Amid intolerable, same old, refurbished content, Netflix’s live-action/animation hybrid – Lost Ollie, is here to charm its niche audience. The miniseries, created by Shannon Tindle (Kubo and the Two Strings) is based on the children’s book Ollie Odyssey by William Joyce. The four episodes miniseries, each with a runtime of 45-50 minutes, follows a story about a lost toy searching across the countryside for his best friend, Billy. Jonathan Groff voices the titular character, and the show also stars Mary J. Blige, Tim Blake Nelson, Gina Rodriguez, and Jake Johnson.
Sometimes, it amazes me to witness the potential of young children creating a bond with a stuffed toy and building an almost believable world that is unimaginable for any grown-up to understand (which reminds me of the first chapter of the book Little Prince) When I watched the trailer for the show, I couldn’t resist thinking about the relationship a child forms with their toys. It made me wonder if any of my soft toys had the same power over me when I played with them as a little kid.
For those of you, who like to read, here is a quick recap of Lost Ollie. Please be aware that the article contains spoilers. Read at your discretion.
Lost Ollie Miniseries Recap:
In the first episode, ‘Ollie is Lost,’ we see a soft-toy bunny lying on a puddle of water on the road, with a conversation in the background that feels like an old memory. Ollie asks Billy how long they have been friends. Billy cannot recall precisely how long they have known one another, but both promise never to forget each other in their life.
Thinking about his inseparable friend Billy, the next moment, Ollie finds himself inside a crate box brought to a thrift shop by a random stranger. Not appreciating how the old woman starts treating him after lifting him from the box, he fights back. Later, when Ollie sees the old woman locking up the shop, he tries to escape the place only to get chased by the lady’s drooling dog Buttons. However, a tattered old clown named Zozo saves Ollie from the growling dog.
After learning what the bunny has gone through, Zozo suggests the panic-stricken Ollie think about the memories he must have had with Billy.
Billy was often mocked and bullied for being adopted by his parents. Going down memory lane, we catch a glimpse of a sweet memory of Billy with his mother, who always encouraged her son to stand against bullies. Noticing small details in the memory, little Ollie creates a map and devises a steady plan along with Zozo.
On his way out, Ollie loses one of the magnet stars that his friend gave him, and at the same time, he gets chased by the dog. The Ninja-teddy, Rosy, comes to his rescue and chases the dog away with her light saber-like needle sword. Ollie later finds the ‘Dark River’ (Ohio River), and then the trios embark on their adventurous ride to find Billy.
The following episodes explore the journey of Ollie and his two new friends as they venture from one corner of the city to the other in a quest to find Billy. However, nothing goes as smoothly as the little rabbit toy planned. Ollie digs deep into his memories to find more clues that can reunite him with his best friend.
Although we see Zozo and Rosy accompanying the little bunny on his adventurous journey, the show’s spirit at this point takes a dark turn. All this time, Ollie believed that his new friends were helping him to get back to his friend. However, everything goes downhill when they reach an abandoned amusement park.
Zozo has been kind enough to help Ollie find his friend, but he suddenly changes to a different personality. He starts humming the same song that Billy’s mother used to sing; confused about how the clown knows the song, Ollie soon realizes that Zozo brought them here in the park on purpose. Zozo wants to know about the little bell (indicating the heart) that Ollie wears. The clown tells him that the bell ringing inside Ollie reminds him of his lost love, Nina. Zozo is marooned by bitterness and holds Ollie as his captive.
Zozo leaves Rosy alone with Ollie – instructing her to torture him by telling the truth about the bell. Meanwhile, Rosy stands in the corner, and it becomes evident that she also has a change of heart seeing Ollie suffer. She shares the real reason why the clown has become evil when he leaves. She mentions he was never like this until the day when a little girl took Nina with her during the auction of the toys when the amusement park shut down.
Determined to change the course of his fate, Zozo searched for Nina; however, fate never brought them together. Consequently, despite Zozo telling Rosy to torture Ollie, she cuts him loose because she can’t see Zozo taking any more advantage of the little bunny.
When Ollie tries to escape, the clown runs after him, and just when he is about to kill him, the teddy bear stabs her friend with her sword. Ollie somehow manages to escape the harsh change of events and runs inside the school building where Billy took him after his mother passed away.
We see Billy’s side of things, who, after many days mustered up the courage to come to school. His teacher suggested he talk about his favorite moment with his toy. While sharing his story, one of the students, Mike, teases him and calls him a baby. Later, after the class, Mike throws away Billy’s toy bunny on the ground outside. Tired of constant harassment and name-picking, Billy never returns to pick up his toy during school time. That is when Ollie realizes his best friend abandoned him.
Did Billy abandon Ollie? What did his mother tell Ollie before she died?
Although Billy didn’t pick his friend, even though he easily could have, he regretted his decisions. He soon goes out of his way and sticks handmade pamphlets with a picture of his toy with ‘Lost Ollie’ written on it. In addition to what was happening with Billy and Ollie in two different timelines, we visit a memory of Ollie with Billy’s mother right before her death.
She wanted Ollie to tell Billy that no matter what happens, Billy has to stay strong in every situation. The family is important, and she doesn’t want it to fall apart. She also shares that her husband is a good man, and even though he might not share his true feelings with his son, he loves him with all his heart.
Lost Ollie Miniseries Ending, Explained:
The show’s ending takes us to the first scene, where Ollie is lying in a puddle of water. A man notices him like that and immediately takes him in. He washes and cleans the toy with a lot of care, sews him, and puts the bell inside, bringing Ollie back to life.
The man soon takes the toy to his daughter, who quickly notices him and calls out his name. Soon it is revealed that the man is Billy, who lives very close to the abandoned amusement park with his only daughter, Suzy (the little girl from the first episode who met Ollie in the thrift shop during her toy shopping spree).
Billy is shocked that his daughter already knows about Ollie, and then he shares that it is the toy he lost when he was a little kid. The show comes to a touching and heartwarming end as Ollie reunites with his best friend after all this time, and the three of them play for hours as Billy would when his parents were around him as a young boy.
What themes does the show ‘Lost Ollie explore?
Even though Lost Ollie centers on true friendship and loyalty, the show explores the power of love, kindness, and determination to take control of a situation no matter how grave the circumstances can be in your life. Billy lost his mother at a young age, and things soon became very different for him. Since he was adopted, Billy’s mother always knew that society would always question his origin. Hence, she instilled good values and kindness in him. She also taught him to stand up for himself when he was bullied because parents cannot always look after their children for every hardship they face.
Similarly, it is crucial to never grow bitter in life when you lose something dear to you because it will only incite pain. The old clown let his pain take control of his emotion when he lost Nina, the love of his life. Lost Ollie also indicates that father figures are usually less expressive about showing love. Young children need to know that they are loved. Losing a partner in life can get confusing for a single parent, especially when children are involved. However, with time and proper attention, things do get better. The show also teaches us to normalize crying. It is as essential as grieving when you lose someone, whether you are a child or a grown man perplexed by life’s conundrum.
Read More: Echoes (2022) Netflix Miniseries: Recap & Ending Explained
Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U3BO8BoVhc
