Bolt
Bolt is a 2008 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and is the 48th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animation Studios canon.
The film stars the voices of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Malcolm McDowell, Claire Holt, Diedrich Bader, Nick Swardson, Greg Germann, Susie Essman and Mark Walton. The film’s plot centers around a small white dog named Bolt who, having spent his entire life on the set of a television series, thinks that he has super powers. When he believes that his human, Penny, has been kidnapped, he sets out on a cross-country journey to “rescue” her. The film is directed by Chris Williams, who previously worked on Mulan and The Emperor’s New Groove.
Bolt was released on November 21, 2008, and received an 85% “Certified Fresh” approval rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes [2] and was rated PG by the MPAA for some mild action and peril, and is Walt Disney Animation Studios’ first computer-animated film to be rated PG since 2000’s Dinosaur. As with earlier CGI Disney films, such as Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons, Bolt was also distributed in Disney Digital 3-D in the theaters equipped for it.
The film was released in the UK on February 6, 2009 in 3D format on approximately 100 screens, and was widely released in 2D the following week.
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A girl named Penny (Miley Cyrus) and her dog Bolt (John Travolta) star on a hit television series Bolt in which the titular character has various superpowers and must constantly thwart the evil plans of the nefarious Doctor Calico (Malcolm McDowell). Because Bolt has lived his entire life on a soundstage, and believes he really is his fictional counterpart, he doesn’t know how to live like a normal dog. After filming completes for one episode, Bolt escapes from his on-set trailer mistakenly believing Penny has been kidnapped by the television villain. He attempts to break through a window, knocking himself unconscious as he falls into a box of styrofoam. With no one aware Bolt is in the box, it is shipped from Hollywood to New York City. In New York, he meets Mittens (Susie Essman), a female alley cat who bullies pigeons out of their food. Because Mittens is a cat similar to one owned by Doctor Calico, Bolt forces her to help him get back to Hollywood, and the two start their journey westward. Meanwhile, in Hollywood, Penny is deeply saddened over Bolt’s disappearance but is forced by the studio to continue filming with a Bolt lookalike. Along the way, Bolt starts to notice that his superpowers aren’t working, but he rationalizes this is the effect that styrofoam has on his body (much like Kryptonite affects Superman).
Surprised at his first feelings of both pain and hunger, Bolt manages to get food on the road thanks to the training of Mittens, who shows him how to look like a cute, needy dog. At a campsite, they meet Rhino (Mark Walton), a fearless, TV-obsessed hamster and huge Bolt fan who joins their team. Mittens tries to convince Bolt that his superpowers aren’t real, but their discussion is cut short by the arrival of Animal Control, who captures them both. Bolt vows to rescue Mittens, and does so with the help of Rhino and an exploding oxygen tank. The cross-country journey continues and Bolt learns to enjoy typical dog activities (such as hanging his head out the window), but Mittens refuses to go farther than Las Vegas. She tells Bolt that his Hollywood life is fake and there is no real love for him there. Her emotional rant reveals that she was once a house cat, but was abandoned by her previous owner and left to brave the harsh streets alone and declawed. Bolt refuses to believe that Penny doesn’t love him, and continues on alone, wishing Mittens the best. Rhino convinces Mittens that they must help him, and the two set off to find Bolt once again.
Bolt returns to the studio and is heartbroken to find Penny embracing his lookalike, unaware that Penny still misses him and that her affection for the lookalike was part of a rehearsal for the show. Witnessing this, and realizing that Penny truly does love Bolt, Mittens confronts Bolt and manages to clear up the misunderstanding. Back on the set, the Bolt-lookalike panics during filming and accidentally knocks over some torches, setting the sound stage on fire and trapping Penny. Bolt arrives and reunites with Penny, and manages to get themselves rescued. Penny and her mother subsequently quit the show when their agent attempts to exploit the incident for publicity purposes. The show continues with a replacement “Bolt” and “Penny”, but seems to have jumped the shark with an alien abduction storyline that even Rhino considers silly. Penny herself adopts Mittens and Rhino, and moves to a rural home to enjoy a simpler, happy lifestyle with Bolt and her new pets.
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