Bolt Movie Trailer

Disney has released the trailer for Bolt. Does anyone else find it ironic that an Elvis Presley song is used in the trailer for a movie in which Lilo & Stitch director Chris Sanders was removed as director? I talked about the controversy behind this project last week, if you haven’t had a chance, check it out here.

I’ll admit that because of the backstory, it’s hard for me to be accept Disney’s reworking of Sander’s original designs. But aside from the groan inducing trick opening, the movie doest look all that bad. Sure, the characters and situations don’t look nearly as interesting or as original as Sander’s designs, but it also doesn’t look as generic as past Disney efforts. Plus releasing the film in 3D at least guarantees a fun theatrical experience. Could it be the John Lasseter effect? I’d be interested to hear the opinions of readers who didn’t feel an attachment to Sander’s American Dog concept art. What do you think?

For super-dog Bolt (voiced by John Travolta), every day is filled with adventure, danger and intrigue – at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the canine star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he begins his biggest adventure yet – a cross-country journey through the real world. Armed only with the delusions that all his amazing feats and powers are real, and with the help of two unlikely traveling companions – a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman), and TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino – Bolt discovers he doesn’t need superpowers to be a hero. Miley Cyrus (“Hannah Montana”) brings her vocal talents to the role of Penny, Bolt’s human co-star on the television series.

Watch the trailer in High Definition on Yahoo. Bolt will hit theaters on November 26th, 2008 in Disney Digital 3-D™

Bolt Teaser Poster; A Look Back at American Dog

Bolt Teaser Poster

I hear that the teaser trailer for Bolt will probably be attached to Pixar’s WALL-E, which hits theaters next week. Disney has just released the first theatrical teaser poster (as opposed to the teaser poster which has been on display at Disneyland) for the movie, which makes this that much more likely. But before you see the teaser trailer, lets take a look back at the project’s troubled history.

Originally titled American Dog, Chris Sanders was attached to write and direct. But Sander’s vison of the animated movie was a little “too bold”. His early concepts featured a one-eyed cat and an oversized radioactive rabbit (see the publicly released concept art below). Disney was supposedly looking for something a bit more “mainstream”. Funny, considering that Sanders is responsible for Disney’s last popular non-Pixar character/movie, Lilo & Stitch. Sanders was replaced by Chris Williams and Byron Howard, and the film was rewritten and retitled Bolt.

american dog

American Dog

And this is what Bolt looks like…

Bolt

Bolt Logo

The official plot synopsis follows: For super-dog Bolt (voiced by John Travolta), every day is filled with adventure, danger and intrigue – at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the canine star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he begins his biggest adventure yet – a cross-country journey through the real world. Armed only with the delusions that all his amazing feats and powers are real, and with the help of two unlikely traveling companions – a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman), and TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino – Bolt discovers he doesn’t need superpowers to be a hero. Miley Cyrus (“Hannah Montana”) brings her vocal talents to the role of Penny, Bolt’s human co-star on the television series.

Bolt will hit theaters on November 26th, 2008 in Disney Digital 3-D™.

contributing sources: IMPAwards, blogspot, AICN, Animation Nation

Sneak Preview of Disney’s Bolt

Bolt
Movie Surfers has a short look at Disney’s upcoming computer animated film Bolt. Miley Cyrus gives us a sneak preview at her character and in production footage from the upcoming film. Rumor has it that the first trailer for Bolt will be attached to Pixar’s WALL-E, which hits theaters on June 27th.

For super-dog Bolt (voiced by John Travolta), every day is filled with adventure, danger and intrigue – at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the canine star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he begins his biggest adventure yet – a cross-country journey through the real world. Armed only with the delusions that all his amazing feats and powers are real, and with the help of two unlikely traveling companions – a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman), and TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino – Bolt discovers he doesn’t need superpowers to be a hero. Miley Cyrus (“Hannah Montana”) brings her vocal talents to the role of Penny, Bolt’s human co-star on the television series.

Bolt will hit theaters on November 26th, 2008 in Disney Digital 3-D™.

Why Fanboys was Delayed

FanboysI’ve been waiting to see Fanboys for quite some time now (although, not nearly as long as I’ve been awaiting Patrick Read Johnson’s 5-25-77). SciFi has found out why we’ve been waiting so long. As it turns out, the film was delayed to add a cameo with Clerks filmmaker Kevin Smith and to obtain rights for the original Star Wars sound effects. As it turns out, George Lucas saw an early cut of the film and approved the use of the sounds.

“Kevin Smith had seen it, and [he] came in and was like, ‘Oh, man. I love it.’ So they let him write and direct one of his own scenes in it. So they added that in,” co star Chris Marquette revealed.

Fanyboys follows the cross-country journey of four friends to Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch, to fulfill a friend’s last dying wish to see Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace before he dies. If you haven’t yet seen it, check out the trailer after the jump. However, I’ve been told that the film is much better than the preview.

Fanboys hits theaters on August 17th 2007.