Bolt premiered at theEl Capitan Theatre inHollywood, Los Angeles, on November 17, 2008, and was released in the United States on November 21, byWalt Disney Pictures. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $310 million against a $150 million budget. It is regarded as helping to instigate arebirth of Walt Disney Animation Studios, setting the studio in a new creative direction that led to other critically acclaimed features such asTangled (2010) andFrozen (2013).[2][3]
In 2003, aWhite Swiss Shepherd puppy namedBolt is adopted by a 7-year-old girl named Penny. Five years later in 2008, Bolt and Penny star in a hit television series named after Bolt, in which Bolt and Penny fight crime and foil the plans of the villain, Dr. Calico, who has kidnapped Penny's father, with Bolt using varioussuperpowers in their adventures. To gain a more realistic performance from Bolt, the show's director has arranged the special effects in such a way that Bolt believes everything in the show is real, including his powers. This means Bolt can never leave the set and live as a normal dog, much to Penny's dismay.
One day, after acliffhanger episode causes Bolt to believe Penny has been kidnapped, he escapes from his on-set trailer inHollywood but knocks himself unconscious and falls into a box ofpacking peanuts, which is thenshipped toNew York City. Upon arrival, Bolt is shocked to discover that his "superpowers" are actually useless. While searching for Dr. Calico and Penny, Bolt meets a group of pigeons who lead him to Mittens, a cynicalferal cat who he believes is an "agent" of Calico and forces her to guide him back to Penny. The two travel toOhio by stowing away in aU-Haul truck. Meanwhile, in Hollywood, a less-experienced White Swiss Shepherd dog is brought in so filming can resume. Penny is distraught over Bolt’s disappearance but reluctantly agrees to halt the search so production can continue.
Upon arriving in Ohio, Bolt and Mittens go to anRV park where they are joined by Rhino, a fearlesshamster and huge fan ofBolt. Rhino's description of Bolt's adventures causes Mittens to realize Bolt is from a TV show, but she is unable to convince Bolt of the truth. In frustration, Bolt repeatedly attempts to "superbark" Mittens, but the noise draws the attention of the localanimal control service, and Bolt and Mittens are both captured and taken to a shelter.
Bolt, badly damaged by himself and freed from the patrol van by Rhino, finally realizes and accepts that he is just a normal dog. However, he regains his confidence after Rhino (oblivious to the revelation) gives him a motivating speech, and they later rescue Mittens from the shelter. As they travel west, Bolt and Mittens form a close friendship; she teaches him how to be an ordinary dog and enjoy typical dog activities. Mittens makes plans for the three of them to stay inLas Vegas, but Bolt is still determined to find Penny. Mittens reveals to Bolt that she was declawed and abandoned by her owners and believes that no human truly "loves" their pet. Bolt vehemently disagrees with her and continues on alone to Hollywood. After finding out about Bolt's departure, Rhino decides to follow Bolt to Hollywood and convinces Mittens to come with him.
When Bolt reaches California and the studio, he finds Penny embracing the replacement dog during a rehearsal, and, believing that she has replaced him, leaves feeling heartbroken. Mittens, who has caught up to him and witnessed the events, reassures Bolt that Penny does love him. At the same time, the Bolt look-alike panics during the show's routinely violent filming of a fight scene and accidentally knocks over littiki torches, setting the stage on fire with Penny trapped inside. With the help of Mittens and Rhino, Bolt goes inside the burning studio and the two reunite but are unable to escape and Penny begins tosuffocate from the smoke. Bolt stays with Penny and repeatedly superbarks into the building'sair vent, alerting the firefighters to their location, and they are rescued.
Penny and her mother quit the show after Penny'sagent proposes that they exploit the incident for publicity. The show continues with new actors replacing Bolt and Penny and abizarre new storyline involvingalien abduction inspired by the movie's pigeon chorus. Penny adopts Mittens and Rhino, and they move to a rural home to enjoy a simpler lifestyle together.
