In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ newest feature, “Bolt,” the canine star of his own superhero television show is inadvertently sent to the very real city of New York. Once there, he sets out on a cross-country mission to save his owner, Penny, from the dastardly clutches of Dr. Calico, a criminal mastermind in league with a crew of cats…but along the way, Bolt realizes that his superpowers are actually the result of television visual and special effects.
When Bolt hits the Midwest, he encounters what may be one of the most colorful Disney characters ever brought to life…a television-addicted hamster (in an exercise ball) named Rhino, whose favorite show of all time happens to be—you guessed it—the weekly action-adventure series Bolt.
Co-Director Byron Howard narrates, “Bolt winds up in an RV park, and he’s hungry for the first time—he’s been brought up on a soundstage, so he’s never experienced hunger. He goes in search of food, and winds up at the RV that belongs to Rhino’s owner. Bolt is the ultimate hero to this little hamster, and it’s his favorite show. And so Rhino jumps at the chance to join Bolt on this daredevil mission across the country to rescue Penny, whom he loves as well.”
Co-Director Chris Williams adds, “We always knew that we needed a character who was going to support Bolt’s delusion, one that would also be in the realm of domesticated pets. The idea of a hamster that lives in a little hamster ball and in front of a television seemed to make perfect sense—you have this little, tiny creature, with a little, tiny hamster brain that’s subjected to this never-ending cycle of TV programs. He comes to believe that it’s all real. The best show on TV is the Bolt show. He thinks Bolt is real.” Rhino’s belief in Bolt’s reality turns out to be a source of energy and laughs…and inspiration for the characters, as well as the audience. When the television superhero begins to realize he isn’t so super after all, it is the tiny hamster who turns out to have the biggest belief in Bolt…he even lightens the attitude of the committed cynical cat, Mittens. So the domesticated rodent in the plastic ball is more than a necessary ingredient for the story—“he turned out to be a very fun ingredient, as well,” finishes Howard.
Supervising animator Clay Kaytis perhaps has the best take on what it is about Rhino that makes him such a memorable, and very different, Disney character: “Rhino works so well because he’s not the typical sidekick. You expect funny lines and jokes, which he does, but he’s so off-the-wall, and the things that come out of his mouth are so strange sometimes. But the funniest thing about Rhino is that he really believes what he’s talking about. He’s also extremely sincere. He’s a true character. When he says he’s Bolt’s biggest fan, he really is. He’s loyal and optimistic. The movie could happen without Rhino, but it wouldn’t be the same. He’s the pep talker, and the catalyst for change in Bolt. We just think it’s great that, in this case, the sidekick actually has a purpose.”
Opening soon across the Philippines, “Bolt” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.