Milo and Otis

I bought the American version of Milo and Otis this afternoon and later went on the IMDB forums to hear what people were saying about it. Apparently there is a lot of animal cruelty in this movie, like if one of the cats or dogs died they just got a new one. For those who have seen it, do you think this is true? At the end of the credits it says, "animals were under close supervision with utmost concern for their safety" but people on IMDB are saying that that doesn't mean animals were harmed. I loved this movie as a kid and even have a picture book that came with it.

PS I won't be surprised if this gets moved to IMO.

EDIT: I searched around and the director, Masanori Hata, is a zoologist who runs a private animal farm on Hokkaido. He's also an author who writes under the pen name of Mutsugoro. Certainly a zoologist wouldn't make a movie with animals being hurt, right?

You know, I've searched and searched the net for any proof of abuse. The only thing I can find is people assuming because of the senes shown. I honestly couldn't agree with one side or the other without some solid proof. I don't believe blogs personaly. The blogs about this subject just seem to be people wanting to hear themselves talk, they have no proof and some have heard "second hand" even though the movie was made across seas

The IMDB forums aren't moderated well IMHO, so you can take that for what it's worth. The best way to figure out if there was animal abuse or cruelty in that movie is to look it up in film journals and see if there was any type of independent monitor on the set. It may take some time, and a trip to a university library, but the information should be out there.

I use to love that movie. But then I saw it again a few years ago and it just seems a little cruel to throw a kitten in a box and send it down a river, or throwing a pug and a cat in very deep snow. I don't know about animal cruelty, but it's hard to believe the animals were not slightly freaked out during filming.

I liked that movie as a kid, I love cats and pugs! But I watched it with my husband after we got married and he was really mad at the movie. Pugs are not great swimmers (because of the squished nose).
I don't know if it is a movie our kids will ever see.

I have never seen this movie

I've heard the same thing for many years, and I do not know one way or another if it is true or not, but I have not watched it since. I just get sad thinking it could even be true!