Bolt (2008 film)
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"Bolt (film)" redirects here. For the 1994 film of the same name, see
Bolt (1994 film).
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 on 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 was rated PG by the MPAA for some mild action and peril, making it 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.
Plot
A girl named Penny and a dog named Bolt star on a hit television series called Bolt in which the titular character has various superpowers and must constantly thwart the evil plans of the nefarious Doctor Calico. 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. After filming completes for the latest 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, a female alley cat who bullies pigeons out of their food. Bolt, convinced this is another adventure, forces Mittens 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. As their adevnture proceeds, Bolt starts to notice that his superpowers aren't working, and rationalizes this is the effect that styrofoam has on his body.
Surprised at his first feelings of both pain and hunger, Bolt is shown by Mittens how to act like a cute but needy dog, and is rewarded by food. They meet Rhino, 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 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, 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 reaches the studio, finding Penny embracing his lookalike. Unaware that Penny still misses him and that her affection for the lookalike was 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 filming and accidentally knocks over some torches, setting the sound stage on fire and trapping Penny. Bolt arrives and reunites with Penny inside the burning studio, being rescued as they succumb to smoke asphyxiation.
Penny and her mother subsequently quit the show when their agent attempts to exploit the incident for publicity purposes. Penny herself adopts Mittens and Rhino, and moves 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", and adopting an alien abduction storyline suggested by a character they met on the way.
Production
At first, the film was going to be titled American Dog, and was written and directed by Chris Sanders (director of Lilo & Stitch). Eventually, Sanders was removed from the project and replaced by Chris Williams and Byron Howard.[2] The film's previous plot told the story of a dog named Henry, a famous TV 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. In 2006, after becoming Chief Creative Officer at Disney, John Lasseter along with other directors from Pixar and Disney viewed a couple of early cuts of the film and gave Chris Sanders notes on how to improve the story. According to Lasseter, Chris Sanders was replaced because Sanders resisted the changes that Lasseter 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." [3] After Sanders left and the original title was removed, the animation team was told to complete the movie in just 18 months instead of the usual four years that is normally required to produce a computer-animated feature.[4] In 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.[5][6]
Appearance
The look of the film was inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper and the cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond.[7] As in Rapunzel, new technology in non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) was used to give it a special visual appearance. To give the movie's 3D backgrounds a hand-painted look, the company artists used new patented technology designed specifically for the movie.[8]
Character design
- 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.[9]
Bolt's Super Powers
Bolt was granted a variety of powers in the series to stop the forces of Dr. Calico, throughout the movie, each attempt to use these powers were met with failure, or even in some surprises, moderate success...
- Super Strength - Bolt is able to bend bars with ease and even run headlong into vehicles, sending them flying.
- "Zoom-Zoom" - Super speed which enables Bolt to perform actions quick and in combination with his strength can enable him of incredible leaps. He usually used this to pull Penny on her scooter at incredible speeds.
- Heat Vision - Focusing his eyes on objects causes Bolt to emit super hot beams from his eyes, capable of destroying or piercing even the hardest of metallic armor.
- Super Bark - When he is commanded to "speak" Bolt can emit a powerful burst of sound causing devastation to whatever lies in his path.
Cast
Soundtrack and score
The score to Bolt was composed by John Powell.[11] The soundtrack featured the film's score and two original songs - "I Thought I Lost You" by Bolt's stars John Travolta and Miley Cyrus (nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song on 2009) as well as "Barking at the Moon" by Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis.[11] The soundtrack was released on November 18, 2008.[12]
Although Motörhead has a song in the film, they do not seem to appear in either the soundtrack or the score. Motörhead's song, "Dog-Face Boy" (from their Sacrifice album) is in a mailroom scene where a young worker is listening to it on his headphones and inadvertently wraps Bolt up in a box that gets shipped off to New York City. [13]
- "I Thought I Lost You" by John Travolta and Miley Cyrus — 3:36
- "Barking at the Moon" by Jenny Lewis — 3:17
- "Meet Bolt" — 1:49
- "Bolt Transforms" — 1:00
- "Scooter Chase" — 2:29
- "New York" — 1:44
- "Meet Mittens" — 1:25
- "The RV Park" — 2:14
- "A Fast Train" — 2:38
- "Where Were You on St. Rhino's Day?" — 1:58
- "Sing-Along Rhino" — 0:42
- "Saving Mittens" — 1:02
- "House on Wheels" — 3:07
- "Las Vegas" — 2:01
- "A Friend in Need" — 1:13
- "Rescuing Penny" — 3:09
- "A Real Life Superbark" — 0:46
- "Unbelievable TV" — 1:20
- "Home at Last/Barking at the Moon (Reprise)" — 1:29
- Latin American Edition
- "Ladrando a la Luna" by Kudai — 3:17
Release
Premiere
The premiere was held at El Capitan Theatre on November 16, 2008 in the arrivals and red carpet attended by John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Malcolm McDowell, Diedrich Bader, Nick Swardson, Greg Germann, Susie Essman, and Randy Savage.
Following the announcement by John Lasseter in December 2006 that all future Disney releases will have a theatrical short, the release was accompanied by the Cars Toons "Tokyo Mater" (also in 3D where available).
Home release
Bolt was released on Region A Blu-ray Disc in the United States on March 22, 2009. The BD set included standard DVD and digital copy versions of the film. Single-disc DVD and Special Edition DVD with Digital Copy versions followed in Region 1 on March 24.[14] This marked the first time a major home-video release debuted on Blu-ray Disc before DVD.[15]
Marketing
A trailer for the film was released on June 27, 2008, preceding WALL-E. A second trailer for the film was released on October 3, 2008, preceding Beverly Hills Chihuahua. A special trailer was shown before High School Musical 3: Senior Year on October 24, 2008..
Short
A short film called "Super Rhino" will be included in the DVD and BD versions of the film[16].
Reception
Critical reaction
Rotten Tomatoes reported that 87% of critics gave positive reviews based on 159 reviews.[17] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, gave the a 68/100 approval rating based on 28 reviews following under the category "generally favorable reviews". [18]
Perry Seibert of TV Guide gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote the film "amuses both those who make up the film's target audience and the parents along for the ride. This winning mix of exciting action, heart-tugging sentiment, and gentle character comedy makes Bolt yet another solid addition to Disney's history of family-friendly fare." [19] Tasha Robinson of the A.V. Club gave the film a B+ stating that "Bolt is the studio's first film since Lilo & Stitch that feels like it's trying to recapture the old Disney instead of aggressively shedding it in favor of something slick and new. And yet it comes with a healthy cutting-edge Pixar flavor as well." [20] Kenneth Turan of The Los Angeles Times compared Bolt towards The Truman Show and stated in his review "[Bolt] also has an intriguing plot that is kind of the family animation version of the Jim Carrey-starring "The Truman Show."[21]
Box office
On its opening weekend, the film opened #3 with $26,223,128 behind Twilight and Quantum of Solace.[22]. On its second weekend, it rose to #2 behind Four Christmases with a 1.4% increase.[23] As of February 20, 2009, the film has grossed $113,643,011 in Canada and the United States and $286,244,489 worldwide.[1][1]
Video game
A video game based on the film was released on November 18, 2008 for Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and also for mobile phone. The game focuses on Bolt's fake TV life, not the actual movie storyline. An application has also been released for the app version of Apple's iTunes Store, called RhinoBall.
