Bolt: In 3-D

Nov 21, 2008 (Tulsa World - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- DIS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- In a year that the Mouse House has produced a Miley Cyrus concert movie and a gabby Chihuahua flick, the company combined these moneymaking ideas -- pair Cyrus with another talking dog -- and the result is Disney movie magic, one of this year's best family films.

"Bolt" is that rare breed of animated picture that's an equal delight for kids and adults, the kind of Disney movie that I want to see with my kids.

This is a step up for Walt Disney Pictures' animation department. It also distributes Pixar's films, but this is the first Disney solo project that can be favorably compared to those pictures in being both truly funny and intelligent enough to work on multiple levels.

In this animated buddy road comedy, "Bolt" is an American white shepherd who we see adopted from an animal shelter as a pup by a little girl we soon learn becomes a TV star. Her name is Penny, and she's voiced by Cyrus, in a bit of art-imitating-art-imitating-life, or something like that for the "Hannah Montana" star.

The next few minutes is a crackerjack TV action sequence, in which we learn that Bolt is the fierce guardian of Penny, whose character is searching for her kidnapped scientist father ("I've altered Bolt; he can

protect you " we hear dad say, voicing over a sort of "Six Million Dollar Man" sequence that's a retro riot).

The result is an indestructible canine with remarkable strength, heat vision and an earth-rumbling superbark (the better to sell the film's 3-D effects). He is girl's best friend, a superhero with a flea collar and "MacGyver"-like theatrics in saving his Penny.

This is also the only life that Bolt knows, one of special effects on a soundstage. The story by Dan Fogelman ("Cars") and Chris Williams ("Mulan"), who also directs, is a special blend of action with authentic emotions that will resonate with little ones and any adult ever separated from a beloved pet.

While Penny goes home every night, wishing she could take her hand-picked doggie and co-star with her, Bolt is locked inside a TV set trailer, believing he's still vigilantly on guard -- and believing he actually possesses his TV superpowers.

That he doesn't is a rude awakening when events find him being shipped from Hollywood to New York, where he finds it difficult to leap tall objects and melt things with a stare.

Bolt's voice is supplied by John Travolta, who employs a comic mix of vexed pooch with vim and vigor as he leads Mittens, an alley cat, and Rhino, a TV-watching hamster in one of those plastic-bubble balls, on a trek across the country back to Penny.

"I have to find her," Bolt tells the cat with abandonment issues. "She's my person."

That the film teaches an effective lesson -- one doesn't need special powers to make a difference in this world -- is a sound choice in a year that's seen more superhero movies than ever.

But "Bolt" also succeeds with ideas like the special bond between people and pets, with its sense of adventure, and especially with its comedy.

Other animated films that substitute brainless noise ("Madagascar 2" is only the most recent inanity) for sophistication could learn from "Bolt" what it means to be a picture that families will cherish for years to come.

For those who have seen ads for "Bolt" being presented in Disney digital 3-D in select theaters: In Tulsa that means it's in 2-D everywhere except AMC Southroads 20, which has one 3-D capable screen.

Bolt

Stars:

Voices of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Malcolm MacDowell, Mark Walton

Theaters:

Southroads 20 (with one screen in digitial 3-D), Cinemark Tulsa, Starworld 20, Riverwalk, Owasso, Broken Arrow, Sand Springs

Running time:

1 hour, 35 minutes

Rated:

PG (some mild action and peril)

Quality:

**-- 1/2 (on a scale of zero to four stars)

Michael Smith 581-8479

michael.smith@tulsaworld.com

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