From Walt Disney Home Entertainment:
Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) is the star of the biggest show in Hollywood. The only problem is, he
thinks the whole thing is real. When the super dog is accidentally shipped to New York City and
separated from Penny (voiced by Miley Cyrus), his beloved co-star and owner, Bolt springs into action to
find his way home. Together with his hilarious new sidekicks Rhino (voiced by Mark Walton) - Bolt's #1
Fan - and a street-smart cat named Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman), Bolt sets off on an amazing
journey where he discovers he doesn't need super powers to be a hero.
Nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song ("I
Thought I Lost You'), BOLT features the voices of Academy AwardŽ nominee John Travolta (nominated
for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Pulp Fiction, 1994 and Saturday Night Fever, 1977) as Bolt, the
wonder dog and Miley Cyrus ("Hannah Montana") as Penny, his "person." The stellar voice cast also
includes Susie Essman ("Curb Your Enthusiasm"), Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell ("Heroes") and
James Lipton ("Inside the Actor's Studio"). BOLT was also produced by Pixar co-founder and CGI
pioneer John Lasseter (director of Toy Story, A Bug's Life and Cars).
Bolt Voice Cast List
John Travolta
Miley Cyrus
Susie Essman
Mark Walton
Malcolm McDowell
James Lipton
Greg Germann
Diedrich Bader
... Bolt
... Penny
... Mittens
... Rhino
... Dr. Calico
... The Director
... The Agent
... Veteran Cat
After Disney's previous effort Meet the Robinsons, we will admit that we had lowered our expectations. However, we were very pleasantly surprised by Bolt. When we sat down and watched it with our children, all were entertained. There was plenty of slapstick humor to keep the kids entertained. With the film being set in Hollywood, there were a number of "in-jokes" that only adults would catch. Usually a staple of Pixar films, Bolt also had a few subtle homages to other films which also added to the entertainment value for the adults. Of course, Miley Cyrus was instantly recognized by the Hannah Montana fans in the family as the voice of Penny, Bolt's "person."
Bolt goes through the painful lesson of learning that he's not super, but rather ordinary. Mittens, the cynical streetwise cat, sets out to clue Bolt in to the truth, but ends up learning a few things from Bolt. With the help of Mittens, Bolt's idealism is put to the test before his faith in his "person" is restored near the very end. When Bolt picks up a sidekick about half way through the film, Rhino nearly steals the film. However, his screen time is kept to a minimum, maximizing his screen presence without becoming a complete distraction to Bolt's story. We were very happily surprised by Bolt and found it to be an excellent family film that we're happy to have in our collection for repeated family viewing.
The DVD:
The DVD is relatively light on extras. There is a an-all new short featuring Rhino, Bolt's sidekick. There are also three featurettes about the film touching on film development, the voice cast and the visuals. A fourth featurette focuses on the film's "signature song" and music video. A handful of deleted scenes are included with explanations as to why they were left out. The Blu-ray edition also includes a game and early conceptual art gallery. Though the extras do provide a few insights, they aren't enough to add overwhelming value to any of the editions. We'd recommend the Blu-ray combo because it has "the best of both worlds" (pun intended). In addition to a Blu-ray version of the film, it includes the standard definition version of the film as well as a digital copy. If you don't yet have a Blu-ray player, the few extras can wait until you do.
— Single Disc DVD Extra
— DisneyFile Digital Copy
— Backstage Disney - A New Breed of Directors: A Filmmakers' Journey: First-time directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard take fans along as they traverse the road from concept to completion.
— Backstage Disney - Act, Speak! The Voices of Bolt: Viewers join the voice cast in sessions: John Travolta (Bolt), Miley Cyrus (Penny), Susie Essman (Mittens), James Lipton (Director) and Mark Walton (Rhino).
— Backstage Disney - Creating the World of Bolt: Bolt's painterly backgrounds have wowed audiences across the globe. Teh filmmakers explain how they fashioned the unique look of this CG movie.
— Backstage Disney - Deleted Scenes: With optional introductions by directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard
— Music & More: "I Thought I Lost You" Music Video - Features the movie's stars, Miley Cyrus and John Travolta
— Music & More: In Session with John Travolta and Miley Cyrus: A behind-the-scenes look at recording Bolt's signature song "I Thought I Lost You"
— Bonus Disc with Standard Definition DVD version of the film
— All the DVD Extras
— DisneyFile Digital Copy
— Bolt's Be-Awesome Mission: In order to defeat the Green-Eyed Man, Bolt has to find his way through three challenging levels in an exciting interactive game. Viewers can join in collecting clues, conquering ninjas and unleashing the power of the Super Bark!
— Bolt Art Gallery: Animation enthusiasts can check out the film's early creative concepts in the Bolt Art Gallery, which contains the building blocks of a big screen blockbuster, from storyboards to character mock-ups. Gallery sections include Visual Development, Character Development, Storyboard Art and Color Script Images.
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