Bolt
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I caught a sneak preview of Bolt last night at the Burbank AMC theater. It's a fun, cute flick .. very enjoyable.
Though, IMHO, the parts are greater than the sum of the whole.
There are many great little scenes that 'pay off' extremely well. The main characters are very fun .. each having several key scenes in which to 'shine'. There's a kick-butt chase sequence, a couple of big laughs, and even a few genuine 'tug at the heart-strings' moments. The 'painterly' environment design is gorgeous.
Just don't think about the plot too much .. because its leaps of logic are huge, at times. Whenever a character in the film refers to 'the real world' or 'reality' .. just keep in mind, they're still talking about a 'cartoon' world.
The similarities to Animaniacs (whether intentional or not) are definitely something animation fans may debate. The New York pigeons do indeed bring the Goodfeathers gang to mind; apart from design and speech similarities, one of them is even named Bobby!
Susie Essman's voice performance for Mittens the cat is very evocative of Bernadette Peters' portrayal of Rita .. the character even has a couple of 'nicks' in one of her ears (at least she doesn't sing). There is also a minor character named Mindy .. although, whether she owns a dog named Buttons is never established. 
Overall, though, as I said .. there is much to enjoy in Bolt. It is well worth seeing at a theater; especially if it's in 3-D.
Though, IMHO, the parts are greater than the sum of the whole.
There are many great little scenes that 'pay off' extremely well. The main characters are very fun .. each having several key scenes in which to 'shine'. There's a kick-butt chase sequence, a couple of big laughs, and even a few genuine 'tug at the heart-strings' moments. The 'painterly' environment design is gorgeous.
Just don't think about the plot too much .. because its leaps of logic are huge, at times. Whenever a character in the film refers to 'the real world' or 'reality' .. just keep in mind, they're still talking about a 'cartoon' world.
The similarities to Animaniacs (whether intentional or not) are definitely something animation fans may debate. The New York pigeons do indeed bring the Goodfeathers gang to mind; apart from design and speech similarities, one of them is even named Bobby!
Susie Essman's voice performance for Mittens the cat is very evocative of Bernadette Peters' portrayal of Rita .. the character even has a couple of 'nicks' in one of her ears (at least she doesn't sing). There is also a minor character named Mindy .. although, whether she owns a dog named Buttons is never established. Overall, though, as I said .. there is much to enjoy in Bolt. It is well worth seeing at a theater; especially if it's in 3-D.
Eh,
I'll probably see it. Looks better than to me than all the complaints I've heard.
Skipped everything else (at the theater) animated this year. Probably will end up getting Wall-E on Blu-Ray, though.
And yeah, I did see the Goodfeathers "cameo" complete with the DeNiro-like voice (and if it's not him I'd really be surprised).
Yet another Miley movie, too!
All of these cross-references in TV shows and movies are getting to be a bit much.
I call it lazy writing.
I'll probably see it. Looks better than to me than all the complaints I've heard.
Skipped everything else (at the theater) animated this year. Probably will end up getting Wall-E on Blu-Ray, though.
And yeah, I did see the Goodfeathers "cameo" complete with the DeNiro-like voice (and if it's not him I'd really be surprised).
Yet another Miley movie, too!
All of these cross-references in TV shows and movies are getting to be a bit much.
I call it lazy writing.
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I don't think that American Dog whould have been more sucessful then Bolt,American Dog plot is really getting old and I don't know if it's a movie that small kids whould enjoy which is less money,I think that Bolt will make more money and I think it's fresh.
And I don't think it's fair that Bolt and Enchanted got less attention and promotion,like with the trailers-Enchanted was released in November 2007 and the trailer was out in May 2007,Bolt will be out this month and the trailer was released in June,the Princess And The Frog and Pixar films got/gets trailers a year before the film is released.
And I don't think it's fair that Bolt and Enchanted got less attention and promotion,like with the trailers-Enchanted was released in November 2007 and the trailer was out in May 2007,Bolt will be out this month and the trailer was released in June,the Princess And The Frog and Pixar films got/gets trailers a year before the film is released.
[img]http://i43.tinypic.com/bfqbtk.jpg[/img]
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- Joined: December 16th, 2004
- Location: Burbank, Calif.
John Powell's score for Bolt is quite good; nice action/chase themes for the TV show stuff, soaring themes for Bolt's true displays of heroism, and a nice tapestry of 'americana' for the RV park and 'road' scenes. Miley Cyrus' songs are good, as well; Barking at the Moon being the more 'affecting' of the two.
My only (minor) gripe is that the Bolt CD is so brief; barely 38 minutes of music! Though, I can't really think of anything which might've been left out. Still, it seems a bit odd .. especially considering Disney had packed the commercially-released Meet the Robinsons CD with three songs which hadn't even appeared in that film (to the detriment of Danny Elfman's score, in that case).
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In another odd (but happy) coincidence, we've seen three John Powell animated feature scores, this year; one for Blue Sky (Horton Hears A Who), one for DreamWorks (Kung-Fu Panda), and one for Disney (Bolt).
Powell has been one of my favorite animation composers, ever since I'd first heard his quirky score for Blue Sky's Robots. This year's 'trifecta' might make one fear Powell were being 'over-used' .. but a listen to these scores reveals a very different -- yet, in each case, appropriate -- approach to the material of the films.
IMHO, Kung-Fu Panda 'edges' out the other two, in overall strength of themes .. but it's still a 'win-win-win' for fans of excellent animated feature scores.
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In another odd (but happy) coincidence, we've seen three John Powell animated feature scores, this year; one for Blue Sky (Horton Hears A Who), one for DreamWorks (Kung-Fu Panda), and one for Disney (Bolt).
Powell has been one of my favorite animation composers, ever since I'd first heard his quirky score for Blue Sky's Robots. This year's 'trifecta' might make one fear Powell were being 'over-used' .. but a listen to these scores reveals a very different -- yet, in each case, appropriate -- approach to the material of the films.
IMHO, Kung-Fu Panda 'edges' out the other two, in overall strength of themes .. but it's still a 'win-win-win' for fans of excellent animated feature scores.
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Right on Droo! I actually think Powell's animation scores far exceed any of his live-action tracks, though he's done good work in that field as well. Although I'll have to disagree with you on one point and say that I enjoyed my Horton Hears A Who CD a little more then the Kung Fu Panda score.droosan wrote:Powell has been one of my favorite animation composers, ever since I'd first heard his quirky score for Blue Sky's Robots. This year's 'trifecta' might make one fear Powell were being 'over-used' .. but a listen to these scores reveals a very different -- yet, in each case, appropriate -- approach to the material of the films.
IMHO, Kung-Fu Panda 'edges' out the other two, in overall strength of themes .. but it's still a 'win-win-win' for fans of excellent animated feature scores.
