48: Bolt

Bolt began life as American Dog, and was to be written and directed by Chris Sanders. Some of the earlier voice cast members announced included Woody Harrelson (Rhino), Mario Cantone (Cat), Jennessa Rose (Ruthie), Liv Hutchings (Sarah), Thomas Haden Church, Bernie Mac and Bruce Greenwood. Then, in 2006, a rough cut of the film was shown to John Lasseter. Based on that viewing, Lasseter removed Chris Sanders as writer/director because, "...he couldn't take it to the place it had to be."

Chris Williams and Byron Howard were brought in, with Dan Fogelman helping on the writing tasks. They were tasked with creating a whole new film from the ground up in eighteen months.

Disney developed new technology in non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) to give the film a special visual appearance. The designers aimed for a soft Americana look to the movie, and were inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper and the films of Hungarian-American cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond.

Bolt was not based on any specific breed of dog. He was modeled on the American White Shepherd breed of dog, with other dog characteristics mixed in.

Release of Bolt

The budget for this film was almost 150 million dollars. Its theatrical release brought in over 300 million, opening at number 3 having opened against both Twilight and Quantum of Solace.