When John Lasseter was named chief creative officer and principal creative advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering, many believed that this was the turning point for the Disney Animation Studio. After years of disappointments in the animation film world. Lasseter who has been the Oscar®-winning director for “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2” and “Cars” was now in charge of taking the famous animation studios back to the top of the animation world.”Bolt” is the first film under the executive production of John Lasseter, Collaborating with John was Ed Catmull, the computer animation pioneer who helped create Pixar Animation Studios. The film also marks the directing debut of Chris Williams and Byron Howard.
Bolt avoids the mistakes made by previous Disney animation films. It is not just for little kids like “Chicken Little” and it doesn’t ignore little kids like “Meet the Robinsons”. The story has enough material to please all demographics. The film has the right combination of action, drama and comedy, however the film lacks that defined character that creates a clear connection with the audience.
The quality of the animation sees an improvement in “Bolt” compared to previous Disney releases, but still the animation is not as impressive as the animation from its sibling studio Pixar. In another note “Bolt” is Disney’s first animated feature to be conceived and designed for 3-D. The previous Disney animated features—“Chicken Little” and “Meet the Robinsons”—were released in 3-D versions, however the post-production conversion process was created outside of the Studio. This process paid off in the film, it gave the movie better 3-D scenes.
There is enough entertainment to make Bolt one of the good family films of the season. The Pixar influence was a major upgrade for the Disney Animation Studio, putting it on track to return to its prime days. However don’t expect this picture to make it to the famous Disney Vault. Still this is one of the better films released by the Animation Studio in a long time.
Review By The Critic
