First Look: ‘Lost Ollie’, A Delightful Blend Of CGI Animation And Live Action

The greatest adventures are the ones that bring us home.

in Lost Ollie, a toy rabbit and the favorite of a boy named Billy, embarks on a quest to be reunited with his best friend. Watch the trailer.

Make sure your belt buckle is properly set, because this new trailer may try to charm the pants off of you.

Netflix recently released the trailer to their upcoming live action/computer animated mini-series, Lost Ollie, adapted by Shannon Tindle, and based on the children’s book Ollie’s Odyssey by William Joyce, whose stories have been adapted into such films as Meet The Robinsons, Rise Of The Guardians, and the children’s series, Rolie Polie Olie.

The mini-series tells the story of Ollie, a toy rabbit and the favorite of a boy named Billy, and how, after being separated from Billy, embarks on a quest, filled with danger and mystery, to reunite with his best friend. Along the way, he is joined by two other toys, Zozo a toy clown, and a stuffed bear named Rosy, who seems to be stitched together with mix matched parts.

The CGI characters were animated by Industrial Light And Magic, and the scenes with the CGI characters interacting with the real world looks extremely impressive. Shannon Tindle, who in addition to writing the series also serves as the producer, has worked in animation in a few capacities, in addition to writing Kubo And The Two Strings, he’s also worked as a character designer for The Croods, Coraline, and Megamind, among others. The director of the mini-series, is Peter Ramsey, who was one of the directors of Spider–Man: Into The Spider-Verse, he’s also the executive producer of it’s upcoming sequel, Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse. Two of the executive producers are Josh S. Barry and Shawn Levy from 21 Laps Entertainent, the company that also produced Stranger Things.

Jonathan Groff (Kristoff in Frozen) provides the voice of our hero, Ollie. Tim Blake Nelson (Wade Tillman in The Watchmen television series) voices the toy clown, Zozo. Singer/Songwriter Mary J. Blige (who was also Cha Cha in the Umbrella Academy) rounds out the trio as the voice of Rosy.

On the human side, Jake Johnson (Peter B. Parker in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse) plays Daddy. Gina Rodriguez (Jane The Vigin) plays Momma. Young Kesler Tabot plays Billy, Olly’s best friend. The elderly woman in the trailer, who’s name is Flossy, is played by BJ Harrison (The Biddy in Motherland: Fort Salem).

While many may comment on “Toy Story Similarities”, at the heart of the story, there’s something more. It’s a heartwarming tale for the child in us all, remembering those special souls that we’ve lost but who forever changed our lives.

Lost Ollie will consist of four 45 minute episodes and will be available on Netflix, August 24. Keep the Kleenex handy, I have a feeling we may need them.

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Gary DaBaum

Gary DaBaum, SCIFI.radio DJ, writer, and all around nice guy, can be heard on SCIFI.radio. When not on the air, he can be found in the virtual world of Second Life, or spoiling his grand nephew.