The early 2000s were not a great time for film, but in August of 2001, a masterpiece hit the screens. "Osmosis Jones," directed by Tom Sito, Piet Kroon, and The Farrelly Brothers. The half animation, half live action feature details the life of Osmosis "Ozzy" Jones (Chris Rock) who is a white blood cell and works as a police officer in the body of Frank (Bill Murray). When Frank becomes sick with Thrax (Laurence Fishburne), a deadly virus bent on killing Frank, it's up to Ozzy and begrudging partner and pill named Drix (David Hyde Pierce) to save him. Also rounding out the cast is William Shatner, Molly Shannon, and Brandy Norwood.
First off, what a plot! The idea of anthropomorphising bodily functions was a very new one. You can see that 2015's Inside Out might have gotten a few ideas from Osmosis Jones. You can say that buddy cop films are cliche but to me as a 5-year-old in 2001, I'd never seen one before and I loved every second of it. For me, it was a new and exciting way to view the body. It put serious illness on a level that I could easily understand. For the adults, there were appearances by some pretty famous actors to keep them entertained. I actually didn't realize Bill Murray was in it until I rewatched it earlier this month.
The best part of the "Osmosis Jones" franchise for me is the 2002-2004 television show Ozzy & Drix. In the fully animated show the titular characters are now working in the body of a 13-year-old boy, Hector Cruz. Here Ozzy and Drix help protect Hector as he deals with the problems of a growing teenager while the audience learns about hygiene, hormones, and of course, the dangers of smoking. The show did successfully what the movie could've done. It was both entertaining and educational. Changing the body that Ozzy and Drix were in from a slovenly adult to a healthy 13-year-old was a lot more relatable to me and the jokes were geared more toward children. Although I'm no longer as interested in medicine, at the time it gave me more appreciation and understanding of how the human body worked. I was always excited when this show came on.
Looking back now I know that "Osmosis Jones" and "Ozzy & Drix" had many faults, the acting was clunky, the jokes were forced, and many of the plot points were cliché but the story itself was original and it made it easier for 5-7-year-old me to understand the many complexities of the human body. The IMDb rating may only be 6.2 but it'll always be a 10/10 for me.
