MKJo
12-18-2008, 13:03
Filmmakers knew that the title character of “Bolt” called for a special talent, a voice that could showcase the character’s action-TV persona and his real-world discoveries. They enlisted John Travolta, one of the most enduring and endearing actors working today.
“We were really fortunate in having John Travolta voice our main character,” says director Chris Williams. “He is someone who’s had a lot of success playing tough characters in his career. One of the reasons why he’s so good at that is because there is an innate sweet quality in him—as bad and mesmerizing as a character can be, he’s still somehow likeable. This was the perfect combination for playing a dog who thinks that he’s a very threatening, menacing figure, but underneath it all is really a normal loving puppy who loves his owner. It plays to two of John’s biggest strengths. It was a thrill working with an icon who’s been in so many great
movies, and I think his performance really brought something special to the character of Bolt.”
According to Travolta, “I had never done an animated feature but when I got the call from [Disney Studio chairman] Dick Cook and he told me that this character really suited my personality, I decided that it was a territory worth investigating. To me, the fun part was seeing how the animators created the dog using my voice, expressions and interpretations. I would experiment and give them 20 or 30 versions of one line. They use their imaginations and artistic skills, and it was the most exciting thing to see the marriage of the two. It turned out great. “Working with the filmmakers was fantastic and Chris Williams was a revelation to me,” continues Travolta. “His affection for animation was infectious, and I was so tickled by everything we were doing and his choices. The collaborative effort was huge. This guy really knows what he’s doing and had a vision for what the film should be. “I love that the film has so much heart,” Travolta concludes.
“If you’ve ever been separated from your favorite animal, and if you’ve ever loved someone and you miss them, you’re brokenhearted because you can’t be near them. I think audiences will identify in a big way with Bolt and his owner, Penny. It’s a love story, really, and it’s completely entertaining and inviting.”
The inspired casting of Miley Cyrus as the voice of Penny brought a new level of excitement to the project. Aside from being one of the most popular and sought-after talents in show business today, the singer-actress added sincerity and believability to the proceedings.
“One reason I really wanted to do this movie is because I love animals,” says Cyrus. “I have five dogs of my own and I know if one ran away I would not be able to do anything. And that’s the way Penny is. She can’t work. She can’t sleep. She can’t eat.” Cyrus says she liked the story’s built-in diversity. “It really is an emotional roller-coaster ride. You start out kind of scared of this evil villain, but you’re excited at all of the action in the TV-show sequences. Then you're sad because Bolt leaves. And then you’re laughing at Rhino.”
Director Byron Howard says, “Miley is incredible and we were so lucky to have her provide the voice of Penny in our film. She brought a real sense of maturity and emotional depth to the role and helped us convey the key
story point that Penny loves this little dog and really has his best interests at heart. The audience really needs to feel that her love for him is genuine.”
Director Chris Williams adds, “Miley is a very gifted actor and she was totally invested in the character. Penny has a powerful presence in the film and the role required some very difficult scenes. It was very challenging from an emotional standpoint and Miley pulled it off
amazingly well. The scenes between Penny and Bolt have some great interplay and emotion.”
There may be a reason for that. According to Cyrus, she could not only relate to her character Penny, she understood Bolt, too. “In the beginning, Bolt does not want to play. He’s all serious, all business with Penny—always trying to protect her. But Bolt learns that he has
to also be a dog. It’s like me—I have to be a kid.”
For the character of Mittens, the filmmakers turned to Susie Essman, a talented comedian and actress perhaps best known as the foul-mouthed no-nonsense wife of Jeff Garlin in the quirky and popular HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” “I always wanted to do an animated character, something that my nieces and nephews could watch,” says Essman. “And if you’re an animal lover like me, you believe that animals have emotions. I really do believe that they all have feelings, they just don’t have the power of speech. So it’s been a privilege to give a voice to an animal.”
“The voice of Mittens had to have a depth and warmth to it, and Susie gave us exactly the right mix of being funny with elements of sweetness and vulnerability,” explains Howard. “Mittens has had a tough and in some ways tragic life, so she’s very guarded.” Adds Essman, “Mittens is such a complicated cat, I just fell in love with her. She has an edge, you know? She’s a tough New York City chick who’s living on her wits and she’s got this sarcastic edge about her. In the beginning, when she thinks that Bolt is nuts, she just sticks it to him. She’s constantly giving him jabs and sarcastic remarks and that’s my thing. I like that.”
“Susie’s performance is very entertaining,” adds director Williams. “You love her when she’s on screen. Her character undergoes a major transformation and another side comes out. She was able to give the character heart, humor and an underlying sense of the pain she’s
experienced in life.”
During the development stages of “Bolt,” the filmmakers turned to storyman Mark Walton to do some scratch track recordings for the character of Rhino the hamster.
Says Walton, “It was a lot of fun for me, and we all got a real kick—especially me—hearing my voice saying these really funny lines in the early screenings of the film, but it was generally assumed that, at some point, they would choose a professional actor to record the final voice.
But about a year went by, and my voice stayed in screening after screening.”
