BOLT (formerly American Dog) Discussion

[ce1ticmoon]

I like Bolt well enough. It's a good film. There are lots of qualities to be admired about it. But overall, it's just kinda.... bland, or generic.

I'd rather have had a slightly problematic film that had a unique vision, rather than the one we got. Lilo & Stitch was perhaps one of the only films at Disney that could be called a "director-driven" film. It was quirky, and had some problems, but I genuinely believe it is one of the best films to come out of the studio. I would have liked to continue to see Sanders work at Disney. Honestly, it was a big loss for them.

And when Catmull says, "One of the biggest problems... was that Bolt wasn't appealing enough, visually, to carry the film," is he talking about Sanders' original design from American Dog? Because I thought that was a very interesting and appealing design. The final design from Bolt was also appealing, and quite adorable, but is boring by comparison. Just look at Sanders' creature designs for The Croods. Those are some of the most creative, visually inventive, and appealing animals I've seen in a film.

[Semaj]

Notice that in Ed Catmull's statement, he does not mention Chris Sanders at all.

And really, so long as the overall film is strong, does it really hurt to get "dark" once in a while? Nothing wrong with making family films, but surely they know the downside to letting soccer moms write their films for them.

[Sotiris]

Because I thought that was a very interesting and appealing design.

I thought so too. But Lasseter seems to dislike whatever deviates from a generic house style whether it's Pixar or Disney. I find his definition of appeal very conservative and restricting.

[Lady Cluck]

The problem was it looked like a miniature moose from certain angles



I like it more than the final design for Bolt though. Blah.

[Sotiris]

The problem was it looked like a miniature moose from certain angles.

There were more versions of that design. There was the original minimalist Sanders look:




There was also a more Disney-esque design:

[thedisneyspirit]

Yeah, that's the problem of Bolt. Not a bad film per se, but a bit boring and rather forgettable at parts. Who know if American Dog would have been more exciting.

[unprincess]

the b/w sketch looks like a cross bw Snoopy & Little Brother.

[disneyboy20022]

Yeah, that's the problem of Bolt. Not a bad film per se, but a bit boring and rather forgettable at parts. Who know if American Dog would have been more exciting.

Yeah that's my thinking. I'm not sure if the zombie girl scout would have worked or not. The Idea of the Zombie Girl Scout sounds odd when said out loud, but it could have made it more exciting. However I'm not sure either way to be honest. I'd love to hear Chris Saunders side of the story.