is serious and responsible, but the two are best friends. The story begins on the farm where both were born. They have all sorts of adventures, even hatching a chicken egg together, but things take a turn when Milo decides to play hide and seek at the dock.

He hides in a box floating in the water, and the box comes unmoored and floats downriver. Otis takes off in pursuit, and so begins the real adventure as the two friends try to find each other and return home. Along the way, they meet animals both friendly and dangerous, grow up, find love, and finally return home together with new families in tow.

The Making Of Milo and Otis

Milo and Otis didn’t start out as Milo and Otis, but as Chatran and Poosky. The Adventures of Milo and Otis was first a Japanese film called Koneko Monogatari, or “A Kitten’s Story” [5, 8, 13]. The director, Masanori Hata, is an author and zoologist [3, 7]. He owns a private island where he had collected over 300 animals of a wide variety of species [3]. He called it Mutsugoro’s Animal Kingdom, and he wanted to show it all off in a film about his animals [3].

It was no small undertaking. Koneko Monogatari was filmed over the course of four years [3, 6, 8, 13, 14]. Hata wrote and directed the movie himself [3, 5, 6, 13]. It was made sort of documentary-style [3, 7, 13, 14]. To some extent, the animals were filmed just doing their thing. But there are scenes that could only have been staged. After the film was edited together to form a story, music, narration, and poetry recitation were added [13, 14]. Koneko Monogatari was released to Japanese audiences in 1986 [3, 5, 12, 13].

Journey to America

Koneko Monogatari did very well in Japan, and Hollywood took notice. Columbia Pictures took on the project of adapting the film for a North American audience [8, 9, 13, 14]. They didn’t simply translate it into English, however. Screenwriter Mark Saltzman, known for his work on Sesame Street, wrote a new script that is less whimsical and devoid of poetry interludes [5, 7, 9, 13]. Fifteen minutes of footage were cut [6, 10, 11, 13]. Much of the rest was reordered to make the story more appealing for Westerners [6]. The result is a sort of rambling coming-of-age tale.

Obviously, the characters were given new, English-language names, and Milo and Otis were born. Otis also received an expanded role in the Columbia Pictures adaptation [13]. Add a new narrator and a new soundtrack, and there you have it: The Adventures of Milo and Otis. It was released in the United States in 1989 [5, 8, 9, 12, 13].

Reception

Koneko Monogatari was the number one film at the box office in Japan in 1986 [8, 13]. It was the third highest-grossing film ever in Japan at the time [13]. A video game tie-in was released on the Famicon at the same time as the movie [13], but I don’t think it was as enthusiastically embraced. Koneko Monogatari‘s star would continue to rise, however. In 1987, it won Most Popular Film at the Japanese Academy Awards and received a nomination for Best Music Score [5, 13]. And of course, the money continued to pour in [5, 13].

The Adventures of Milo and Otis wasn’t quite as overwhelmingly successful, but the film still did very well. It received a Young Artist Awards nomination for Best Family Motion Picture – Adventure or Cartoon in 1990 [5, 13]. Critical reception was generally positive. According to The Washington Post’s Rita Kempley in 1990, “It’s totally awwwwww-some” [7]. The $13.3 million The Adventures of Milo and Otis grossed in the United States suggests that audiences agreed [5, 13].

Animal Abuse Allegations

Since the release of Koneko Monogatari, rumors of animal abuse have haunted the film. Australian animal rights groups raised the alarm and called for a boycott [8, 13]. Animal Liberation Queensland alleged that more than 20 kittens died during production [8, 12, 13]. Japanese activists also voiced concerns [14]. A 1986 article from The Economist read, “It’s hard to see how [Chatran] survived. Indeed, according to Japan’s biggest animal-rights group, he did not. Or, to be accurate, a third of the Chatrans used did not” [14].

Activists also alleged that a producer deliberately broke a kitten’s paw so that it would limp for a particular shot [8, 12, 13]. Then there were complaints about what could clearly be seen in the movie itself, such as Chatran/Milo plummeting from a 100-foot (30.5-meter) cliff and trying to climb back up, Poosky/Otis fighting a bear, and Milo being attacked by seagulls. Interestingly, most of the footage that was cut from the North American version consisted of controversial scenes and shots such as these, including the scene in which the kitten’s paw was allegedly broken [5, 10, 11, 14]. Whether this was more about avoiding the wrath of American and Canadian animal activists or making the movie more palatable for Western kiddos is hard to say.

The American Humane Association investigated the rumors of animal abuse through contacts in Europe and Japan [3, 8]. In their own words, “everything has led to a dead end” [3]. In their report, they did note that five Japanese humane societies “allowed their names to be used in connection with the picture” [3]. However, the fact that American Humane themselves did not sign off on the production and were not present during filming is kind of a big deal. In fact, it has often been cited as further evidence that animal abuse may have occurred.

