With ‘Bolt,’Disney scores a fetching tale

Maybe it's a coincidence, but Disney's first animated movie under the new management of the Pixar guys is its best in years.

In "Bolt," Disney embraces its inner square and returns to winsome characters and simple, sincere emotions - with that as a stated goal, you can hardly go wrong with a story about a loyal dog crossing the country in search of the girl who loves him.

Bolt (John Travolta) is a famous Hollywood movie pooch whose sincere performances stem from the fact that his handlers allow him to believe he actually has super powers - heat vision, super strength, a bark that becomes a destructive sonic boom.

He learns otherwise when he inadvertently ends up in a packing crate and is forwarded to the mean streets of New York City.

"Bolt," which runs a little long, is a bit too busy at the outset - musings on "Truman Show" artificial reality get in the way of the early scenes designed to show the deep bond between Bolt and his human companion, Penny (Miley Cyrus).

But the movie springs to life when Bolt hits the road and acquires a few new friends - including Mittens, a skinny, cynical cat who punctures Bolt's showbiz illusions. The writers give Mittens a foil in Rhino, a gung-ho hamster and huge Bolt fan who continues to believe Bolt's a superhero long after Bolt himself has learned otherwise.

Nevertheless, Bolt desperately pursues a reunion with Penny, and endures more cynicism from Mittens who, we learn, has not been so lucky with human companions.

"Bolt" was designed and animated with 3-D technology in mind - it's probably best to see it in a theater equipped for 3-D exhibition.

But even in 2-D, you get a story with emotional resonance. "Bolt" is earnest, wholesome, family entertainment. In a word, it's Disney, which seems to have remembered that those attributes are really nothing to be ashamed of. *

Produced by Clark Spencer, directed by Chris Williams, Byron Howard, written by Chris Williams, Dan Fogelman, music by John Powell.