I'll have to start this review with the admission that I am a full-blown dog lover. I have a two-year-old beagle named Gromit who is my first-ever pet, and my pride and joy. So I fully admit that I'm more susceptible to love a movie with a dog protagonist than others may be, so take that under advisement while reading this.
That said, being a dog lover isn't exactly a unique characteristic, as there are many of us out there (some of whom might even be more into dogs than I). So giving a movie a recommendation on the basis on how it will appeal to dog lovers isn't exactly useless. Even people who don't have dogs or aren't necessarily dog people have some affection for the creatures, even if its just the idealized version of them. But as a dog lover, let me tell you that you'll find Bolt a pleasing, rewarding experience from a family film standpoint.
That's because the animators, writers, and directors Byron Howard and Chris Williams have obviously done their homework when it comes to canine behaviour. The animated protagonist Bolt acts like a real dog, albeit a slightly anthropomorphized one who believes himself to be an action hero. He walks and runs on four legs, is concerned with dog-like things, and takes in the world the way we all envision dogs do. The anthropomorphizing is kept to a minimum, with John Travolta providing his voice that can only communicate with other animals, but Bolt isn't like other animated animals, who usually act like humans that happen to look like animals. He doesn't wear clothes, dance, or exist in a world where animals participate in athletic competitions.
Even the film's central conceit, that Bolt, as the star of an action-packed TV show, believes he is actually a super-powered dog entrusted with protecting his "person" Penny (Miley Cyrus, yet again playing a teen star, this time in animated form), fits in perfectly with how we relate to our dogs. This fake world is his life, so it makes sense to me that he'd believe it all real, given that I have a dog who growls at snowmen and fiberglass statues of dinosaurs as though they are dangerous predators to ward off. So I derived a lot of pleasure from the simple, dog-like qualities of the film, be it Bolt as a puppy attacking his favourite squeaky toy, or his stubborn persistence in trying to apply blunt force to escape unwanted imprisonment (my beagle will probably never scratch his way out of his crate, but that won't stop him from trying every day).
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