This is part of my series “Thoughts on Disney movies,” where I’ve gone back to watch all of the animated Disney features, starting with Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, and then share my thoughts on the blog.
Highlights: Bolt is… fine. It was enjoyable enough while I was watching it, but nothing sticks out to me too much or is particularly memorable. It had some good funny moments, and I enjoyed the beginning and the end. The middle part seemed to drag a bit. The concept is unique (Bolt is a dog who is trained to be a sort of “super hero” dog for a TV show, but he truly believes it’s all real and he has powers). Along the way Bolt befriends Mittens, a cat (gasp!). They don’t get along at first but begin to understand each other, and their relationship is rather sweet and her character is interesting enough.
Low points: If you think about the concept too much it kind of unravels a bit. Jason had never seen the movie and I was trying to explain the plot to him and I realized how ridiculous it sounded! I started to describe it and was like, “And apparently they never have to shoot a new scene more than once everything is filmed in chronological order.” That would make no sense for a TV show. His response was “So they really underestimate Bolt’s acting abilities, huh.” And as I mentioned earlier the middle part of the movie seems to drag on, when they are road tripping from NY to LA.
The Music: I honestly hardly noticed the music at all. I guess there’s your typical spy/action movie type soundtrack when they’re filming his TV show. And one song in the middle that’s sort of a montage of Bolt accepting who he is and doing “typical” dog things that was okay. Otherwise I don’t really remember the music.
The villain: There are a couple of grown ups doing bad things or making bad choices in this movie, particularly in the way Bolt is treated. For the sake of the TV show they leave him in distress which is definitely not cool when he thinks everything is real. Penny’s manager/agent is a total jerk. He’s not even the type of villain who you love to hate, you just hate him and want him to go away.
Fun fact: The two main roles (Bolt and his co-star/owner, Penny) are voiced by John Travolta and Miley Cyrus. The two of them also teamed up to record a song on the soundtrack together.
Where in the World: You won’t really find Bolt anywhere in Disney World. I do know that a costumed character does exist for him because he was most recently out for a meet and greet during the Princess half marathon! But you won’t regularly see him or anything about the movie in the theme parks.
My rating: 4.5 out of 10. It’s… fine. Nothing terrible but nothing great either.
Have you seen Bolt? What do you think of this movie?
That’s my biggest problem with the film: it’s incredibly unmemorable! I like it fine every time I see it, but afterwards, I always forget what exactly happens in the movie. I think it’s the least memorable in the entire Canon!