Bolt is a 2008 American computer-animated superhero comedy-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the studio's 48th animated feature. Directed by Chris Williams and Byron Howard, the film stars the voices of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Malcolm McDowell, Diedrich Bader, Nick Swardson, Greg Germann, Susie Essman and Mark Walton. The film's plot centers on a small white dog named Bolt who, having spent his entire life on the set of a television series, thinks that he has superpowers. When he believes that his human, Penny, has been kidnapped, he sets out on a cross-country journey to find her.
Despite a relatively marginal box-office performance, Bolt received a strong positive critical reception and is renowned for playing an important role in instigating what is widely referred to as the New Disney Renaissance, as well as setting the studio in a new creative direction that would lead to other critically acclaimed features such as Tangled and Frozen. Bolt was also Disney Animation's first feature film to be produced under the complete creative guidance of John Lasseter, as well as the first computer-animated feature film to implement non-photorealistic rendering.
The film was nominated for a series of awards, such as the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, losing to another Walt Disney Pictures release, WALL-E.
Plot[]
In the prologue, a puppy named Bolt (John Travolta) is adopted by an young girl named Penny (Miley Cyrus).
Five years later, they star on a hit adventurous television series called Bolt in which the titular character has various superpowers and must constantly thwart the evil plans of the nefarious Doctor Calico (Malcolm McDowell). To gain a more realistic performance, the TV show's producers have deceived Bolt his entire life, arranging the filming in such a way that Bolt believes the television show is real and he really has superpowers, including a powerful sonic scream-like "superbark". Accidentally believing Penny has been kidnapped by Calico, Bolt escapes from his on-set trailer in Hollywood but bumps into a window and falls unconscious into a box of foam peanuts and unknown to the film company is accidentally shipped to New York City. In New York, Bolt eventually comes round, and starts to notice that his "superpowers" are not working, and rationalizes this is the effect that styrofoam has on his body. He meets Mittens (Susie Essman), a female alley cat who bullies pigeons out of their food. Bolt (believing she's one of Calico's minions) forces Mittens to help him get back to Hollywood, and after Bolt knocks Mittens unconscious into a letter box, the two start their epic journey westward on a truck. In Hollywood, Penny is deeply saddened over Bolt's disappearance but is convinced by the studio to continue filming with a Bolt lookalike.
Surprised at his first feelings of hunger, Bolt is shown by Mittens how to act like a cute, but needy dog, and is rewarded by food for the both of them at a nearby RV park, where they meet Rhino (Mark Walton), a fearless, TV-obsessed hamster and Bolt fan who joins their team. Rhino’s unwavering faith in Bolt substantiates the dog’s illusions about his superpowers, but Mittens, who has learned that Bolt is from a television show, tries to convince Bolt that his superpowers aren't real. Bolt refuses to listen to Mittens, and instead becomes frustrated and attempts to "superbark" her repeatedly. The noise attracts Animal Control, who captures them both and transports them to an animal shelter. After being freed en route by Rhino, Bolt finally realizes that he is just a normal dog, but regains his confidence after Rhino (oblivious to this revelation) gives him a pep talk. They rescue Mittens from the shelter and escape, allowing them to continue their journey. Along the way, Mittens helps Bolt through his identity crisis by teaching him typical dog activities (such as hanging his head out car windows and chasing sticks), 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, learning of Bolt's departure, convinces Mittens that they must help him, and the two set off to find Bolt once again.
Bolt reaches the studio and finds Penny embracing his lookalike. Unaware that Penny still misses him and that her affection for the lookalike is only a part of a rehearsal for the show, he leaves, brokenhearted. Mittens, on a gantry in the studio, sees what Bolt does not: Penny telling her mother how much she misses Bolt. Realizing that Penny truly does love Bolt, Mittens follows Bolt and explains. At the same time, the Bolt-lookalike panics during the show's filming and accidentally knocks over some flaming torches, setting the sound stage on fire with Penny trapped inside. Bolt arrives and reunites with Penny inside the burning studio, but they cannot get out. In desperation, and unwilling to abandon Penny, Bolt uses his "superbark". The firefighters hear the noise through the building's air vent and manage to rescue them before they succumb to smoke inhalation.
