“Bolt”
Rating: PG
Length: 96 min.
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Fade in to new-age title design — square, rigid and “Matrix”-esque — flashing onto the screen. It is accompanied by a slightly melodramatic soundtrack, complete with the resounding bass and heavy drum beat.
Instead of cutting to a close-up of Shia LaBeouf or Vin Diesel, we suddenly jump into a rapid-fire chase sequence through the streets of New York City, involving a spunky pre-teen in striped leggings and her pet dog who can bend metal bars with his paws, break solid objects into bits and pieces with his glare and bark bad guys into oblivion.
But once the dust settles, the director yells cut, the green screens go up and the crew begins to wrangle their wires and disengage their boom microphones.
It’s just another day in Hollywood for everyone on set, except for Bolt.
Just as Disney has fallen behind Pixar as the premier animation studio of the decade, they deliver “Bolt,” a high-adrenaline animated film starring an adorable white German Shepherd with wide brown eyes that elicit “awws” at first sight. The film features the voice talent of John Travolta as Bolt and Miley Cyrus as his owner and television star, Penny.
After the smartly crafted introduction, the film reveals that Bolt is as much of a “super-dog” as the lightening bolt birthmark tattooed onto his behind by the makeup department. A star of a hit television show also called “Bolt,” Bolt is a method actor and fully immerses himself in the story to be authentic. Like the show’s director says, “If he believes it, the audience believes it.”
But when the show decides to switch up its plotlines and write its first-ever cliffhanger, Bolt ends up on a cross-country road trip, has several near-death experiences and meets a fast-talking cat before he finally comes to the realization that he is just human — uh — dog, after all.
It’s Bolt’s entourage that gives the film its much needed spark, notably the sarcasm-spewing alley cat, Mittens, and the sycophantic plastic-ball-rolling gerbil, Rhino. Unlike most animated films that utilize the buddy characters as mere devices for the main protagonist, Mittens and Rhino are just as well developed — if not more so — as Bolt. Each possess his or her own distinctive voice and personality and is able to stand alone, especially Mittens, who has the most heartbreaking backstory of them all.
Despite its clever dialogue, “Bolt” does have some significant flaws, specifically its plot. “Bolt” disguises its simple story and lazy structure with fires, freight trains and a heartwarming montage, complete with a country duet sung by Cyrus and Travolta that oozes Oscar nomination.
There are many times “Bolt” forces the adults to suspend all disbelief. But it is a children’s film, after all. And according to the laughs, cries and high-pitched exclamations from the 5-year-olds surrounding me in the theater, they believed every bit of it.
What adults might find most humorous are the characterizations of certain cities across the United States — especially New York and Los Angeles — and the pigeons Bolt encounters along the streets in each of these cities.
In New York, the pigeons are tough and fast-talking, sounding as though they come straight out of the “The Sopranos.” The pigeons on the West Coast offer a fun and near-perfect critique on Hollywood as they introduce themselves as screenwriters and begin to pitch their idea for a “Bolt” episode. Their main selling point? “Aliens.” Even the Midwestern pigeons speak in a drawl with hay between their beaks.
But when compared to “Ratatouille,” which transcended animation parameters and received a slew of Oscar nominations or the incredibly innovative “WALL•E,” “Bolt” falls flat despite all of its high-tech glitz, gadgets and glamour.
Though this may be Disney’s most entertaining animated feature in recent memory, “Bolt’s” only chance for an Oscar statue is if the eco-friendly “WALL•E” compacts himself into the Best Picture category rather than Best Animated Film. For until Disney returns to those faraway, unexplored worlds in order to regain the originality the studio once possessed, Pixar will always be one step ahead.
Disney’s ‘Bolt’ almost competes with Pixar
Published: Thursday, November 20, 2008
Updated: Tuesday, November 25, 2008
 "Photo: Photo courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.")
Photo courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Sidekick · Rhino the gerbil and Bolt the super-dog go on an adventure across the country in Disney’s latest animated film, “Bolt.” John Travolta is the voice of Bolt, while Miley Cyrus is the voice of his owner.
Disney bought shares in Pixar in 2006, the two companies never merged. The two studios are separate entities and therefore, create their own films. "Bolt" is Disney's latest film that's solely Disney - not Disney-Pixar. So basically, they're saying that the Pixar division is creatively a step ahead of Disney's animation studio.