Bolt [3D] (***)

Directed by: Byron Howard & Chris Williams
Starring (Voices): John Travolta, Miley Cyrus
Seen: December 18th 2008

*** Out of ****

Bolt (Travolta) is a superhero, or rather, a superdog. He is indestructible, and he has a bark that can stop armies of villains in their tracks. Penny (Cyrus) is the brains in the outfit, and, together with Bolt, they save the world week by week. The trailer Bolt lives in is testimony to that, as the wall is a collage of saving the world again photos taken by Penny. The villain, Doctor Calico, also known as the green-eyed man, hatches up new evil plots every week, but Bolt and Penny continue to foil them.

And as we all know, it’s all just a TV-show. But the production is built around Bolt actually believing in his superpowers, and when ratings for the show starts slipping, and the decision is made to end an episode on a cliff-hanger with Penny being kidnapped, Bolt manages to escape in order to save Penny. But when he jumps through a window his superpowers fail him, he is knocked unconscious, and he falls into a box full of Styrofoam and shipped to New York. In New York he meets Mittens, an alley cat who has a cartel of sorts set up, she bullies pigeons into giving her food. Bolt mistakes her for Doctor Calico’s cat, and takes her hostage to help find Penny.

Along the way Penny teaches Bolt to get food by acting for he first time ever, as a poor hungry puppy. And they meet the extremely funny Rhino, who is a plastic-ball confined TV-obsessed hamster, and also a massive Bolt fan. Adventures ensue as they end up in the hands of animal control, escape, travel towards Hollywood with a map of America they find on a fast food restaurant placemat, catch a train ride and much more.

Bolt is a very fun, very entertaining movie, and one of the first I’ve seen so far to use the 3D technology for good, only enhancing the story, not as a gimmick, to throw object at the viewer every now and then. The relationship between Bolt and Penny, and the loss of it when they are separated, is a vital part of the success of this beautiful animated film, and the side-characters are all utterly entertaining by their own rights too: a small gang of pigeons are perpetually confused, Rhino is “totally awesome”, and Mittens warms up as the reluctant helper. Disney has proved that, while still not up to Pixar’s standards, they can definitely hold their own in the animation arena again.