Last week we stumbled on this poster for a new Disney animated movie called Bolt. At the time, we wondered what the heck it was. Well here’s the answer. Remember American Dog? Before the Disney/Pixar merger it was supposed to be their third computer animated film, to follow up Meet the Robinsons. Then Pixar’s people came in, John Lasseter took over, and we were told had shut down the Disney computer animated film division and effectively killed American Dog. It seems not so much.
American Dog is still happening, it’s still computer animated, only now it’s called Bolt. Yep, Disney’s computer animation division is apparently still alive and well. All the talk we heard from Lasseter about shifting Disney back to doing 2D animation while Pixar handled 3D computer animation was apparently, just talk.
But that doesn’t mean it’s business as usual. Lasseter is on the case and has apparently gone and reworked the entire film. He’s fired the movie’s original director Chris Sanders, who made the misguided, mangled, Disney abortion that was Lilo & Stitch. In his place is Chris Williams, the guy responsible for two of the few decent Disney animated movies in recent years, Mulan and The Emporer’s New Groove. Along with him comes a new story about a heroic looking German Shepherd who plays a superhero on TV (and doesn’t realize he doesn’t actually have superpowers), new characters, a new title, and Disney Digital 3D.
According to HR Bolt will be at the vanguard of a whole host of new movies from Disney being presented in the ever more popular 3D format. Disney has already been at the forefront of the 3D thing. Their 3D version of Tim Burton’s classic Nightmare Before Christmas has turned into a Halloween release staple. It had it’s second run in as many years this Halloween in theaters, and turned out to be a smash success. Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons also go the 3D treatment, and if you were lucky enough to see either of them wearing polarized glasses, then you know just how cool Disney’s 3D can be.
Since they’ve done well so far, Disney is going whole hog with the 3D treatment. Tim Burton has signed a two-picture deal to direct 3D versions of Alice in Wonderland and a feature length version of his Frankenweenie short. They’ve also got a Hannah Montana movie coming on 3D. Now add Bolt to the 3D list, currently slated for a November 26, 2008.
