Why did Disney make Bolt and has Bolt regained popularity as a character and the movie?

[DodgerGirl]

I never knew why Bolt was made and it seemed to be somewhat of a hit when it debuted in theaters and Disney even marketed it by having a Bolt float with Miley Cyrus on it in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I think the only reason Bolt became a hit was because of John Travolta providing Bolt's voice and also due to Miley Cyrus voicing the character Penny. But I have noticed that Bolt is gaining a big fanbase because there seems to be Bolt plushies making a comeback and it tells me that Disney is making a sequel to Bolt in the future. Because next to Mickey Mouse Olaf and Stitch Bolt is becoming a Disney popular character again

 

[hardcorestitch]

I hope Disney nabs Miley back for the sequel…

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I never knew why Bolt was made

Because Americans have a deep fascination and love of dogs. See e.g. Snoopy.

 

[BrianL]

This is probably one of those movies that wasn't all that big of a hit when it came out, but for kids who were the right age at the time it now has nostalgic appeal, so it's seeing a bit of a surge. I don't think it's going to catapult Bolt to stardom or generate a sequel, but a little jump merch or mentions in the parks, etc. will probably happen. It's actually a pretty good movie.

 

[maltdizzy]

Bolt was in production when John Lassiter and Ed Catmull took over the Walt Disney Feature Animation. A clash of will led to Lassiter firing Chris Saunders and Dean DuBois (Lilo and Stitch) and reworking the entire movie from scratch. The result was pretty generic, but Bolt was still well-received and only broke even deapite earning $300 million. It was completely and utterly eclipsed that year by Wall-E. But, as noted, those that were kids when Bolt was released are now 20-somethings that buy merch.

Saunders and DuBois went to Dreamworks and made How to Train Your Dragon. Most of us always wanted to see Chris Saunders original story which featured...a radioactive, Girl Scout cookie-selling, serial-killing zombie.

 

[Skywalker3]

We were channel surfing this morning, and saw that Bolt was on. The 2 youngest kids LOOOOOOVED that movie. It played over and over on all of our road trips. I often forget it's a Disney movie. Thought it felt more like a Universal/Dreamworks type of movie, but we all enjoyed it. Hadn't thought about it though in a long time. I know DS has his Bolt plush around here somewhere.

 

[sailorstitch]

I love Bolt!

Has anybody else noticed the similarities between Bolt and Inspector Gadget?