The Story Behind the Story

Like recent Pixar releases, Bolt has a quality that captures and holds onto adults as well as children, and when questioned about that, Lasseter remarked, “It’s quality. Quality is the best business plan.

“If you put out a bad movie, it’s not going to go anywhere. If you make a really good movie, then it will get legs and people will watch it again. My wife always says, “Don’t make your movies for the first time that someone will see them. Make them for the 100th time that a parent has to suffer through it on video.

“[When Disney and Pixar merged], there were a number of projects already in the works that I jumped in to work on and help with. ‘Bolt’ had just gotten started, so it was one of the ones that I said I wanted to roll up my sleeves and work on to help make great for the whole company.”

Lasseter, the Oscar-winning director of “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2” and “Cars,” recognized the film’s potential for the company. “Walt Disney always said, ‘for every laugh, there should be a tear.’ That means having the humor come from the characters, but also showing the heart of the character.

“If you get people invested in the characters and the journey these characters go through, and get them into true situations, that’s where those emotions come from. That’s why I’m really proud of ‘Bolt’.”

Disney story and development veteran Chris Williams and animator Byron Howard (“Mulan,” “Lilo & Stitch” and “Brother Bear”) served as directors, the first time for both. Both were involved in the story process, and then Williams oversaw editorial, the recording sessions with the actors, and layout. Howard handled the animation side, after which it went back to Williams for lighting and effects.

The Talent Behind the Story

One of the most popular and sought-after talents in show business today, Miley Cyrus voices “Penny,” Bolt’s owner. “One reason I really wanted to do this movie is because I love animals,” said Cyrus. “I have five dogs of my own and I know if one ran away I wouldn’t be able to do anything. And that’s the way Penny is. She can’t work. She can’t sleep. She can’t eat.”

Two-time Oscar®-nominated actor John Travolta was invited to take the role of “Bolt” by Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studio Entertainment. “My good friends have done great animated features (Tom Hanks in the “Toy Story” films, Robin Williams in “Aladdin”) and I didn’t want to do an average film. If I’m going to do an animated feature, I’m going to do a great one.

“Michael Eisner (former head of Disney Animation) had offered me a couple and I didn’t quite think they were there. Finally Dick Cook called and said, ‘I think we’ve got the one for you. It’s going to be high end.’

“I know John [Lasseter] was involved, and Miley [Cyrus] and Susie [Essman} were involved, and I thought, ‘maybe it’s the one to say yes to.’”

Aiding in Travolta’s decision was the excitement of his family when they found out he was going to do a movie and music video with Miley Cyrus. “It was big enough doing a movie with her, but singing and dancing with her was a whole other thing! I could dine out on that for months. I was so popular when I got home with the news that I did a song with Miley.” Their song “I Thought I Lost You,” written by Cyrus and Jeff Steele, is one of the musical highlights of the film.

The Challenges of Animation

Since it was Travolta’s first animated film, he wasn’t quite sure what to expect. “When I read the script I couldn’t really imagine what it would end up like because it’s all up to the animator’s imagination. You have to take a little bit of risk that it’s going to go in the direction you want.”

He described his work with director Williams. “I’ve never had so much input from a director on a role. You’re completely dependent on the director for all the things you can’t think of. He really supplies the ambience and the emotional levels for us.

“You ask the director to show you the way, and then give them a “Chinese menu” of options. You give them 15 – 25 versions of one sentence and then the animators hopefully like one of them.”

Though this was Travolta’s first animated feature, he was comfortable with the idea of recording behind a microphone because of his previous work in voiceovers for radio and television.  A veteran of television, stage and film known for developing his characters, he said, “I had not yet gone on the journey of discovering how an animated feature is put together, so the director (Williams) really helped guide me through this process.

“To some degree, it’s a leap of faith,” said Travolta, “Because you don’t have any other actors with you and you don’t really know what the animators are conjuring up as the end result.”

According to Lasseter, voicing animated films is one of the toughest acting jobs. “They really do not have inspiration from the set, from the other cast members, from the energy of the audience, or even the costume they’re wearing. They are just in the studio with the director, and they have to go deep inside themselves for emotions, energy, etc.

“We take videotapes [of the actors] just for reference, and it’s there for the animators to be able to see. While the characters don’t necessarily look like them, there are a lot of gestures that make their way into the animation process.

“The original voice actors really, really, really influence the characters. When people say actors don’t have a lot to do with animation, that’s wrong, because their voices are a lot of the inspiration for all of us to create the animation and characters.”

