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Although the Disney animated film "Bolt" will probably strike a chord of compassion in viewers of all ages, executive producer John Lasseter claims that he constantly maintains a child’s mindset when creating his films, and "Bolt" was no exception. “When you’re an animator, you don’t have to grow up,” he explained during a recent press conference in Tokyo. “All animators have a childlike sense of wonder in the world, and that’s what is especially good in approaching the story of Bolt.”
Joining Lasseter were more of the masterminds behind the film, directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard and producer Clark Spencer, as well as members of the Japanese voice cast, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Makiko Esumi and Hiroyuki Amano.
This film follows the life of Bolt (original voice by John Travolta; Japanese voice by Sasaki), a white shepherd who believes that he is equipped with the powers of a superdog. His life goal is to utilize his abilities to protect his young owner Penny (Miley Cyrus; Ryoko Shiraishi) from the forces of evil. However, unbeknownst to Bolt, the reality is that he and Penny are merely starring in a Hollywood TV show under that setting, and the producers of the show are concealing the truth from him.
When Bolt accidentally ends up in a faraway land, he reluctantly discovers that he is just an ordinary dog. Nevertheless, his only conviction is his love for his owner, no matter what the truth is. Through his interactions with Mittens (Susie Essman; Esumi), a skeptic when it comes to love, and Rhino (Mark Walton; Amano), a TV otaku and a huge fan of Bolt, he learns what it is to love and be loved in return.
“Walt Disney once said ‘For every laughter, there should be a tear,” said Lasseter. “What appealed to me about having a character in [Bolt’s] situation was that there’s a lot of potential for emotion with the character. When this character finds out that his entire life is false, I thought, imagine having to deal with that.”
The directors hinted that the character responsible for Bolt’s hardships may appear familiar to some. Williams commented jokingly, “Well, I don’t have an agent. And you can probably see why in the film. It is a stereotype of an agent that we’re playing, but there is some reality to someone who will act like your best friend, but stab you in the back when it suits them. If the movie is about trust and love, which Bolt personifies, then the agent is someone who is the opposite of that—you can’t trust him for a second.” Howard added,
“We needed someone to personalize and humanize the show [that Bolt believes is true], because the show is really the villain. I think we got enough contact about agents, so it’s kind of a loving poke at the Hollywood industry that we live with.”
Meanwhile, Sasaki and Esumi, compared their acting careers with what they experienced in the recording studio for "Bolt." “I think that the perks of being an actor are that you’re allowed to embark on a completely different journey depending on the type of character you are assigned. In that sense, being able to play the role of a dog was thrilling experience,” said Sasaki, clearly excited that he could now add a canine role to his list of achievements.
Esumi, on the other hand, remarked, “I chose to participate in Bolt, because I determine the projects I’d like to get involved with based on what I believe will be an inspiration to my daughter. This film taught me a lot about the importance of faith and endurance; something that I believe that we as adults tend to forget.”
Amano, who out of the three is the only one without a career in acting (he is part of the comedy duo Kyaeen), quipped, “I’m just like Rhino—I watch TV seven hours a day, I cheer my colleagues on with my optimism…but after awhile, I started feeling more reassured by Rhino’s words myself. After all, I’m a 39-year-old and still single!” Amano’s partner-in-crime -- Udo Suzuki -- made a surprise appearance at the event and caused a buzz when he declared, “Check 'Bolt' out to find out where I also made my debut as a voice actor.”
"Bolt" will take audiences on a much needed walk down memory lane: to replay the most reckless thing they have ever done in the name of love.
"Bolt" opens in Japan on Aug 1.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
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IvanCoughalot
Here's another one - released on DVD in March this year. Once again, japanese customers pay the highest admittance fee in the world to be the last in the world to see a film.
Our dear friends and neighbours in Korea got this film last December.
Pathetic, the delays people have to put up with here.
I think that's the worst misuse of the verb "quipped" I've seen in some time.
flyingfish
is this really coming to japan now..?
Jeff Huffman
IvanCoughalot at 11:45 AM JST - 15th July Here's another one - released on DVD in March this year.
Last time I checked, most Japanese don't live in the U.S. So the release of the DVD there doesn't make much difference, does it?
Once again, japanese customers pay the highest admittance fee in the world to be the last in the world to see a film.
Wrong. The new Harry Potter movie was released in Japan a week and a half ahead of the U.S. debut, and Terminator II, the last movie I saw in Japan, was released there the same time as it was in the States.
gamera
Bolt was good. I really hated Miley Cyrus but Rhino the Hampster made up for the overproduced, shoved down our throats too much tween.
nath
Our dear friends and neighbours in Korea got this film last December.
Pathetic, the delays people have to put up with here.
“I’m just like Rhino—I watch TV seven hours a day, I cheer my colleagues on with my optimism…but after awhile, I started feeling more reassured by Rhino’s words myself. After all, I’m a 39-year-old and still single!”
I think that's the worst misuse of the verb "quipped" I've seen in some time
That is mainly because this film has been dubbed, where when I used to watch movies in S.Korea they were subtittled, which takes a lot less time to do.
IvanCoughalot
jeffrey, the snideness of your tone does not explain why the Japanese have to wait nine months longer than the citizens of Kazakhstan to watch a thoroughly good film. Most Polish, Venezuelan, Ukranians and Philipine citizens also don't live in the US, but they also were all able to see this film last year.
And whoopdedoo, Harry Potter got released here early. All that does is prove that, if the people making decisions set their mind to it, they can speed things up a bit. Thus negating all the specious nonsense about dubbing being such a herculean task here.
Prompt release of new films can be done elsewhere, and is. It can also demonstrably be done here, and isn't. This is a failing in the systen, and people should not have to put up with it and then pay 1800 yen to watch an old film.
I can't understand why you think it's acceptable.
TokyoGas
Agreed. Movie release dates are very slow here. I think that movies are released based on the holidays or traditional dates (In the case of Star Wars Prequels - way more half the world had it in May and it hit Japan in July and an article said that it was released on the anniversary the first Star Wars flick) rather than a global schedule.
Maybe the movies are on a fixed contract and the theaters are not able to get rid of dud movies so they cannot speed up the schedule. Anyway, I think that the system needs to be enhanced as a lot of movies take way too long to get here.
Whenever you need to know the release dates just go to www.imdb.com and search for the movie and search.
PepinGalarga
I'm sure they spend 3 months only to pick a snazzy Japanese title, which usually is a shortening of the title to something meaningless.
Ninjazilla
haha dont worry this movie sucks anyway
Taka313
PepinGalarga,
That's going to be tough to do in this case.
Taka
IvanCoughalot
Taka In this case they take a one-syllable word and make it into three syllables. You know, just to make it easier to read a difficult word like Bolt.
Hotbox08
Good film? You're the type that probably thinks "Transformers 2" should be nominated for an Oscar.