“Love Does Not Have Any Borders.” “Lost Ollie” is a 2022 animated mini-series on Netflix that will illuminate the bond of love. No matter where we are, we always have one favorite thing to hold on to from our past. Specifically, toys! There’ve been days wherein we might spend an entire day sulking over the loss of our favorite toy. For many, it’s just a toy, but for us, as children, it meant a lot to have it by our side. Lost Ollie will make you remember all the good memories from your childhood, and these remembrances will revolve around all the things that we owned and placed close to our hearts. Moreover, this series was created by Shannon Tindle, and it is entirely based on William Joyce’s novel “Ollie’s Odyssey”. Well, Lost Ollie consists of four episodes, and each episode will provide deeper and deeper insight into the relationship between Billy (Kesler Talbot) and Ollie (Jonathan Groff). William’s main purpose is to target a younger audience, but this series will bring tears to anyone who’s owned a favorite toy! Even though it adorns you with lessons, the series doesn’t fail to highlight factors that are inferential these days. Lost Ollie will embark on a journey of love, pain, and abandonment.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The ‘Lost Ollie’ Mini-Series?
The series begins with the painful introduction of Ollie and Billy. Billy is desperately trying to find his toy partner in the woods. But Ollie is lost and drowned in a puddle of water. The first episode of this show will highlight that Ollie is found in a thrift store as he is separated from his best friend. Wherein Ollie is set up for sale and, for some reason, no one can hear his thoughts. Despite being through so much trouble, Ollie doesn’t seem to remember a single thing about his disappearance and his presence at the store. Ollie is greeted by a sweet little girl named Sue, who is very interested in him. But Ollie is determined to get back to his buddy! It’s refreshing to see how they show inferences to the meaningful conversations between Billy and Ollie. The main reason for Ollie’s fear was Billy. He knew that he desperately needed Ollie by his side.
In his attempt to escape, the little toy is attacked by the thrift store owner Flossie’s dog, Buttons. Buttons is ready to rip Ollie apart. Viewers are introduced to another main character, who is the old clown Zozo (Tim Blake Nelson). Buttons attack Zozo, but a quick distraction from Flossie helps them escape from Buttons’ threat. They quickly hide under a closet of clothes, and here viewers will get a glimpse of Zozo’s past. It seems there have been a lot of things that have happened in his life, but he is not willing to share anything. On the other hand, Ollie talks about his connection with Billy and the promises they’ve made to each other. Ollie is heartbroken, and now he is rushing to find him. But Zozo tries to calm him down, and guess what? Ollie is not ready to do so!
Zozo tries to lighten up the mood, but Ollie can’t grasp this situation around his head. Since he knew Billy was in pain! Zozo helps him to understand that he needs to focus on his heart rather than his mind. So Ollie begins to remember all the little details from the very beginning. Wherein, the show focuses more attention on Billy’s mother (Gina Rodriguez) and father (Jake Johnson). That’s when it hit! Ollie recalls the memory wall made by Billy, which had a collection of all the places that Billy and Ollie visited. Not only that, it even consisted of the locations that they always wanted to visit. After sharing heart-to-heart conversations, Billy and Zozo manage to escape Buttons and the store with the help of Rosy (Mary J. Blige). Things take a different turn when the series enlightens the viewers that there’s more to Zozo and Rosy’s bond.
What Went Wrong With The Trio?
Ollie struggles to get a hold of the first location, which is the Ohio River! At first, Rosy doesn’t get along well with Ollie. Since she finds all of his ideas to be utterly stupid, Zozo reminds her of Ollie’s situation, and it looks like Rosy knows the pain of abandonment. But even though Rosy is kind and outspoken, her heart is made up of gold. Together, they begin exploring all the places that Ollie has in mind. But as each day passes, the three of them create a beautiful trio. Well, Rosy has always been pretty rational in her approach, whereas Zozo and Ollie love adventures and risks. The fact that these three went on multiple adventures to find Billy was phenomenal. Moreover, Ollie knew that Billy’s mother was suffering from cancer, and through all of this, Billy needed Ollie the most. Well, Ollie knew that Rosy had a special place for Zozo in her heart, and that’s the same zone wherein Ollie is present too.
But for some reason, Zozo doesn’t get past his old memories wherein he searches for his love, Nina, and couldn’t find her for years! On the other hand, Billy is creating pamphlets to find Ollie in every nook and corner of the city. Well, viewers will find it hard to believe, but a sudden change in Zozo’s character creates a massive shift in the storyline of Lost Ollie. Together the trio entered dreamland near the dark river, but Zozo had different plans in his mind. From the very beginning, his intentions were purely malicious, and he never wanted to help Ollie in the first place. Moreover, it seems like Ollie is connected to Zozo’s lover Nina, as he has the same bell and he recites the same song that Nina used to! Things take a terrible turn when Zozo begins to hurt Ollie.