You know the “no animals were harmed” statement you see at the end of a lot of movies? That’s the stamp of approval of American Humane’s film program [1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 14]. The program has been in place since 1940 and is extremely rigorous in ensuring the welfare of all animals in film at every stage of the process [4]. Only United States, Screen Actors Guild productions are required to work with American Humane [2]. Other filmmakers, including international ones, can choose to do so, but they are under no such obligation [2]. Many do, however, for the weight that the American Humane name carries.

So it’s not that surprising that neither Koneko Monogatari nor The Adventures of Milo and Otis contains the “no animals were harmed” statement in the end credits. Instead, they run this odd bit: “The animals used were filmed under strict supervision with the utmost care for their safety and well-being” [8, 9, 12, 14]. Admittedly, that’s not quite as reassuring.

Paw Rating

So, all that being said, where do I stand on Milo and Otis? It really depends. If the rumors of animal abuse are true, then obviously it gets 0 out of 5 paws. Or, like, -1000 out of 5 paws. But there is really no solid evidence that the allegations are true, or that they aren’t. It’s a thorny situation, to say the least. And now that’s it’s been over thirty years, we’ll probably never know the truth.

If I regard The Adventures of Milo and Otis apart from the abuse allegations, I feel like it still has the same charm it did when I was five years old. There’s not a strong plot. It doesn’t try to teach big life lessons–except that seagulls are jerks, which is a good one to live by. But it’s full of cute animals and has always just made me happy to watch. This is definitely intended to be a kids’ movie; however, a word of warning about that. When the kittens and puppies are born, the birthing process is shown in great detail. That never disturbed me as a child. Actually, I think knowing that baby cats come out of cats made it easier for me to later comprehend that baby humans come out of humans. But all children are different, so just bear that in mind.

As much as I love Milo and Otis, and as important as it was in my childhood, I don’t think I can fairly give it the full compliment of paws. It probably won’t be catalogued among the greatest movies of the 20th century, but that’s not why. Even if the rumors were all false, I can’t help thinking that some animal endangerment was part of this production.

I remember several other all-animal movies from around that time, but that hasn’t been a lasting trend. I’m sure there’s multiple reasons for that, but one of them must be that you can’t make a movie that way without some stress and risk to the animals. And I think Masanori Hata et al. subjected their cast to even more risks than strictly necessary. Maybe I just haven’t seen Napoleon or Homeward Bound in a while, but I don’t remember those animals looking genuinely distressed onscreen. However, I did notice a couple times Milo or Otis was clearly not happy. I’m going to give it 3 out of 5 paws. Adorable movie, but it would have been cuter if they hadn’t tried so hard to make the animals act.

Works Cited

1. American Humane. (n.d.). About us. Humane Hollywood. https://humanehollywood.org/about-us/
2. American Humane. (2016, August 26). “No animals were harmed” frequently asked questions. https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/no-animals-were-harmed/
3. American Humane Association. (2001, May 31). Movie review: The Adventures of Milo and Otis. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20010531234131/http://www.ahafilm.org/oldmovies1/theadventures/
4. American Humane Association. (2015). Guidelines for the safe use of animals in filmed media. https://www.americanhumane.org/app/uploads/2016/08/Guidelines2015-WEB-Revised-110315-1.pdf
5. IMDb. (n.d.). The Adventures of Milo and Otis. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097050/
6. Kamal, N. (2011, October 16). Childhood revisited: The Adventures of Milo and Otis. Spectrum Culture. https://spectrumculture.com/2011/10/16/childhood-revisited-the-adventures-of-milo-otis/
7. Kempley, R. (1990, June 16). The Adventures of Milo and Otis. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/theadventuresofmiloandotisgkempley_a0a019.htm
8. Long, C. (2021, January). The animal abuse rumors of ‘The Adventures of Milo and Otis.’ Wide Open Pets. https://www.wideopenpets.com/milo-and-otis-deaths/
9. Masanori, H. (Director). (1989). The Adventures of Milo and Otis [Film]. Columbia Pictures.
10. [Retcon Media]. (2008, March 22). The Adventures of Milo and Otis deleted scenes 1 of 2 [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goix8a6xMok&ab_channel=RetconMedia
11. [Retcon Media]. (2008, March 22). The Adventures of Milo and Otis deleted scenes 2 of 2 [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2W_UbTAaw8&ab_channel=RetconMedia
12. Rizov, V., Robinson, T., Rabin, N., Tobias, S., et al. (2012, April 9). Yes, animals were harmed: 21 films and TV shows that killed or hurt animals. The A.V. Club. https://film.avclub.com/yes-animals-were-harmed-21-films-and-tv-shows-that-ki-1798230791
13. The Adventures of Milo and Otis. (2021, June 16). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Adventures_of_Milo_and_Otis&oldid=1016106539
14. The Adventures of Milo and Otis. (n.d.). Channel Awesome. https://thatguywiththeglasses.fandom.com/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Milo_and_Otis

Published September 12, 2021

Updated July 9, 2022