Lost Ollie

Lost Ollie is a new mini-series, and already, it made me emotional. A lost stuffed animal named Ollie (voiced by Johnathan Groff) finds himself in a thrift store, and cannot remember where his owner, a boy named Billy, is. However, meeting a clown doll named Zozo (voiced by Tim Blake Nelson) and a tough teddy bear named Rosie (voiced by Mary J. Blige), Ollie escapes the thrift store and goes on to search for his boy.

Based on a chidren's book from 2016, this mini series will hit you right in the feels and never release it. The series switches between the past and present to tell the story, which is full of emotional moments and exciting action, as the voice actors help to bring this heart-warming story to life.

I was expecting this to be overtly saccharine, but it really wasn't. This is essentially the dark, grown up version of Toy Story - still containing a childlike innocence, but with a much darker and mature take on "the lost toy" tale.

I will admit that the first two episodes, until the end of episode two, starts off extremely slow and can come off as a bit boring. However it is totally worth it for the final two episodes as it builds up nicely, with a heartbreaking and heartwarming conclusion that absolutely tore me apart.

There were a few twists here and there that I was not expecting, which I really admired for their boldness. The whole series really about the light and dark side of grieving. How it can tear some people apart completely and helps other to grow and carry on.

If you've ever lost a loved one, this will definitely hurt, but in a good way.

This is just one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It has so much heart and virtue. A depiction of how love can make a soul beautiful or ugly. The deep or dark aspects of the story went over my kids heads, but they loved the series over all and fell in love with Ollie, and so did I.

It's rare to find a show my husband and I can not only watch with our young kids, but one that we actualy enjoy watching as well and we find so engaging. We wanted to watch each episode as much as the kids did.

It was pure and real, and I can't believe it's not number 1 on Netflix right now. It really should be.

I never read the book and just saw the trailer and thought that it might be something similar to Toy Story franchise. And yeah there's some of it that actually reminds you of Toy Story and a bit of Homeward Bound but Lost Ollie is its own thing. And boy did it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I feel if you have a similar experience this show will punch the gut more. I have an Ollie of my own though I never physically lost it but I went through what Billy experienced... the last episode just made me wish I could have the same moment... I was just bawling my heart out by the end of this show.

Anyway this has some dark moments to it. Not at all light hearted and easy fun if that is what you're looking for. Now I was already predicting what could happen, it's not like there's much to do to make some mind boggling twist which for this type of show I don't think is really necessary. It's predictable but it delivered what it needed.

It's the typical slow-paced show so this might feel boring to some. It cruises you to the stages per episode as you unravel the backstory bit by bit. I quite liked the stories of the other main characters featured here as well. They had some depth to them. Not giving a 10 because there's some glaring awkward scenes and acting that didn't deliver well. Some moments were still too dim even though they gave some lighting to soften it up.

The star of this show is the CG animation. The details and animation on Ollie and the rest is just superb. They're expressive but still bound by how much toys can scrunch their faces and how they move so they feel like actual talking walking toys and not a drawing popped in the scene.

Also Gina Rodriguez. Her scenes really packed a punch.

The show is wonderful on its own. I will say that. But it was based on an absolutely beautiful book called Ollie's Odyssey by William Joyce and they fundamentally changed the entire story for the show. They kept bits and pieces but the framework is very different. I read the book out loud to my son a few years ago and we read it again leading up to the release of the show, excited to see our favorite scenes come alive. They weren't there, none of them. We still enjoyed the show but it's not what we were expecting and we're hoping one day they do it again following the book more exactly. The synopsis listed here on the site is what the storyline of the book is, not the show.