Bolt (4 Stars)

Disney Wednesday #10

This is a film I'd never heard of before today. My grandson Oliver wanted to watch a film, and he picked "Bolt" while clicking through the selection of animated films on Disney Plus. It's a film made by Walt Disney in 2008. I was honestly surprised how good it is. Despite being a relatively new film, it has a lot of the magic of Disney's old films.

Penny is a 7-year-old girl who lives in Los Angeles. Her mother takes her to a pet shop to get a dog, and she picks a small white puppy that she calls Bolt, because of the black mark on his left side.

The first question I asked is what dog breed he is. The film makers based his general appearance on the Swiss White Shepherd dog, but they've made him smaller and less hairy. All I can say is that if this dog doesn't exist, he needs to be invented. That's a task for dog breeders.

That was just the introduction. Five years later Bolt is a super-hero. Sort of. He's become a television star called Bolt, and Penny is his co-star. He has super strength and he can fire heat rays from his eyes. The difference between Penny and Bolt is that she knows it's a TV show, but Bolt doesn't. As a result, when Penny is kidnapped at the end of an episode, he has to be kept separate from her until the next episode is filmed, so that he thinks he really has to rescue her.

I could ask questions about how they make the special effects of rays shooting out of Bolt's eyes while he's filming, but let's suspend disbelief.

When Penny is kidnapped, Bolt doesn't want to wait for the filming to resume to find her. He breaks out of his trailer and searches for her. Film studios are a confusing place for a small dog. He hides in a cardboard box, not knowing that it's a package due for shipment. The box is sealed, and when it's opened he's in New York. This is an even more confusing place for a small dog.

Bolt meets a stray cat called Mittens. She's a fan of his television show. She tries to explain to him that his super strength and heat rays are just make believe, but he doesn't understand. For him the show is real life. She helps him return to Los Angeles, hitching a ride in trains and trucks. Most of the film is a road movie, as Bolt and Mittens travel across America. On the way they pick up a hamster called Rhino.

In Los Angeles, the show must go on. There's a stand-in dog for Bolt, but he's not as good as the real thing. He can't act as well, and Penny misses Bolt.

I didn't like most of the children's films that I've watched over the last few months. "Bolt" is different. It's a good film that I'd like to watch again.

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