Bolt (2008 film)

Bolt is a 2008 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 48th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Chris Williams and Byron Howard (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay written by Williams and Dan Fogelman. The film stars the voices of John Travolta, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Miley Cyrus, Malcolm McDowell, Diedrich Bader, Nick Swardson, and Greg Germann. This was also one of the final film roles for James Lipton before his death in 2020, the other being Igor, which was released the same year as Bolt. The film's plot centers on a dog named Bolt, who has spent his entire life on the set of a television series and firmly believes that he has superpowers. When his beloved owner Penny is "kidnapped" on the show, Bolt runs away from the set to rescue her, eventually teaming up with sarcastic alley cat Mittens and Bolt super-fan Rhino (a hamster) on a cross-country journey back home. Bolt premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on November 17, 2008, and was released in the United States on November 21. Despite a relatively marginal box-office performance, the film received a strong positive critical reception. It is also regarded for helping to instigate a rebirth of Walt Disney Animation Studios, setting the studio on a new creative direction that led to other critically acclaimed features such as Tangled (2010) and Frozen (2013). The film was nominated for a series of awards, such as the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. One day, a White Swiss Shepherd puppy named Bolt is adopted by a 7-year-old girl named Penny. Five years later, Bolt and a 12-year-old Penny star in a hit television series named after Bolt, in which Bolt and Penny fight crime and foil the plans of the villain, Dr. Calico, who has kidnapped Penny's father, with Bolt using various superpowers in their adventures.