"Lassie Come Home" for kids raised on superhero movies and "Hannah Montana," "Bolt" is a funny, charming and thoroughly family-friendly computer-animated tale of canine/human loyalty and companionship that marks an auspicious first feature for new Walt Disney Animation Studios chief John Lasseter, who also heads the now Disney-owned Pixar.

If this year's releases are an indication of Lasseter's strategy, Pixar will continue to produce ambitious (even pretentious) films like "WALL-E," while Disney will generate more traditional family fare. Unlike the cartoons of rival studios, "Bolt" isn't smart-alecky ("Madagascar") or would-be hip ("Shrek," with its Eels and Rufus Wainwright songs on the soundtrack); it's no offspring of Looney Tunes but a true heir to the quality (if sometimes toothless) Disney tradition represented by the "Steamboat Willie" Mickey Mouse clip in the animation studio's logo.

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"Bolt" stars John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton and Malcolm McDowell in a Walt Disney Pictures release. Rated PG for some mild action and peril. Watch »

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Bolt and his hamster pal Rhino share adventures on a cross-country trek.

Bolt

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Rated PG for some mild action and peril

Length: 96 minutes

Released: November 15, 2008 Nationwide (Sneaks)

Score: 3.5

Cast: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell

Director: Chris Williams, Byron Howard
Producer: Clark Spencer
Writer: Chris Sanders
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Action/Adventure
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

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Directed by Byron Howard and Chris Williams, from a script by Williams and Dan Fogelman, "Bolt" cannily taps into several competing yet compatible irresistible-to-kids fantasies. Bolt himself (voiced by John Travolta) is an American White Shepherd puppy who stars as a superdog on a popular TV series; this double identity allows young viewers to imagine the fun of owning a cuter version of Krypto while it also affirms Charles M. Schulz's assertion that happiness is a warm puppy, even when the puppy doesn't really have a super-bark.

Bolt's "person," Penny, the girl who co-stars with him on TV, is voiced by Miley Cyrus, a choice that is smart for reasons beyond Disney cross-promotion. As they do with Hannah Montana, young viewers will be able to vicariously enjoy Penny's celebrity while at the same time being reassured that "normal" life has its own allure; in fact, "Bolt" goes beyond "Hannah" by suggesting that non-rock stars have more fun. As Bolt himself learns: "Being a regular dog is, like, the best gig in the world."

Most of the movie follows Bolt on a cross-country journey from New York to Hollywood, as he learns the truth about his non-superpowered self while desperately trying to rejoin the person he loves. Bolt isn't alone on his trek: Despite the title, "Bolt" is really a three amigos story, with the dog playing straight man (straight mutt?) to a pair of indelibly rendered and characterized companions: a sardonic, scrawny alley cat (voiced by veteran TV actress Susie Essman) with the humiliating name of Mittens; and Rhino (Disney animator Mark Walton), a Bolt-worshipping hamster who travels by rolling inside a clear plastic exercise ball.

A hilarious hyper burst of fur, Rhino will be the movie's breakout star, thanks to Walton as well as to the animators. In fact, in a welcome return to old school cartoons, most of the characters in "Bolt" are "portrayed" by talented voice actors rather than by name celebrities.

-- John Beifuss, 529-2394