Story
Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) has been trained to believe that he is a crime-fighting dog with super powers. In reality he is a canine actor who has lived on a television set since he was a puppy. He thinks that his young owner Penny (Miley Cyrus) lives under constant threat from a mad scientist, the evil green-eyed Dr Calico (Malcolm McDowell), and his equally evil cats. Week after week, Bolt manages to save Penny from kidnap by using what he thinks are super powers.
When network executive Mindy (Karl Wahlgren) orders that the show’s consistently happy endings should be changed, the Director (James Lipton) ends one episode with Dr Calico successfully capturing Penny. Wanting to save her, Bolt escapes from his trailer into the real world. After a comedy of errors, he ends up being trapped in a packing container and accidentally shipped from Los Angeles to New York.
Still believing that he has super powers, Bolt sets off to track down and rescue Penny from the evil Dr Calico. He is assisted in his travels across the country by a stray cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and a feisty hamster named Rhino (Mark Walton).
Themes
Super powers; crime
Violence
This film contains scenes depicting peril, action adventure, cartoon action violence, threats of violence and intimidation, slapstick violence and recklessness. Examples include the following:
Sexual references
None of concern
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None of concern
Nudity and sexual activity
None of concern
Product placement
None of concern
Coarse language
This movie contains some mild coarse language and put-downs.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Bolt is a fast-paced animated adventure film that is clever, witty and entertaining for both children and adults. The film does contain some scenes of animals and children in danger, which may distress younger viewers.
The main messages from this movie are:
- We do not have to have super powers in order to do heroic deeds.
- If you do right, no matter the obstacles, the impossible can become the possible.
- Never abandon a friend or someone you love in time of need.
Values in this movie that you might wish to reinforce with your children include loyalty, perseverance and selflessness. No matter how difficult things became, Bolt never gives up searching for Penny, and he risks his life to protect her.
This movie could also give you the opportunity to discuss with your children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as Penny’s dilemma. She is torn between her duty to the film studio and her desire to take Bolt home and treat him like a regular dog. Parents may wish to discuss the consequences of each choice – who would be affected, and how.