Bolt 720p - (2008 Lang: English)

A VERY fun movie for old and young alike!

Its an animated movie about a dog. GIVEN, its a 'kids' movie. Unlike many animated movies, the dialog isn't full of innuendos or 'hidden' humor that only adults would 'get'. Its easily understood by kids, the animation is top-rate (as would be expected) and the characters are engaging and easy to enjoy. I admit that even though I love animation, I went to this sneak preview with a few misgivings. The trailers didn't look all that exciting, and I didn't expect to see anything I hadn't already seen. On one hand, I was right. The animation WAS very good, but nothing that hadn't been done before. But on the other hand I was pleasantly wrong.

The formula works perfectly for Bolt. It was fun, didn't have any 'dull' spots, and while my theater was filled with a fairly consistent mix of children and young teens, and a relative smattering of adults, everyone seemed to enjoy it. Laughter was pretty consistent among the old and young, and at the end of the flick I heard something I rarely get to experience in theaters these days: applause. Granted, the adults were the ones applauding, and I joined in enthusiastically. The wife and I agree that this was one movie where we felt we got more than our dollars' worth. Thats a rare treat. Bolt did not disappoint on any level -and will find a spot in our library when the DVD eventually hits market. I fully expect this movie to do very well.

Bolt is a 2008 American computer animated road-comedy-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 48th Disney animated feature film. 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 super powers. When he believes that his human, Penny, has been kidnapped, he sets out on a cross-country journey to "rescue" 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 Disney Revival, as well as setting the studio in a new creative direction that would lead to other critically acclaimed features such as Tangled (2010) and Frozen (2013). 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, Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

In the prologue, a puppy named Bolt (John Travolta) is adopted by a seven-year-old girl named Penny (Miley Cyrus).

Five years later, they star on a hit adventure 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 that he really has superpowers, including a powerful sonic scream-like "superbark". After a cliffhanger episode causes Bolt to believe Penny has been kidnapped by the villain, he escapes from his on-set trailer in Hollywood but knocks himself unconscious trying to break through a window and falls 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" aren't working, and rationalizes this is the effect that styrofoam has on his body. He then 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 Penny, and after Bolt ends up knocking 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 in Elmwood Place, Ohio. Here, 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 are unable to escape before Penny begins to suffocate from the smoke. Bolt refuses to leave Penny, and with the strength he has left, Bolt uses his "superbark" through the building's air vent. Hearing the noise, the firefighters rescue them before they both succumb to smoke inhalation.

Penny and her mother subsequently quit when their overeager agent attempts to exploit the incident for publicity purposes. The show continues with a replacement "Bolt" and "Penny" – "Penny's" new appearance being explained in the show as being serious injuries necessitating her undergoing facial reconstruction surgery, and adopting a new storyline that involves alien abduction. 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 epilogue scenes during the credits show Bolt, Penny, her mother, Mittens, and Rhino enjoying their new life together.

I was really not expecting much, was looking to one of those generic "newgen" 3D animations but, oh, I was so wrong. I can easily say Bolt is pretty much at par with Wall-E, the 2 21th century animations that conquered my heart.

Few times I laughed, few times I had watery eyes, and it's impossible not to adore the characters and be at the edge of the seat as you follow the story. Also really loved the "authentic" finale with Penny and Bolt.

We got the opportunity to see this in a sneak preview in 3D and were very entertained. Great plot, great animation and the 3D was amazing. Sometimes felt like Bolt's head was towering over the audience. Good thing he didn't drool!

All the characters were great. The pigeons were great comic relief. It's amazing the amount of detail the animators put in. Watching the way the pigeons moved their heads was entertaining in itself. Rhino and Mittens were also hilarious while having more depth as well. A lot of Rhino's great lines were in the preview but didn't exactly play out in the story the way they seemed like they were going to. Even with that, he was hilarious. Obviously the plot is predictable but it's a very fun story. We were laughing out loud throughout this movie.

Skip Bond and see Bolt. Grande!