Adds Williams, “As a director, you really have to help them conjure up the scene. You might say, ‘your character is running,’ and they’ll ask, ‘well, how fast?’ “really, really fast!’ For our actors, it’s a very draining experience.”

Susie Essman, the voice of “Mittens,” said of her experience, “Chris [Williams] was incredible. Let’s say I would do 20 versions of something and he’d say, ‘OK, I like #2 and #17!’”

The Characters

“What attracted me to Mittens in the first place was her story arc and how much it changes. I kind of feel like she has the moral authority of the film. She’s the voice of reality. [Bolt] is delusional and out of his mind,” said Essman.

“But Bolt is delusional because he’s been misinformed, he’s been misused, and he’s a victim. I think once I find out that he’s not really crazy, just treated poorly, then I feel this incredible compassion for him and this friendship evolves.

“I think that’s the emotional arc of the film, the friendship of Mittens and Bolt. What Mittens learns from Bolt is all about friendship and trust and loyalty. He’s the most loyal and trusting friend. He wants to get back to Penny, even when he knows he’s not a superdog and she’s been lying to him in a certain way. He is loyal to his person.”

Bolt’s trust and positive attitude is in sharp contrast to Mittens’ pessimistic outlook and sarcastic sense of humor. “The central argument of the movie is this idea of making connections, and the risks and rewards of making those connections had to play out in Bolt and Mittens,” said Williams.

“We really had to have great chemistry between all three of those animals on the journey, so we were always tinkering with the balance to make sure the dynamic worked with all of them. There’s something very great about the distinct vocal ranges of those characters.”

In a move borrowed from Pixar, “Rhino,” a Disney employee, animator Mark Walton, voices the fun-loving TV-obsessed hamster. “Some people have said it’s a bit of typecasting because it’s not a far reach for me to get into the excitable kind of nerd fanboy geek. I love animation, I’ve always loved Disney, and having the chance to work here in the first place is an incredible dream that I could never have imagined coming true.

“Then getting to be a character voice in a Disney film – a really good, funny, well-written and animated film – it’s not hard for me to generate a lot of enthusiasm. It’s me dialed up a little it more than normal.”

Director Williams explains the selection of Walton for the voice of “Rhino.” “We do ‘scratch dialog’ with the intention of replacing it with the real actor who comes in from the outside. We had Mark doing the scratch, and after hearing it, obviously the search was over, because he was fantastic. We wanted to find a way to tell him so we could get it on camera.

“We set up a mock recording session and told him we were going to re-record a line and needed a little bit more enthusiasm. So we re-wrote the end of the line to say, ‘And I’m the voice of Rhino.’

“Mark goes through the line and is all hyped-up. He gets to the end of the line and looks at me and I say, ‘You got the part!’ He went bananas. He was jumping up and down and screaming and throwing the music stand around. It was a really genuine reaction, and it was great.”

The Story in 3-D

“Bolt” is Disney’s first film conceived from the very beginning as a 3-D movie. “Meet the Robinsons” and “Chicken Little” were both done in 3-D, but not until the end of their production.

Chief Creative Officer Lasseter has a fascination with 3-D. “I love 3-D. I got married in 1988 and did my wedding photos in 3-D. It’s an immersive experience and I have always loved it, so I’m excited to have theaters all over the world popping up to show 3-D films.

“When you see “Bolt” in 3-D, you get sucked into the film that much more. ‘Up’ will be the first Pixar film in 3-D, and all animated films in both studios from here on will be 3-D as well.”

One of the original founders of Pixar Animation Studios, Lasseter was an early proponent of the usage of advanced technology. “I’ve always loved technology and think about how to entertain our audiences with new technology. At Pixar when DVD was still a notion, we started planning ahead so we were the first to start mastering our films digitally. We started with ‘A Bug’s Life,’ which was the first DVD.

“We love the special features on the DVDs, and that’s become a big part of the DVD and the Blu-Ray market, so we always have something planned for that. Of course we have something up our sleeves we can’t announce quite yet for ‘Bolt’ that is going to be exceptional.”

"Bolt" at the Box Office

“Bolt” earned over $26 million in its first weekend at the box office. It was shown at more than 3,600 theaters and averaged $7,182 per theater. A delightful film for children and adults alike, “Bolt” is a great example of the positive effects of merging the vast pools of talent found in Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.

©2008 ChristianCinema.com