Bolt (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Main Menu Audio & Animation Deleted Scenes Featurette-3 Short Film Music Video
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	92:30
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Byron Howard Chris Williams
Studio Distributor	Disney Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	John Travolta Miley Cyrus Susie Essman Mark Walton Malcolm McDowell James Lipton Greg Germann
Case	Slip Case
RPI	?	Music	John Powell Tim Mertens Curtis A. Koller

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Hindi	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    This film does not have the 'big message' that many recent animated kids films have had, however, it does have lots of entertainment value (which is nice for a change). The story involves a young girl, Penny (voiced by Miley Cyrus) who adopts a puppy from a pound. Five years later, the dog has grown up and become a television show hero called Bolt (voiced by John Travolta). They shoot the show in a way that tries to make Bolt think it is all real and that he is protecting Penny from baddies such as the Green Eyed Man. He's quite neurotic because of this and thinks Penny is under constant threat. When the show goes for a cliffhanger ending with Penny being kidnapped, Bolt decides he must escape and rescue her. He manages to get out of the studio however ends up being shipped across the country from Hollywood to New York. He enlists the help (against her will) of a cat called Mittens (wonderfully voiced by Susie Essman) and they meet up with Rhino the Hamster (wonderfully voiced by a story guy from Disney, Mark Walton) who is a big fan of Bolt. Bolt must travel across the country any way he can and save Penny (or at least he thinks he must).

    The characters are great in this film and the voice work is marvellous. Rhino the Hamster is the star of the show, being completely mad but also very loyal and full of purpose. There are many great laughs in this film for children and adults alike and also some exciting action scenes such as the scene at the dog pound in the middle of the film. Technically, the animation is marvellous with a wonderful painterly feel to the backgrounds which harks back to Disney's glory days whilst also utilising up to the minute technology. The disc is nicely packaged in an Amaray case within a colourful cardboard sleeve with raised pictures. The directors, Chris Williams and Byron Howard, have been involved in a number of previous Disney animated films but this is their first chance to run a project.

    I am a big fan of this animated kids film and think it deserves a bigger reputation that it has garnered to date. Highly Recommended.

Video

    The video quality is excellent with only very minor issues.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is close to the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is 16x9 enhanced widescreen.

    The picture was very clear and sharp throughout. There are some minor MPEG artefacts during fast motion such as the train scene at 47:20 and Bolt running at 70:20.

    The colour was excellent, bright, vibrant and looking great throughout.

    There were no other noticeable artefacts.

    There are subtitles in English which were clear and easy to read. There are also streams in English for the hearing impaired and Hindi.

    There is no noticeable layer change during playback.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is also excellent but disappointingly not encoded at the optimum bitrate.

    This DVDs contain two audio options, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 384 Kb/s and an English Dolby Digital Audio Descriptive 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s. Annoyingly the Disney logo before the film's audio is encoded at 448 Kb/s.Despite the lower than optimum bitrate the sound is really well mixed and comes across very well in a home cinema environment.

    Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand throughout.

    The music by John Powell is very effective adding excitement and tension as appropriate without overdoing it for the kiddies. There are a few country pop tunes thrown in for good measure.

    The surround speakers were is constant use for trains, helicopters, explosions and other directional effects.

    The subwoofer was also well used for rumbles, thuds, crashes, trains and explosions.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu features motion and introduction and scenes from the film. This disc also features Fast Play allowing for the film to play automatically after language selection.

Deleted Scenes (6:37) 

    These two deleted scenes are in story board format only with voices. They are introduced by the directors and both are different ways they thought about getting Bolt to realise that he didn't have super powers. Ok but not overly interesting.

Backstage Disney

A New Breed of Directors : The Filmmakers Journey (4:35) 

    The role of the directors in an animated film is covered in this short featurette along with the specific challenges they faced in this film.

Act, Speak! The Voices of Bolt (9:51) 

    Standard voice cast featurette which seems to accompany all animated kids films. John Travolta & Miley Cyrus are featured.

Creating the World of Bolt (6:47) 

    Featurette on the technical enhancements made during this film with a focus on he painterly look of the backgrounds.

Music & More

In Session with John Travolta & Miley Cyrus (1:00) 

    Short interview segment about recording the song.

'I Thought I Lost You' Music Video (1:48) 

    The song's music video in 5.1.

Bonus Shorts

Super Rhino (4:16) 

    Fun bonus short featuring Rhino imagining he has super powers himself. Very funny and exciting, my kids love it. Dolby Digital 5.1 at 384 Kb/s.

    The only real difference between the local disc and the Region 1 version is that the Region 1 includes a digital copy. Draw.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is excellent but not at optimum bitrate.

    The set has a decent collection of extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall