DVD Review: 'Bolt' Starring the Voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus

Disney has been hard at work trying to keep up with their new baby brother, Pixar, but has lately been falling short in that department as has found little success in their own films when they try to produce them. With the failed successes of such films as 'Home on the Range', 'Chicken Little' and now their newest film, why do they keep setting themselves up for disappointment again? With 'Bolt', the disappointment continues as we step into the world of a small white German Shepherd who believes that he is a superhero dog for real.

Our story begins with Bolt (voiced by Travolta) and the day of his adoption from a local animal rescue shelter by a young girl named Penny (voiced by Cyrus). Nearly five years later, Bolt has been raised on the set of a popular television show of the same name, believing that he has the ability to break through walls, shoot laser beams from his eyes, and also use his most powerful weapon known as the 'Superbark' to take down the minions of his dreaded enemy, the nefarious Dr. Calico. But, when the shooting stops and Penny disappears, Bolt still does not believe that he is just a normal actor dog that is playing a part and is overly protective of Penny even at the end of the day. All of this changes for him, however, after he is accidentally packed into a storage crate and shipped to New York while chasing after two felines that he believes are Dr. Calico's spies and that Penny has been truly kidnapped by Calico and needs to save her. When he finally does escape in New York, he finds that he has lost his powers due to being packed in with his ultimate weakness: Styrofoam packing peanuts! In his adventures of trying to find Penny, Bolt must travel the country with two companions that he has added to his team: Mittens, a black tabby with an Italian accent that threatens pigeons for food like a Mafia don and Rhino, a hamster in a plastic ball that would do anything for a shot to work with Bolt and even die trying! Soon, Bolt finds in his travels that there is more to life than just being super and that being a hero may be more than even he realized.

I hate to say this, but I found the film very disappointing. While I listened to Travolta in the performance, I did not hear the usual passion in his voice that he usually has when he takes a part. In fact, what I heard most of all was more like an attitude of 'just another day at the office'. Cyrus also seems to be carrying the same attitude as well. The chemistry that was needed to carry off this film just simply did not exist. In the past, when any actor was given the opportunity to work on a Disney film, they jumped at the chance to be able to voice one of the characters. They may not have been making a lot of money, but they were at least having fun with what they were doing because it was for one thing that we all love: kids. Travolta, in my book, is already in the doghouse for this lousy performance and Cyrus should have stuck with 'Hannah Montana' if she felt that she could not handle the pressure of an animated feature.

My rating for this film is one star out of five. Disney's shadow on Hollywood is slowly starting to fade and the days of 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Beauty and the Beast' have come and gone. Recently, I have found out that their new animated feature, 'The Princess and the Frog', will be released this year and they have went back to ink and paint as opposed to the new CGI standard that many studios are aspiring to. One can only hope that their next film will help them to maintain their success in this ever competitive market. I wish them luck!