On November 21, 2008, Disney’s 48th animated feature film will be released in the form of Bolt. Although the film was originally meant to be directed by Chris Sanders, director of Lilo and Stitch, Sanders was removed from the project and replaced by Chris Williams and Byron Howard. With Sanders’s replacement, the plot and the concept behind the movie changed drastically, becoming the movie that is now anticipated by Disney fans all across the world. Starring the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, Bolt is about a small white German Shepherd that has lived its whole life on the set of a television show, and when he is faced with the real world, things quickly get out of hand for the little dog. Accidentally shipped to New York City instead of Hollywood, Bolt must travel across the country in order to reunite with his former owner and co-star, Penny. Along the way, Bolt assembles a quirky cast of friends, including the jaded housecat named Mittens, voiced by Susie Essman, and a TV-obsessed hamster named Rhino, voiced by Mark Walton.

Like many Disney protagonists, Bolt does not lead the average life. The small dog is the star of a hit television show, a position that leads the dog to believe he possesses immense superpowers, when in fact the dog cannot fly or do anything that a normal superhero can do. Bolt’s journey will prove to him the reality of his situation – rather than being a superhero, Bolt is actually just a normal dog with the powers that any other dog possesses. Of course, that does not mean that Bolt is powerless: Bolt slowly begins to discover that a dog’s power does not necessarily have to be manufactured in the television studio. Penny is Bolt’s owner, a smart twelve-year-old girl that is consumed by the hectic life of a television star. Despite the fact that Penny’s relationship with Bolt is mostly scripted and acted out in front of the camera, Penny also spends plenty of time with Bolt off-camera, taking solace in her time with Bolt as a time when she can escape from all of the pressure of her television job. When Bolt goes missing, Penny is forced to move on by everything around her, but she does not lose hope that one day Bolt will return.

Along the way, Bolt runs into Mittens, a cunning housecat that sees the glass as half empty. Mittens does what she has to do to get by, even if getting by should involve stealing from others or lying to get what she wants. Because of her tough attitude, Mittens hardly believes that making friends is in any way essential to her survival and she does not find it easy to trust in anyone but herself. When she meets Bolt and experiences his undying loyalty to Penny and his unwavering commitment in returning to her, Mittens realizes that she does, in fact, have the capacity to believe in someone besides herself. Bolt and Mittens also come across Rhino, a hamster that knows everything about Bolt and all of his TV undertakings. Rhino knows everything about all of Bolt’s missions, owing to the fact that is life consists of eating woodchips and watching television, so when Bolt shows up at Rhino’s doorstep, the hamster is all but flabbergasted. Because of Rhino’s longstanding devotion to Bolt as a television character, it is only natural that the hamster jump into his hamster ball and help Bolt to return to Penny as a loyal and trustworthy sidekick.

The film was originally going to be called “American Dog” and it would have told the story of a dog named Henry, a famous TV star, that one day finds himself stranded in a Nevada desert with a one-eyed cat and a radioactive rabbit and still believes he is on television. While the original plot, conceived by writer and director Chris Sanders, bears several similarities to the plot that has been decided upon, Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter decided to remove Sanders, stating that he had given Sanders several ways to improve the story and that when Sanders was unable to cooperate, Lasseter had no choice but to remove him because Sanders could not take the story where it needed to be. In addition to this change, Lasseter also decided that the animation department would only have 18 months to finish the film and get it ready for publication, rather than the four years which is usually reserved for computer-animated feature films. Although these factors may seem to mar the quality of the film, there are several reasons why Bolt will be a great movie to take the whole family to go out and see.

As if bridging generational gaps, the movie stars John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, stars of yesterday and today that are certainly heavy hitters in Hollywood. Travolta is best known for his leading roles in films such as Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and Pulp Fiction. The former two films were among the highest grossing films of the 1970s, and as such, John Travolta has been a member of the Hollywood elite for several decades. One of the hottest stars among young people today is Miley Cyrus, who may be better known under the name Hannah Montana. The immense popularity of the Hannah Montana franchise shows no signs of slowing down, and under either name, Miley Cyrus is one of the most recognizable people in show business today. The look Bolt is said to be inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper and the cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond, a Hungarian-American cinematographer known for his work on films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Black Dahlia. New techniques will also be used in the film to give it a special visual appearance, a technique known as non-photorealistic rendering. Patented technology designed specifically for the movie will give the movie backgrounds a hand-painted look that will be difficult to replicate, so for fans of computer animation as well as Disney fans in general, Bolt will be a fascinating experience.

Walt Disney Animation Studios has been around for decades, creating wonderful films for the young and the young at heart to enjoy. Bolt, with its charming characters and intriguing plot, is sure to be a hit with the whole family, so if you are looking for a film that the whole family can go out and watch, Bolt will be the perfect fit come November 21, 2008. The MPAA has rated Bolt with a PG rating for mild action and peril, but that should be no reason to stop you from bringing your kids and the entire family to watch the movie. If previous Disney entries in the computer animation field are any indication, Bolt will be great fun to watch and, if anything else, you can say that you saw Disney’s 48th animated feature film the day it came out in theaters, an honor that will be shared by thousands of others. With talent like John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, and Malcom McDowell, among other Hollywood notables, Bolt promises to be the perfect blend of humor and adventure for which almost every Disney animated film is known.