Bolt (2008 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bolt
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chris Williams Byron Howard
Produced by	Clark Spencer
Screenplay by	Dan Fogelman Chris Williams
Starring	John Travolta Miley Cyrus
Music by	John Powell
Editing by	Tim Mertens
Studio	Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Animation Studios
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date(s)	November 21, 2008 (2008-11-21)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$150 million
Money made	$310 million

Bolt is a fun computer-animated movie from 2008 made by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It's the 48th animated film from Disney! The movie is an exciting comedy-adventure film directed by Chris Williams and Byron Howard. Famous voices like John Travolta and Miley Cyrus bring the characters to life.

The story is about a white dog named Bolt. He has spent his whole life on the set of a TV show and truly believes he has amazing superpowers. When he thinks his human owner, Penny, has been taken, he starts a huge journey across the country to "save" her.

Bolt came out in the United States on November 21, 2008. Even though it didn't make a huge amount of money at first, critics really loved it. Many people say this movie helped start a new, exciting time for Disney Animation. It led to other popular films like Tangled (2010) and Frozen (2013).

The movie was nominated for several big awards. These included the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

The Story of Bolt

The movie begins with a cute White Shepherd puppy named Bolt. He is adopted by an eight-year-old girl named Penny. Five years later, Bolt and Penny are the stars of a popular TV show called Bolt. In the show, Bolt uses cool superpowers to protect Penny from a bad guy named Dr. Calico.

To make Bolt's acting look real, the show's creators tricked him. They filmed everything so Bolt believed the show was real life. He thought he really had superpowers, like a super loud "superbark." After one episode ends with a cliffhanger, Bolt thinks Penny has been kidnapped. He escapes from his trailer in Hollywood but accidentally knocks himself out. He ends up trapped in a box of packing peanuts and gets shipped all the way to New York City.

In New York, Bolt keeps looking for Penny. He's very confused and upset when he finds out his "superpowers" don't work in the real world. He meets Mittens, a grumpy feral cat who tricks pigeons into giving her food. Bolt thinks Mittens works for Dr. Calico. He ties her to him with a leash and makes her guide him back to Penny. Mittens thinks Bolt is crazy, but they start their journey west by truck.

Back in Hollywood, a dog who looks like Bolt is brought in so the TV show can keep filming. Penny is really sad that Bolt is gone. But she agrees to stop looking for him so the show can continue.

Bolt feels hungry for the first time. Mittens teaches him how to act like a cute, hungry dog to get food at an RV park. They are joined by Rhino, a brave hamster who is a huge fan of the Bolt TV show. Rhino believes Bolt has real superpowers, which makes Bolt still think he's special. But Mittens starts to realize Bolt is from a TV show. She tries to tell him, but Bolt gets frustrated as his beliefs start to fall apart. He tries to "superbark" at her, but the noise attracts Animal Control. Bolt and Mittens are both caught and taken to an animal shelter.

Rhino helps Bolt escape from the animal control van. Bolt finally understands that he is just a normal dog. But he gets his confidence back when Rhino, who still thinks Bolt is a hero, encourages him. They rescue Mittens from the shelter. As they travel west, Bolt and Mittens become good friends. She teaches Bolt how to be a normal dog and enjoy simple dog things. Mittens plans for them to stay in Las Vegas. But Bolt still wants to find Penny. Mittens tells him that Penny is just an actor and that humans often leave their pets, like what happened to her. Bolt doesn't believe her and continues to Hollywood alone. But Rhino encourages Mittens to stick by her friend, and they follow him.

Bolt reaches the studio and sees Penny hugging the dog that looks like him. He doesn't know that Penny still misses him and is just rehearsing with the other dog. Bolt is heartbroken and leaves. But Mittens, from a high walkway in the studio, hears Penny telling her mom how much she misses the real Bolt. Mittens follows Bolt and explains everything.

At the same time, the Bolt lookalike gets scared during filming. He accidentally knocks over some flaming torches, setting the sound stage on fire with Penny trapped inside. Bolt arrives and reunites with Penny in the burning studio. But they can't escape because Penny starts to suffocate from the smoke. Penny tells Bolt to go, but he refuses to leave her. Bolt uses his "superbark" through the building's air vent. This alerts the firefighters to their location, and both of them are rescued just in time.

Penny and her mother decide to leave the show when their agent tries to use the fire for publicity. The TV show continues with new actors playing "Bolt" and "Penny" and a strange new storyline about alien abduction. Penny adopts Mittens and Rhino. She and her family move to a country home to enjoy a simpler, happy life with Bolt and her new pets.

Meet the Voices

Here are some of the actors who lent their voices to the characters in Bolt:

• John Travolta as Bolt, the white dog who thinks he's a superhero.
• Susie Essman as Mittens, a smart and sassy alley cat who joins Bolt on his journey.
• Mark Walton as Rhino, a super enthusiastic hamster and a huge fan of Bolt's TV show.
• Miley Cyrus as Penny, Bolt's loving owner and co-star on the TV show.
  • Chloë Grace Moretz as Young Penny.
• Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Calico, the main villain in Bolt and Penny's TV show.
• Greg Germann as The Agent, Penny's agent who only cares about his own ideas.
• James Lipton as The Director, who makes the TV show.

Movie Music

The music for Bolt was created by John Powell. The movie's soundtrack has all the background music, plus two original songs. One song is "I Thought I Lost You" sung by the movie's stars, Miley Cyrus and John Travolta. This song was even nominated for a Golden Globe Award! The other song is "Barking at the Moon" by Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis. The soundtrack album came out on November 18, 2008.

Interestingly, the band Motörhead has a song called "Dog-Face Boy" in the movie. You can hear it in a scene where a worker is listening to headphones. But this song isn't on the official soundtrack album.

Track listing:

All music composed by John Powell, except as noted.

Video Games

Disney Interactive Studios made a video game based on the movie. It came out in November 2008 for many game systems like Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. This game focuses on Bolt's fake TV life, not the actual movie story. There was also a separate game for mobile phones. Plus, a third game called RhinoBall was released as an app on Apple's App Store.

See also

In Spanish: Bolt para niños