Penny and her mother subsequently quit the show when their overeager agent attempts to exploit the incident for publicity purposes. Penny herself adopts Mittens and Rhino, and she and her family move to a rural home to enjoy a simpler, happy lifestyle with Bolt and her new pets. The show continues, but with a replacement "Bolt" and "Penny" – "Penny's" new appearance being explained in the show as being serious injuries necessitating her undergoing facial reconstruction doctor, and adopting a new storyline about alien abduction (one that even Rhino finds unrealistic, and Bolt finds "ridonculous"). Ultimately, Bolt, Penny, her mother, Mittens, and Rhino are seen enjoying their new life together.
Cast[]
- John Travolta as Bolt
- Susie Essman as Mittens
- Mark Walton as Rhino
- Miley Cyrus as Penny
- Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Calico
- Nick Swardson as Blake
- Diedrich Bader as Veteran Cat
- Chloë Grace Moretz as Young Penny
- Greg Germann as The Agent
- James Lipton as The Director
- Randy Savage as Thug
- Kari Wahlgren as Mindy
- Grey DeLisle as Penny's Mother
- J. P. Manoux as Tom
- Brian Stepanek as Martin
- Jeff Bennett as Lloyd
- John DiMaggio as Saul
- Jenny Lewis as Assistant Director
Production[]
Development[]
In November 2002, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, the directors of Lilo & Stitch (2002), had signed a multi-picture deal with Walt Disney Pictures. It was also reported Sanders was working on an untitled computer-animated film.[4] Nearly a year later, in November 2003, the project had been titled American Dog.[5] The plot centered on Henry, a famous canine star, who one day finds himself stranded in the Nevada desert with a testy, one-eyed cat and an oversized, radioactive rabbit who are themselves searching for new homes, all the while believing he is still on television.[6] In August 2005, the project's conceptual artwork and synopsis were then showcased publicly at the annual SIGGRAPH conference.[7] By November 2005, American Dog had been slated for a summer 2008 release.[8]
Following the corporate acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios, John Lasseter and Ed Catmull had been respectively appointed as Chief Creative Officer and President of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar. In the fall of 2006, Lasseter, along with other directors from Pixar and Disney, attended two screenings of the film and gave Sanders suggestive notes on how to improve the story. Catmull stated "somewhere along the way, the plot had also come to include a radioactive, cookie-selling Girl Scout zombie serial killer. I'm all for quirky ideas, but this one had metastasized."[9]
In December 2006, Sanders was removed from the project.[10] Within months, in 2007, he had joined DreamWorks Animation.[11] According to Lasseter, Sanders was replaced because he had resisted the changes that he and the other directors had suggested. Lasseter was quoted as saying: "Chris Sanders is extremely talented, but he couldn't take it to the place it had to be."[12] Earlier, in December 2006, Disney had laid off about 160 employees within its animation division.[13] In recent years, Sanders has stated he has no ill will over being removed from the film, and hoped he could revisit some of his ideas in the future. He approved of the final film and the changes made, stating: "I think it would have been frustrating if the movie were essentially the same but with only slight changes. And I suppose my scenes and storylines are still sitting there on the shelf. I could actually pull them out and do them again. But it would be completely different."[14]
In February 2007, Lasseter had confirmed Chris Williams and Byron Howard were the film's new directors.[15][16] As directors, Williams focused on the story reels and layout while Howard tackled character design and animation.[17] The radioactive rabbit and eyepatch-wearing cat characters were removed from the story while the dog Henry (now renamed Bolt) was redesigned into a White Shepherd with a lightning bolt-shaped patch that runs down the left side of his body. Furthermore, Lasseter ordered the American Southwest setting to be removed given his then-recent film Cars (2006) had a similar terrain.[18] Following the story overhaul, the animation team was told to complete the animation in 18 months instead of the usual four years that is normally required to produce a computer-animated feature.[19] On June 8, 2007, Disney announced that the film, now under its current name, would be released on November 21, 2008, in Disney Digital 3-D.[20][21]
Animation[]
The look of the film was inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper and the cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond.[22] New technology in non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) was used to give it a special visual appearance, a technique later used in Tangled (2010). To give the film's 3D backgrounds a hand-painted look, the company artists used new patented technology designed specifically for the film.[23]
Bolt's characteristics are based on an amalgam of breeds, although the designers started with the American White Shepherd.[24] Joe Moshier, lead character designer, said, "they American White Shepherds have really long ears, a trait that I tried to caricature in order to allow the animators to emphasize Bolt's expressiveness."[24]
The design of Rhino in his plastic ball was based on executive producer John Lasseter's pet chinchilla, which was brought to an animators' retreat during the film's production.[25]