Netflix’s Lost Ollie review: If Toy Story messed you up, brace yourself

“Authentic isn’t how you’re made…it’s what happens to you. When a child loves you for a long time, it really loves you, not just When you become real. velvet rabbita children’s book that celebrated its 100th anniversary this year.

Stories about toys being real and having feelings are a staple of children’s media, and for good reason. There is a special connection between children and their favorite toys, and the story goes something like this. velvet rabbitToy Story, calvin and hobbes, winnie the poohWhen Edward Tulane’s Miraculous Journey All show that bond in different ways.

Netflix lost olly The latest in this genre.From creator Shannon Tindle, character designer for Kubo and two strings When Foster’s Home for Imaginary FriendsLost Ollie is a loose adaptation of William Joyce’s children’s book Ollie’s Odyssey. in the meantime lost olly It touches on familiar toy-focused beats, but plunges further into some of the darker implications of the world in which toys live, embodying a child’s perspective. lost olly It’s a great reminder of how well-worn stories can be when given enough attention and detail.

[Ed. note: This review contains setup spoilers for Lost Ollie.]

lost olly Following the famous stuffed rabbit (voiced by Jonathan Groff), you wake up in a thrift store and can’t remember how you got there. All Ollie knows is that he needs to get back to Billy (Kessler Talbot), the boy he belongs to. Ollie only remembers a few things about Billy and how he got lost, but Zozo (Tim Blake, voiced by Nelson), a toy clown looking for someone he lost, and Assemble a team. After they escape the store, they find Rosie (voiced by Mary J. Blige), a little pink teddy bear who was once Zozo’s traveling companion. and the trio set off on their quest.

The biggest difference between lost olly When In other toy-centric movies and books, Billy’s story is also a big part of the story. Both Ollie’s memory and a scene that happened simultaneously from Billy’s point of view reveal that Billy’s mother (played by Gina Rodriguez, who has a somewhat painful Southern accent) has cancer. Although these scenes can be a little clunky at times, if only because the dying mother of . , which is a bit cliché at this point.

The flashback scenes with Billy and his parents go exactly where you think they do, especially after learning he doesn’t have health insurance to cover his mom’s visit to the hospital, but to Billy’s story, the This insight into the show makes the whole show more moving. Ollie needs Billy in the same way that Woody and Buzz need Andy.but billy Also I need Ollie. Because he is a little boy who needs a comforting friend during this difficult time in his life.

Photo: Diya Pera/Netflix

one of the most attractive parts of lost olly It means that you can communicate not only with toys, but also with children. It’s never really explained, but it doesn’t have to be. Children share a special bond with their favorite toys. The bond between Ollie and Billy is clearly strong. The idea of ​​talking to toys is fantastic, but the idea of ​​children talking to their own toys is not. lost olly It really feels like we can sit with our own world. The movement feels like a stuffed animal moving. lost olly become a fantastic story can Be real – and sure, as a little kid, you’d want to imagine your lost toy searching its way from top to bottom to find its way home. Flashbacks could do even more to explore Ollie and Billy’s connection. Especially since the current timeline scene mostly deals with his quest for Ollie and his two companions. Scenes where toys are just toys are a different kind of evocative. Especially the third episode, which delves deeper into Zozo’s past and what he’s looking for.

In that episode lost olly We go where Toy Story only suggests: what if a toy is truly irrevocably destroyed and no kid is there to fix it? In the movie, Woody and Bo Peep make vows to their children and run around alone.only there lost olly start. Sure, Ollie, Zozo, and Rosy are looking for someone specific, but Zozo and Rosy have been living rough and tough toy lives for a while. They don’t have children to love, and they don’t talk about their past children. That’s what happens to toys in the trash at an antique store, dust on the shelves, and forgotten toys in the lost bin.

Image: Netflix

Zozo and Rosy’s backstory gets pretty dark, taking this soft, whimsical tale into haunting territory. Similarly, Billy’s story shifts from rosy memories of his family to how they dealt with tragedy. By integrating these more important themes and moments, lost olly return to a similarly gloomy mood velveteen rabbitThere’s always something inherently poignant about a toy-focused story. Children grow up, toys get lost, life goes on. lost olly The blow cannot be softened—and boy, there are some devastating blows. The first two episodes are sweet and inviting, letting you explore the world from a toy perspective in a fun way, but in his final two episodes, he doesn’t hesitate to dive into the heavier side of the setting.

But Ollie loves Billy and knows that Billy loves him, so all the while looking for his boy Billy. Ollie’s quest is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The show may tread familiar territory in its set-up, but by the end it feels so evocative and fresh that the over-the-top tropes hit for the first time. lost olly It captures the feeling of confiding in your favorite toy through the ups and downs of childhood. And as the Horse in Skin said to the Velvet Rabbit, sometimes it hurts – to be real, to grow, to be loved. But it’s worth it, lost olly It shows that there is both joy and sorrow in everything.

lost olly Currently streaming on Netflix.