Director Williams recalls, “Even from our earliest screenings of the story reels, the character of Rhino was playing really well because of Mark’s performance. He has an unbridled energy and is completely comfortable playing the huge extrovert that Rhino is. He was able to channel everything that he is into the character.”
“Rhino needed to be such a fan boy,” adds director Howard. “And you couldn’t ask for a bigger fan boy than Mark. All that enthusiasm that you hear is Mark’s everyday persona. It’s not put-on at all. Every time we’d hear a new recording with him, we’d just crack up.” “It became clear to us very quickly that he was going to play the hamster and we were very
excited to be able to give him the opportunity,” says Williams.
So they planned the perfect way to let Walton know he’d won the job.
“The directors brought me down to supposedly re-record an old line,” says Walton. “As I got to the end of the line, I found myself reading into the mic, ‘And I'm the voice of Rhino!’ After a moment of shock, I totally flipped out. “Providing the voice of Rhino is a dream come true,” Walton continues. “To be here working on animated films, and then to actually be a character in a film that people will see, remember and want to watch for a long time—it doesn’t get any better than that.” “Mark’s voice brought so much to the character and gave us a lot to work with,” says supervising animator Clay Kaytis. “He gave Rhino so much energy and humor.”
“Rhino loves television and believes it’s all real,” says Walton. “Bolt is real and everything that happens on the show is real to Rhino. At the recording sessions, they didn’t actually give me a giant ball to roll around in, but they would bring the storyboards and explain what is happening in each scene and what Rhino’s expressions and poses might be. I would imagine myself talking to Bolt or Mittens and it wasn’t too difficult to get into the role. Rhino tends to be very excited and actionoriented.
He’s always rolling around and trying to help. I would find myself out of breath and sweaty after several takes. Rhino’s enthusiasm is infectious and it’s hard not to get caught upin it all.”
An inspired piece of casting was having James Lipton, the renowned host of Bravo’s longrunning “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” play the role of the director. As the dedicated director of the “Bolt” TV series, he strives to keep the series’ canine star from discovering that the action going on around him is not real.
Lipton notes, “I’ve always wanted to be in an animated film, and even more, I’ve always wanted to be in a Disney classic. In the Stanislavski system, we want to know what the character wants. In the scenes in which I play the director, I made a note in my head of what he wants to accomplish in the scene. Believe it or not, this is perhaps the first Stanislavski-motivated animated character.”
Rounding out the cast are Malcolm McDowell, who provides the voice of the menacing green-eyed Dr. Calico, villain of the “Bolt” TV series, and Greg Germann, who voices Penny’s opportunistic agent who isn’t particularly sympathetic when Bolt goes missing. Also lending their voices are Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Diedrich Bader and Ronn Moss, star of
“The Bold and the Beautiful.”
“We were really fortunate in having John Travolta voice our main character,” says director Chris Williams. “He is someone who’s had a lot of success playing tough characters in his career. One of the reasons why he’s so good at that is because there is an innate sweet quality in him—as bad and mesmerizing as a character can be, he’s still somehow likeable. This was the perfect combination for playing a dog who thinks that he’s a very threatening, menacing figure, but underneath it all is really a normal loving puppy who loves his owner. It plays to two of John’s biggest strengths. It was a thrill working with an icon who’s been in so many great
movies, and I think his performance really brought something special to the character of Bolt.”
According to Travolta, “I had never done an animated feature but when I got the call from [Disney Studio chairman] Dick Cook and he told me that this character really suited my personality, I decided that it was a territory worth investigating. To me, the fun part was seeing how the animators created the dog using my voice, expressions and interpretations. I would experiment and give them 20 or 30 versions of one line. They use their imaginations and artistic skills, and it was the most exciting thing to see the marriage of the two. It turned out great. “Working with the filmmakers was fantastic and Chris Williams was a revelation to me,” continues Travolta. “His affection for animation was infectious, and I was so tickled by everything we were doing and his choices. The collaborative effort was huge. This guy really knows what he’s doing and had a vision for what the film should be. “I love that the film has so much heart,” Travolta concludes.
“If you’ve ever been separated from your favorite animal, and if you’ve ever loved someone and you miss them, you’re brokenhearted because you can’t be near them. I think audiences will identify in a big way with Bolt and his owner, Penny. It’s a love story, really, and it’s completely entertaining and inviting.”
The inspired casting of Miley Cyrus as the voice of Penny brought a new level of excitement to the project. Aside from being one of the most popular and sought-after talents in show business today, the singer-actress added sincerity and believability to the proceedings.
“One reason I really wanted to do this movie is because I love animals,” says Cyrus. “I have five dogs of my own and I know if one ran away I would not be able to do anything. And that’s the way Penny is. She can’t work. She can’t sleep. She can’t eat.” Cyrus says she liked the story’s built-in diversity. “It really is an emotional roller-coaster ride. You start out kind of scared of this evil villain, but you’re excited at all of the action in the TV-show sequences. Then you're sad because Bolt leaves. And then you’re laughing at Rhino.”
Director Byron Howard says, “Miley is incredible and we were so lucky to have her provide the voice of Penny in our film. She brought a real sense of maturity and emotional depth to the role and helped us convey the key
story point that Penny loves this little dog and really has his best interests at heart. The audience really needs to feel that her love for him is genuine.”
