Whenever I see these computer-animated movies nowadays, I’m amazed how far this technology has come in so short a time.  To think that the first-ever digital makeup effect was a vampire being staked over the course of just a few frames in 1987’s The Lost Boys, and now we have full CG characters like Smeagle in Lord of the Rings interacting with real actors, and digitally-applied makeup effects applied to Two-Face in The Dark Knight that are so realistic you think it’s actual make-up. 

And then there’s Bolt...  Every bush he runs by, every bolt of electricity coming off the bad guys’ fingers, every follicle of hair that bristles on every animal’s body...all computer-generated.  It’s astounding how real it all looks, and how amazingly gifted these animators are that can make a computer screen move like a pidgeon or a hamster.  Three cheers to the animation team behind this one (look how many of them there are here)!

I’ve always been a sucker for dogs.  I think my first real cry at a movie was in Old Yeller on TV as a kid.  I haven’t seen it in years, but imagine my reaction would be the same now.  I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I cried (twice!) during Bolt, but I did.  Not as much as I laughed, though!  Bolt made me laugh more than any animated film I’ve seen since Shrek.

The cast pulls its weight.  Travolta’s not really my fave, but he has a lot of fun with the role and does a solid job.  I was also amused, while watching the credits, to discover that James Lipton (the guy who moderates Inside the Actors Studio) gave voice to The Director.  But, refreshingly, the actors aren’t the star of this film...

The seed of all this genius is of course the script.  Bolt was penned by Dan Fogelman & Chris Williams.  I’m always surprised how gifted these scripts are at keeping the story fun and entertaining for little ones while also making enough clever/cultural references to entertain the adults.  Above and beyond that cleverness, Fogelman and Williams really put this cast of characters into some fantastic scenarios that are ripe for the animators to show off their chops.

Bring your mom, your daughter, your grandmother, your roommate.  Bolt is a well-told and entertaining story sure to make folks of all ages laugh and cry alike.