Bolt
Short description
Bolt is the title character of a hit television series, a dog who plays a superhero with extraordinary powers. What he does not understand is that the dangers he faces on set are staged and his abilities are special effects. When he is accidentally transported from his Hollywood studio to New York City and separated from Penny, the young actress who plays his owner, he sets out to find her, still believing his powers are real. His cross-country journey through the everyday world, accompanied by a streetwise cat named Mittens and an enthusiastic hamster named Rhino, forces him to cope without the abilities he has always relied on.
The film was released in 2008 and was directed by Chris Williams and Byron Howard, from a screenplay by Dan Fogelman and Williams, with Clark Spencer producing. It was the first feature either director made; Williams went on to direct Big Hero 6 and The Sea Beast, while Howard's later films include Tangled, Zootopia and Encanto. The voice cast is led by John Travolta as Bolt, Miley Cyrus as Penny, Susie Essman as Mittens, Mark Walton as Rhino and Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Calico, with 48 credited cast members and 156 credited crew.
Made by Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios on a budget of 150 million US dollars, Bolt took about 310 million US dollars worldwide, a modest return on its cost. On IMDb it holds 6.8 out of 10 from around 247,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.6 out of 10 from roughly 6,600 votes. A critics' rating of 7.3 out of 10 from 189 reviews places it somewhat above those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film used NPR (Non-Photorealistic Rendering) technology, which allowed for special forms of displaying the route of Volt and his friends across America. To obtain the 3D image, artists used a new patented technology applied in the production of special effects for cinema.
- "Bolt" was the first full-length 3D animated film made entirely at Disney Studios from start to finish. Previously, two full-length animated films – "Chicken Little" (2005) and "Meet the Robinsons" (2007) – had been released in 3D, but the conversion to this format was done outside the studio.
- In the English version of the film, Bolt is called "Bolt" (translated as "Lightning"). In the Russian version, "Bolt" sounds rather coarse, so the creators of the Russian dubbing had to change the main character's name to "Volt". The lightning bolt drawn on the dog’s side only confirmed the correctness of the choice. Besides the Russian version, a name change was also made in the French version of the film. The French Bolt is named "Volt".
- Jenny Lewis, the performer of the song "Barking At The Moon", also voiced an episodic character in the film – the assistant director of the "Bolt" TV series.
- The 3D model of the hamster Rhino in a plastic ball was created by the animators based on the producer John Lasseter’s pet chinchilla.
- The number on Volt's collar is the address of the Disney animation studio.
- Before creating the image of Volt, the artists spent a long time studying the behavior of real dogs.
- Despite the very limited time remaining before the planned premiere after a complete change in the film's concept, the script versions were constantly changing. A major difficulty was coming up with a moment and setting in which Volt would discover he has no superpowers and is just a regular dog. In one version of the film, Rhino found himself in mortal danger in his ball – in a fast river with huge boulders. Hearing cries for help, the brave Volt, despite the protests of the cat Varezhka, jumped into the water from a high bridge. Once in the water, he discovered he couldn't swim at all and began to frantically dog paddle to stay afloat and catch up with the disappearing Rhino. Running along the bank ahead of the current, Varezhka managed to pull Volt out of the water with a broken branch that happened to be there at the time. Rhino ended up on the shore because his ball slammed into one of the boulders and flew onto the bank. However, he saw Volt jumping from the bridge and was convinced that he had saved him. The wet and frightened dog noticed a blurry spot on his side, which had once been a painted lightning bolt, and rubbed it with his paw, realizing everything when he saw paint smudges on it. This entire scene was later removed, but the moment of Volt examining his painted paw so pleased the directors that they decided to keep it and eventually included it in the main plot. In another version, Volt realized he lacked unique abilities when the three of them ended up in Las Vegas. 'Making a face,' he once again begged for a treat at a small cafe. It turned out to be a substantial piece of meat, which Volt carried to his friends through a dark alley to take a shortcut. They were met by two menacing large dogs who decided to take the loot from the little Volt. A terrible fight ensued, in which Volt was seriously injured. When Varezhka accidentally found her friend lying on the ground and bleeding, Penny's voice was heard. It turned out that around the corner, Rhino was watching the just-started 'Volt' show on a large street screen. Somehow managing to limp towards the sound, Volt saw the show on the screen and understood everything. This scene was removed by the authors as it was self-contained and too violent for a children's cartoon.
- When Volt holds Varezhka over the roadway, a bus with the number 2525 on its roof drives by below – a similar bus featured in the film "Speed" (1994).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