Director Chris Williams adds, “Miley is a very gifted actor and she was totally invested in the character. Penny has a powerful presence in the film and the role required some very difficult scenes. It was very challenging from an emotional standpoint and Miley pulled it off
amazingly well. The scenes between Penny and Bolt have some great interplay and emotion.”
There may be a reason for that. According to Cyrus, she could not only relate to her character Penny, she understood Bolt, too. “In the beginning, Bolt does not want to play. He’s all serious, all business with Penny—always trying to protect her. But Bolt learns that he has
to also be a dog. It’s like me—I have to be a kid.”
For the character of Mittens, the filmmakers turned to Susie Essman, a talented comedian and actress perhaps best known as the foul-mouthed no-nonsense wife of Jeff Garlin in the quirky and popular HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” “I always wanted to do an animated character, something that my nieces and nephews could watch,” says Essman. “And if you’re an animal lover like me, you believe that animals have emotions. I really do believe that they all have feelings, they just don’t have the power of speech. So it’s been a privilege to give a voice to an animal.”
“The voice of Mittens had to have a depth and warmth to it, and Susie gave us exactly the right mix of being funny with elements of sweetness and vulnerability,” explains Howard. “Mittens has had a tough and in some ways tragic life, so she’s very guarded.” Adds Essman, “Mittens is such a complicated cat, I just fell in love with her. She has an edge, you know? She’s a tough New York City chick who’s living on her wits and she’s got this sarcastic edge about her. In the beginning, when she thinks that Bolt is nuts, she just sticks it to him. She’s constantly giving him jabs and sarcastic remarks and that’s my thing. I like that.”
“Susie’s performance is very entertaining,” adds director Williams. “You love her when she’s on screen. Her character undergoes a major transformation and another side comes out. She was able to give the character heart, humor and an underlying sense of the pain she’s
experienced in life.”
During the development stages of “Bolt,” the filmmakers turned to storyman Mark Walton to do some scratch track recordings for the character of Rhino the hamster.
Says Walton, “It was a lot of fun for me, and we all got a real kick—especially me—hearing my voice saying these really funny lines in the early screenings of the film, but it was generally assumed that, at some point, they would choose a professional actor to record the final voice.
But about a year went by, and my voice stayed in screening after screening.”
Director Williams recalls, “Even from our earliest screenings of the story reels, the character of Rhino was playing really well because of Mark’s performance. He has an unbridled energy and is completely comfortable playing the huge extrovert that Rhino is. He was able to channel everything that he is into the character.”
“Rhino needed to be such a fan boy,” adds director Howard. “And you couldn’t ask for a bigger fan boy than Mark. All that enthusiasm that you hear is Mark’s everyday persona. It’s not put-on at all. Every time we’d hear a new recording with him, we’d just crack up.” “It became clear to us very quickly that he was going to play the hamster and we were very
excited to be able to give him the opportunity,” says Williams.
So they planned the perfect way to let Walton know he’d won the job.
“The directors brought me down to supposedly re-record an old line,” says Walton. “As I got to the end of the line, I found myself reading into the mic, ‘And I'm the voice of Rhino!’ After a moment of shock, I totally flipped out. “Providing the voice of Rhino is a dream come true,” Walton continues. “To be here working on animated films, and then to actually be a character in a film that people will see, remember and want to watch for a long time—it doesn’t get any better than that.” “Mark’s voice brought so much to the character and gave us a lot to work with,” says supervising animator Clay Kaytis. “He gave Rhino so much energy and humor.”
“Rhino loves television and believes it’s all real,” says Walton. “Bolt is real and everything that happens on the show is real to Rhino. At the recording sessions, they didn’t actually give me a giant ball to roll around in, but they would bring the storyboards and explain what is happening in each scene and what Rhino’s expressions and poses might be. I would imagine myself talking to Bolt or Mittens and it wasn’t too difficult to get into the role. Rhino tends to be very excited and actionoriented.
He’s always rolling around and trying to help. I would find myself out of breath and sweaty after several takes. Rhino’s enthusiasm is infectious and it’s hard not to get caught upin it all.”
An inspired piece of casting was having James Lipton, the renowned host of Bravo’s longrunning “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” play the role of the director. As the dedicated director of the “Bolt” TV series, he strives to keep the series’ canine star from discovering that the action going on around him is not real.
Lipton notes, “I’ve always wanted to be in an animated film, and even more, I’ve always wanted to be in a Disney classic. In the Stanislavski system, we want to know what the character wants. In the scenes in which I play the director, I made a note in my head of what he wants to accomplish in the scene. Believe it or not, this is perhaps the first Stanislavski-motivated animated character.”
Rounding out the cast are Malcolm McDowell, who provides the voice of the menacing green-eyed Dr. Calico, villain of the “Bolt” TV series, and Greg Germann, who voices Penny’s opportunistic agent who isn’t particularly sympathetic when Bolt goes missing. Also lending their voices are Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Diedrich Bader and Ronn Moss, star of
“The Bold and the Beautiful.”