In November 2002,Chris Sanders andDean DeBlois, the directors ofLilo & 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 titledAmerican 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 showcased publicly at the annualSIGGRAPH conference.[7] By November 2005,American Dog had been slated for a summer 2008 release.[8]
Following the corporate acquisition ofPixar Animation Studios,John Lasseter andEd Catmull were 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 joinedDreamWorks 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 confirmedChris Williams andByron Howard were the film's new directors.[15][16] As directors, Williams focused on thestory 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 aWhite Shepherd with a lightning bolt-shaped patch that runs down the left side of his body. Furthermore, Lasseter ordered theAmerican Southwest setting to be removed given his then-recent filmCars (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, retitled asBolt, was scheduled to be released on November 21, 2008, inDisney Digital 3-D.[20][21]
The look of the film was inspired by the paintings ofEdward Hopper and the cinematography ofVilmos Zsigmond.[22] New technology innon-photorealistic rendering (NPR) was used to give it a special visual appearance, a technique later used inTangled (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 theAmerican 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 hisplastic ball was based on executive producerJohn Lasseter's petchinchilla, which was brought to an animators' retreat during the film's production.[25]
Motörhead's song "Dog-Face Boy" (from theirSacrifice album) is in a scene in which a mailroom worker is listening to it on headphones while inadvertently wrapping Bolt up in a box that gets shipped to New York City.[28]
The Japanese dub has a different ending theme called "Onaji Sora wo Miageteru" ("I Look Up at the Same Sky") byNatsu Kai.[29][30][31][32][33]
Bolt had its world premiere on November 17, 2008, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, at theEl Capitan Theatre.[34] It was commercially released in theaters in the United States on November 21, 2008. By its fourth week in theaters, the film was accompanied by Pixar'sCars Toons shortTokyo Mater.[35]
Bolt was released onBlu-ray in the United States on March 22, 2009. The Blu-ray combo set included a standard DVD anddigital copy versions of the film. Single-disc DVD and Special Edition DVD with Digital Copy versions followed in Region 1 on March 24.[36] This marked the first time a major home-video release debuted on Blu-ray Disc before DVD.[37]Bolt was released on both Blu-ray and DVD in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2009.[38]
A short film calledSuper Rhino is included in the DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film.[39] By December 2009, the DVD has sold over 4.5 million copies, generating $81.01 million in consumer sales.[40]
The3D Blu-ray version of the film was released in November 2010, in France[41] and UK.[42] A month later, it was released worldwide exclusively to select Sony TVs.[43][44] In the United States, it was released on November 8, 2011.[45]
On its opening weekend, the film opened in third place, earning $26.2 million behindTwilight andQuantum of Solace.[46] On itssecond weekend, it rose to second place, earning nearly $26.6 million behindFour Christmases.[47] Overall,Bolt grossed $114.1 million in the United States and Canada and $195.9 million in international territories, totaling $310 million worldwide.[1]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 90% of 191 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Bolt is a pleasant animated comedy that overcomes the story's familiarity with strong visuals and likable characters."[48]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 67 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[49] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[50]
Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times wrote thatBolt was "a sweet Disney family film, but Lasseter's oversight has made it smarter than it otherwise would have been. It's not in Pixar's league, but it's laced with idiosyncratic characters with pleasantly wacky attitudes. That may sound like the obvious thing to do but that doesn't mean anyone else has done it."[51] Michael Rechtshaffen ofThe Hollywood Reporter felt the film was a "notable step up for Walt Disney Animation Studios", although he felt the script needed "more of a comedic punch, with fuller character quirks and complexities to go along with the enhanced visual dimension." Nevertheless, Rechtshaffen complimented the vocal performances from Travolta, Cyrus, and Malcolm McDowell.[52]Todd McCarthy, reviewing forVariety, noted the film was an "OK Disney animated entry enhanced by nifty 3-D projection" as it "bears some telltale signs of Pixar's trademark smarts, but still looks like a mutt compared to the younger company's customary purebreds."[53]
A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times complimented the film as "a real movie[,] not a great one, perhaps, but a more organic and thought-out piece of work than the usual animated hodgepodge that lures antsy children and their dutiful parents into the multiplexes. It has its sentimental strains, but it doesn't push them too hard, or resort to the crude, pandering humor of, say, theShrek franchise."[54] Perry Seibert ofTV 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 makesBolt yet another solid addition to Disney's history of family-friendly fare."[55] Tasha Robinson ofThe A.V. Club gave the film a B+, stating that "Bolt is the studio's first film sinceLilo & 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."[56]
Michael Phillips of theChicago Tribune awarded the film1+1⁄2 stars out of four, writing he personally "felt abandoned just watching it. It's a seriously withholding action comedy, stingy on the wit, charm, jokes, narrative satisfactions and animals with personalities sharp enough for the big screen, either in 2-D or 3-D. I saw it in 3-D, which helped, especially with an early, massively destructive chase through the streets and freeways of Los Angeles. Plus, the herky-jerky movements in the head and neck region of three credulous pigeons -- those were funny."[57]Joe Morgenstern ofThe Wall Street Journal wrote: "I did not findBolt lovable. Likable, yes, and occasionally endearing -- yet the best parts involve a hamster in a plastic ball. The movie dog's confusions are entertaining, though they're familiar to anyone who has seenBuzz Lightyear in Pixar's peerlessToy Story films. But the spunk of the hamster, a corpulent rodent named Rhino, is stirring, and there's a timeless purity to the spectacle of him scurrying around in his private little sphere."[58]
^Turan, Kenneth (November 21, 2008)."Film Review: "Bolt"".Los Angeles Times.Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. RetrievedNovember 22, 2008.
^Rechtshaffen, Michael (November 13, 2008)."Film Review: Bolt".The Hollywood Reporter. Archived fromthe original on December 16, 2008. RetrievedAugust 25, 2008.
^McCarthy, Todd (November 13, 2008)."Film Reviews: Bolt".Variety.Archived from the original on August 25, 2022. RetrievedAugust 25, 2022.
^Robinson, Tasha (November 20, 2008)."Bolt".The A.V. Club.Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. RetrievedNovember 21, 2008.
^Phillips, Michael (November 21, 2008)."A Disney dog of comedy".Chicago Tribune.Archived from the original on August 25, 2022. RetrievedAugust 25, 2022.