Here, we get to learn more about Zozo’s backstory, which will allow him to dedicate more time to his life with Nina. Moreover, Nina was a beautiful Balinese doll, and Zozo was crazy in love with her. Zozo suffered from loneliness, but Nina would always look out for him. But, Nina was sold off in a bid to a young girl, and Zozo spent years trying to find her, and it is extremely devastating to watch how the park closed down, but Zozo was left behind, but guess what? Zozo gets up on his feet and finds a new pair of legs, and fixes himself to the core! Well, Zozo had bad intentions, but he gave life to Rosy and mended her back to normal! Together they spent years, and Zozo knew that Rosy was the strongest creature he’d ever met. But Nina’s absence is changing Zozo’s heart as he delves into the shadows of his past.
Zozo’s sorrow has pushed him to do dark things, and this was the main reason that he left Rosy behind. Day by day, he’s drifting more and more into the darkness of his soul. But now, Zozo is planning to kill Ollie. He was all set to pull his threads apart, but Rosy decided to distract his mind and managed to send Zozo out for a stroll. Rosy knew she was a part of this malicious plan, and this was helping Zozo to commit all the wrongdoings against Ollie. Rosy helps him to escape, as she knows that Ollie is close to home. In return, she tries her best to convince Zozo to get back to the old days. But he ends up hurting her, and all he ever cared about was Ollie.
‘Lost Ollie’ Ending Explained: Did Ollie and Billy Reunite?
Since Zozo doesn’t want to get past his dark past, Rosy decides to fight him just to save Ollie, and in this attempt, Zozo stabs Rosy through the chest and throws her down the river. The final episode is as heartbreaking as ever, since all this time, Ollie felt he was lost. But to be honest, Billy left him behind. The fact that he was always told to grow up made him leave Ollie because he felt Ollie’s presence made him look like a kid. But guess what? Billy realized his love for Ollie, and little did he know that Billy was looking for him. Finally, he decided to stand up to his bully, Mike, who always hurt him in school. Even though the night is filled with the rattling sounds of thunderstorms, Billy isn’t scared! Moreover, it’s good to see how Billy’s mother associates with Ollie, and together they share all the secrets.
Before leaving, he hands him the responsibility of looking after Billy. After she passed away, Billy’s mind always questioned him about his strength. The fact that he wanted to be like his father drowned him in adult deeds, but Jimmy reminds Billy that he is way stronger than he was. Moreover, Lost Ollie will surprise you with a twist that will prove Zozo was right all along! His instincts about Nina’s connection with Ollie are true, and guess what? The girl who won Nina in a bid was Billy’s mother. Billy’s mother crafted Ollie from scratch using Nina’s left-out pieces. It seems that she fell apart a long time ago, and this gave birth to Ollie. Now, Ollie is finally back in the house, but he is accompanied by Zozo.
Ollie confronts Zozo and tells her everything about Nina. Instead of letting go, Zozo decides to rip him apart and take out Ollie’s heart—a bell that was connected to Nina. However, Rosy stabs him in the chest and kills Zozo, and the trio ends up dying one by one. But guess what? There’s a catch! Ollie was meant to be with Sue all this time, and she is none other than Billy’s daughter. Billy was surprised to see how Ollie found his way back home, but he stitched him back and sewed his heart. So, finally, Billy and Ollie are reunited with each other. No matter what happened, both of them never lost hope, and they spent years looking out for each other. “Lost Ollie” ends on a good note, and even though both of them had their share of ups and downs, they still got back together!
Final Words
“Lost Ollie” is a series that highlights the importance of relationships. It doesn’t matter if it is a living thing or not. We can make anything come to life if we put our heart into it. Moreover, it gives us an important lesson that some memories are never meant to fade. The process of creating Ollie was to rebuild it with all the memories stitched together so that Billy would never feel alone. Moreover, Billy’s mother left a message with Ollie saying that no matter who you lose, don’t grow bitter. Lost Ollie is an inspirational story for all those individuals who are suffering from the pain of losing someone close to their hearts, and it is worth watching because it has many lessons to offer, and its main goal is to bring out the power of love. Well, one can lose a person, but that doesn’t mean that they’re gone!
“Lost Ollie” is a 2022 Drama Adventure miniseries streaming on Netflix with subtitles.
