Bolt

In the animated movie Bolt, Disney takes a different path in telling the story of a lost dog looking for his owner and family. Bolt has been at his human’s side, Penny, since she first picked him out at the pet store when he was a puppy. Penny’s father is a genius scientist and his cutting edge technology is always under the threat of being stolen by the villainous Dr. Calico. Calico will go to any length to obtain Penny’s father’s secrets, including putting young Penny’s life in danger. To help protect her against the madman and his minions, her father has used his genius and altered Bolt into an indestructible and super powered canine. But what Bolt does not know is that he is actually a canine actor on America’s number one primetime television show and has no super powers. The studio that produces the show goes to great lengths to insure Bolt will continue to think he is a super hero because as long as he believes his manufactured world is real, the audience will also believe it and want more. In an attempt to raise ratings the network decides the regular happy ending recipe for an episode needs to be changed into a cliff-hanger. Instead of being reunited with Penny after saving the day, Bolt returns to his trailer thinking Penny is still in the clutches of Dr. Calico. Fearing for her life Bolt escapes the studio and accidentally gets shipped to New York City, where he has to face the real world with no special powers. After capturing a stray cat name Mittens that he is convinced works for Dr. Calico they begin a cross-country journey to find Penny and return to Hollywood. Along the way Bolt has to rely on Mittens to show him the real world and teach him how to be a regular dog. Bolt also has to wrestle with whether or not Penny’s love for him is real or also only for show.

Bolt is the 48th animated feature for Disney and it continues in the fine tradition of great stories that can entertain both children and adults. The storyline covers the spectrum of human emotion from the hilarious antics of a cat teaching a dog how to act like a dog to the heartbreak of learning that not all animals live a great life Bolt. As his journey to find Penny begins, Bolt also begins a journey into himself and must reconcile reality with the imaginary world he was raised in. The movie tugs at the heartstrings of every human with a beating heart and epitomizes why people develop such close relationships with their pets. John Travolta as the voice of Bolt and Susie Essman as the voice of Mittens are perfect matches for their animated characters. The wit and repartee between the two brings a voice to the cat versus dog rivalry. Miley Cyrus lends her sweet voice to Penny, Bolt’s person, and Malcolm McDowell has pitch perfect cameo as the evil Dr. Calico.

But it is the little hamster named Rhino who steals the show. Voiced by animator Mark Walton, Rhino is Bolt’s number one fan and lives in a kind of imaginary world of his own and meets Bolt and Mittens on their mission to rescue Penny. Rhino signs on to be Bolt’s sidekick and to help keep the cat in check. He believes that Bolt’s super powers are real and follows his hero with a blind faith that only creates more laughter and adventure. He is of absolutely no help to Mittens as she tries to convince Bolt that his world and super powers are not real. The little hamster with the heart of a lion outshines all the other characters with his dedication and excitement. Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino make the perfect traveling companions on this laugh riot of an adventure. Bolt ends the journey as a ideal family movie that anyone would enjoy and the humor is perfect for entertaining movie goers of any age.