Bolt

Merry Christmas everybody! Let’s celebrate with another Disney movie about a dog, “Bolt,” released in 2008. You know what I have noticed? This is the third Disney movie I have reviewed that is about a dog. Holy cow, it looks like Disney seems to be canine lovers. I’m not complaining because I like dogs myself. Anyway, enough of that, let’s start the review.

This Disney-Pixar dog comedy is a case of a dog, but that’s nothing to bark about.

The “tail” is Pixar, the animation unknown with the Midas touch that once entirely belonged to the “dog” Disney, Pixar’s corporate boss.

Peter Howell said in his review, “Indeed, no finer compliment can be paid to Bolt than to say it looks and sounds more like an unheralded Pixar film than just another widget from the Disney factory.”

A large amount of it has to do with executive producer John Lasseter, a Pixar co-founder now with the job of animating both companies. This is his first Disney movie from the ground up, and his paw prints is all over the place.

Howell mentioned, “Mainly they're seen in regard to the story, which in Pixar fashion is brainier than it needs to be for a movie aimed at tots, pre-teens and their indulgent parents. Subplots about personal identity ("What do dogs do?") and reality vs. fantasy make this movie seem at times like a Philosophy 101 course at a very furry university.”

The offside vocal options are another factor. There are expected celebrity jobs given with John Travolta (another actor who I think is just there for girls to go crazy for) as the protagonist dog Bolt, the youthful white canine with super-sized visions, pop singer who got started on TV with “Hannah Montana,” Miley Cyrus (another singer I hate) as Penny, the dog’s master, and Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Calico, a scary villain.

Other voices hit at you straight out from left field. Susie Essman, who plays the vulgar Susie Greene in the sitcom “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” may not have been Disney’s first choice to play a cat in a children’s animated movie. However, she’s great as Mittens, the snarky stray who teaches Bolt how to be a dog. Wait, a dog and a cat are in this movie? “Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!”

Then there’s Mark Dalton, who is this movie’s greatest strength. As Rhino, a hamster who is also a huge fan of Bolt’s show and has his own personal issues, Walton gives the most Pixar-like performance of all. Howell says, “Not bad for an old Disney hand whose main gig until now has been as animator and writer (although he did voice Goosey Loosey for Chicken Little).” Walton keeps the Pixar tradition of letting technical guys join the fun, as the company did for sound effects expert Ben Burtt for “WALL-E.”

Other Disney regulars also change roles. Animators Bryon Howard and Chris Williams, whose past works include “Chicken Little” and “Mulan,” are in the director’s chair for the first time. Williams also shares a co-writer job, with Dan Fogelman (who co-penned Pixar’s “Cars”).

Now the story you could describe is “The Truman Show” meeting “The Incredible Journey,” while the 60s-style images are similar like what we saw in “The Incredibles.”

Howell said in his review, “Bolt is the star of a weekly TV adventure series, sort of like an amped-up version of The Littlest Hobo, in which he rescues mistress Penny from all manner of dire circumstances.”

Everyone who is working on the show knows that it’s a show, except for simple-minded Bolt, who is too gullible even to realize that the lightning bolt marking (hello Harry Potter) was just sprayed on.

He’s in for a dire shock when a confusion leaves him alone and sad in New York City, while Penny returns to Hollywood.

Bolt is determined to return home, along with Mittens and Rhino, but he’s going to have to look at his options before he realizes his true strengths.

“If the dog believes, the audience believes,” says the “Bolt” TV sitcom director, voiced by Dean Emeritus of Pace University and host of “Inside the Actors Studio,” James Lipton.

Belief may be in question for a lot of the movie – only for the naïve dog – but fortunately, enjoyment will be there.

So I will admit that I personally liked this movie, although at first I thought I wasn’t going to, but it’s a good movie for the whole family to watch. It’s like a kid’s version of “The Truman Show,” but only different in certain ways.

Well, Merry Christmas once again you guys. Hopefully everyone is having fun spreading the holiday joy around. Open up your presents, fill your stockings, sit by the fire with some hot chocolate, and watch some Christmas specials while listening to the great Christmas songs. Stay tuned tomorrow for more “Disney Month.”