ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 20, 1990                   TAG: 9006200277
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`MILO AND OTIS' IS WELCOME CHILDREN'S FARE

"The Adventures of Milo and Otis" unfolds like one of those unself-conscious barnyard children's books of the 1940s, which belies the technical sophistication that must have gone into the making of this live-action animal picture.

In the summer movie sweepstakes, this seems to be the only true children's movie to make it to the screen so far.

It's just right for young children and for parents who don't want their youngsters to see portions of Madonna's anatomy exposed in the PG movie "Dick Tracy" that would get her arrested were she to dance in Roanoke.

The production is for the most part Japanese, under the direction of Masanori Hata, though there is nothing to identify this as a Japanese picture aside from the names on the credits. The theme song has a country lilt and the scenery looks like that of the American West.

Dudley Moore is the narrator and he tells the story like a fond uncle, lapsing into the voices of the animal characters as he relates the adventures of the two heroes.

The movie opens with the birth of Milo, a rambunctious and adventuresome kitten. Otis is a dog - a pug by breed, I believe - who befriends the trouble-prone feline. A steady pup by nature, Otis tries without much success to keep Milo out of trouble.

One day, the kitten wants to try out a new hiding place and settles into a box floating on a river. Before long, Milo's heading downstream and Otis is in futile pursuit. This begins the string of adventures indicated by the movie's title. Bears, snakes, thunderstorms, blizzards and other perils separate and endanger the two buddies until they team up again - each with a family in tow.

Four years in the making, "The Adventures of Milo and Otis" is unapologetically cute. Every camera shot of the furry critters is meant to be a heart-tugger. But, somehow, the movie doesn't seem calculated. It's a straight-forward children's picture that entertained a 3-year-old, a 7-year-old and their dad on a recent outing. Its bucolic settings, its frisky heroes and its old-fashioned narration are a welcome relief from second-rate animation, techno-thunder and shameless merchandising of a dizzying array of products that too often mark what's passed off as children's entertainment these days.

\ `The Adventures of Milo and Otis' A Columbia release at Salem Valley 8 (389-0444) and the Terrace Theatre (366-1677). Rated G. An hour and 25 minutes long. 


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