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Disney's 'Bolt' Is Bow-Wow-Wonderful
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Published: December 12, 2008
The latest computer-animated offering from Disney is a smile-a-minute joyride of knockout visual effects, laugh-out-loud humor and a story that snuggles right up next to your heart.
Travolta provides the voice of Bolt, the pint-size canine star of a hugely popular TV series about a genetically re-engineered "super dog."
On the show, Bolt and his co-star, the tween-aged Penny (Cyrus), are constantly wrangling with a network of sinister villains.
Bolt has a very sheltered life - he doesn't realize that the show is just a show, created on a Hollywood soundstage with wall-to-wall special effects.
He thinks it's all real, and that he actually has superpowers - super strength, heat vision, super speed and, most impressive or all, a sonic-boom super bark.
When he and Penny accidentally become separated, the bewildered Bolt ends up across the country in New York and begins a long and winding journey back to rescue his "person," certain that Penny is in danger.
He also begins a journey of discovery, gradually realizing that he's just an ordinary dog.
Bolt picks up a couple of unlikely traveling companions, a skin-and-bones alley cat, Mittens, and Rhino, an overly excitable hamster, both of which quickly become audience favorites.
The trio eventually makes its way to California, where Bolt finds out what it means to be a real hero.
Kids will get a real kick out of "Bolt," but it's also got plenty for grownups to savor.
It's sophisticated look is rich with details that are easy to take for granted, but which add immeasurably to the texture and dimension of the scenes - such as the nearly invisible, transparent seams on Rhino's hamster ball, or the expressive furrows in Bolt's brow that give his face such a wide range of emotions.
And its action sequences - in particular two rip-roaring scenes that bookend the movie, one on the Hollywood freeway and the other inside a burning studio soundstage - rival the excitement and adrenaline levels of many live-action blockbusters.
This outstanding family film crosses the year-end cinematic finish line with a flourish. No bones about it, "Bolt" is bow-wow-wonderful.
Neil Pond is the entertainment editor for American Profile.
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