Don Halcombe is a Netflix executive who describes himself as an avid toy collector. His personal collection includes thousands of vintage and modern toys. “worn from all the adventures I took them on as a kid.” It’s a fact about him that helps explains why The new Netflix series Lost Ollie — a limited series debuting on Wednesday about a toy searching across the countryside for the boy who lost him — was one of the first projects Halcombe bought when he came over to the streamer.
Watch the trailer below, and you’ll see why. In fact, it might almost feel like you’re enjoying a kind of live-action Toy Story. Halcombe said that he wanted the project to be a Netflix original. “I saw in it the universal story of loss that all of us, no matter how old, could relate to.”
Lost OllieNetflix series
Inspiration from the book Ollie’s OdysseyNetflix describes the 4 episodes by William Joyce, author and illustrator Lost OllieThis is the series. It’s, basically, “an epic adventure about a lost toy who braves the many dangers of childhood as he searches the countryside to reunite with the boy who lost him.
It’s also “the story of the boy who lost more than a best friend. 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.”
Jonathan Groff and Mary J. Blige are among the cast. Tim Blake Nelson provides the voices for three toys. Gina Rodriguez and Jake Johnson play the mother and father of Billy, the boy who’s searching for his lost Ollie. And the series — which comes from show creator Shannon Tindle — hits Netflix on Wednesday, August 24.
Watch a trailer Lost OllieYou can find it embedded below:
The opening notes should be available immediately. All These Things That I’ve Done from The Killers kick in, followed by the sight of a toy dangled lovingly in front of a newborn’s face? It’s clear this show is aiming to be something special. Adding to the delight herein, the visual effects wizards at Industrial Light & Magic help bring the toys to life.
Halcombe again: “I love this show, because it taps into that well of emotion we all feel when we lose something or someone important to us, and the courage we have to find in ourselves to get it back, or to move on.”
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