BOLT

2008

Bolt is Disney Animation Studio's 48th feature and what I would consider to be Disney's return to the right path. During the 90's the studio had gone through an amazing period putting pout a series of what could be their best films ever, but when 3D started to get more popular, Disney got into a dilema and had a pretty rough time figuring out what to do next.

And so, after producing their worst 4 movies in just over 8 years, they hired John Lasseter as Chief creative officer and finally came to what could be called Disney's new Renaissance.



Bolt is an incredible move forward by Disney. The animation looks so much better than the previous 2 3D animated films by the studio. So the animation form stops being a challenge and Disney finally learned how to use it to their advantage.

The story is also so much better than what they had done since 2000's Emperor's New Groove. Creating some really amazing characters that we can actually relate to and we actually care what happens in the end.

But it's so weird to be talking about Disney as a studio that FINALLY got it right! I guess that right now, that bad period is starting to be forgotten, but consider this: In 2008 Bolt was nominated as Best Animated Picture at the Oscars but lost to WALL-E! That puts things in perspective! Wall-E seems like "Oh, another great CG movie by Pixar", but Disney was just starting to get comfortable with the medium.


Anyway. I'm happy that Disney finally got into a new confort zone and is producing some great stories with great characters and awesome visuals!