145 – Bolt

This is it: the end of the Wilderness Years road. Film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Sam Summers close out an era in Disney history with 2008’s action-packed pup adventure Bolt. Together, they discuss the ways in which the studio finally figured out their approach to making 3D CGI movies, unpick the unconventional production of the fictional ‘Bolt’ show, ponder whether it all amounts to animal cruelty, explore how the film borrows from Toy Story and The Matrix, and talk the casting of John Travolta. Plus, Sam gets into some deeply meta Nemo lore, and Ben becomes obsessed with the character the film always needed: Gidget. Next up: Study Group! (then, The Princess And The Frog) Disniversity is brought to you by Ben Travis (@benstravis) and Sam Summers (@samsummers0), with art by Olly Gibbs and music by Nafets.

You can listen to 145 – Bolt online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

145 – Bolt is an episode from Disniversity Podcast by Disniversity Podcast.

This episode is 01:22:16 long.

This episode was published on Jul 31, 2025.

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