BOLT

"We jump through hoops to make sure Bolt believes everything is real. It's why we don't miss marks. It's why we don't reshoot... if the dog believes it, the audience believes it."
~ Director of the BOLT TV series

Bolt the Superdog has his own TV show in which he repeatedly saves his beloved owner, Penny. The only problem is that he thinks everything that happens on the set is what is happening in real life-bad guy, damsel in distress, superpowers and all. When Penny is captured by the villain on the set, Bolt escapes from his trailer to go rescue her...and finds that all of a sudden his superpowers are useless. Teaming up with a weirded-out alley cat named Mittens and a TV nerd hamster named Rhino, he sets off on a daring mission to save the girl he loves from the green-eyed man's evil clutches. But are there really any evil clutches to save her from?

I got a good review on BOLT from a reliable source, so we rented it and watched it in the living room over goldfish. In short, I was quite impressed. It's hard to find a movie nowadays with a cute story, no swearing or suggestive content, and good laughs to boot! I read the Plugged-in-Online review and got the impression that there was more blood and violence than your usual Disney cartoon, so I kept a weather eye and found that these fears were groundless. On the scary side we see a motorcycle chase and bad guys on the set with electric hands. There is an angsty fire scene where Penny and Bolt are seriously imperiled. This is the only reason that you will need to preview this for your little kids - the rest of the movie is absolutely clear of any questionable content! Definitely worth a watch for the whole family!

Directed by: Chris Williams, Byron Howard ~ Produced by: Clark Spencer, John Lasseter ~ Written by: Idea-Chris Sanders, Screenplay-Chris Williams, Dan Fogelman ~ Starring: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell ~ Music by: John Powell ~ Editing by: Tim Mertens ~ Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures ~ Release date: November 21, 2008 ~ Running time: 96 minutes