| Koneko monogatari The Adventures of Milo and Otis |
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North American theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Masanori Hata |
| Produced by | Masuru Kakutani Satoru Ogata |
| Written by | Masanori Hata |
| Narrated by | Shigeru Tsuyuki |
| Music by | Ryuichi Sakamoto |
| Cinematography | Hideo Fujii Shinji Tomita |
| Editing by | Chizuko Osada |
| Distributed by | Toho |
| Release date(s) | June 27, 1986 |
| Running time | 90 minutes (original version) 76 minutes (English edit) |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese English |
| Box office | $13,299,749 (USA) |
The Adventures of Milo and Otis is a Japanese live action film about an orange tabby cat named Milo and a fawn pug named Otis.
The original Japanese version was released on June 27, 1986, and the reworked English language version was released on August 25, 1989.
Initially filmed as Koneko Monogatari (子猫物語 A Kitten's Story; alternate English title: The Adventures of Chatran) in Kitakyushu, Japan, the film was completely revamped, trimmed and westernized 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 (which is roughly 40.3 hours), shot over a period of four years.
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The film opens in a barn with a mother cat who has given birth to kittens. One of the kittens is named Milo, and has a habit of being too curious and getting himself into trouble. He finds a pug puppy named Otis, and they soon become friends. They then look after Gloria's chick, who thinks Otis is his mother. Otis convinces the chick that Otis is not his mother by acting tough on Milo and scaring the Chick. 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.
He encounters no fewer than three bears; escapes from the desolate, raven-infested Deadwood Swamp; steals a muskrat from a vulpine cache; follows a train-track to the home of a female deer, who shelters him; sleeps in an Owl's "dreaming nest"; stays for a while with a sow pig and her piglets; catches a fish, only to have it stolen by a raccoon; is mobbed by seagulls; and evades first the third bear, then a snake, only to fall into a hole.
Otis, for his part, follows Milo throughout, usually only an hour behind and less than a mile out of range. Finally, the two catch up with one another while Milo is in the hole. Otis pulls him out by means of a rope. Milo and Otis are reunited, and soon find mates of their own: Joyce, a cat, for Milo; and Sondra, a pug, for Otis. After this, they separate and raise puppies and kittens. They help each other's families to survive the harsh winter and find their way back together through the forest to their barn, living together.
The original Japanese soundtrack was composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto and included a theme song of the same name performed by Noriko Yoshinaga. The soundtrack was released as The Adventures of Chatran: Original Soundtrack.
The English-language version of the film contains music by classical composers including:
The song "Walk Outside", written by Dick Tarrier, is performed by Dan Crow in the opening shots and end credits.
The Adventures of Milo and Otis was the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in 1986, earning ¥5.4 billion in distribution income.[1]
When the film was first released, several Australian animal rights organizations raised allegations of animal cruelty during filming and called for a boycott. The Sunday Mail reported at the time that Animal Liberation Queensland founder Jacqui Kent alleged the killing of more than 20 kittens during production and added that she was disturbed by reports from Europe which alleged other animals had been injured, as in one case where a producer allegedly had broken a cat's paw to make it appear unsteady on its feet. Kent said her organization had a number of complaints from people who had seen the film and were concerned that it could not have been made without cruelty.[2] The Tasmanian and Victorian branches of the RSPCA also alleged abuses.[3]
The film was reported to have the approval of the American Humane Society, despite not having their officers present during filming.[2]
The American Humane Association attempted to investigate cruelty rumors through "contacts in Europe who normally have information on movies throughout the world." While noting that the contacts had also heard the allegations, they were unable to verify them. The organization also reported, "we have tried through humane people in Japan, and through another Japanese producer to determine if these rumors are true, but everything has led to a dead end." However, the same report noted that several Japanese Humane Societies allowed their names to be used in connection with the film and that the film "shows no animals being injured or harmed."[4]